One of two solo stars to spring from the ashes of the '70s all-girl hard rock band
has long been a more frustrating, contradictory proposition for critics than former colleague
.
is subtly feminist in her musical approach, displaying guitar heroics on the level of any male metal hero; the mere fact of her existence in the otherwise testosterone-driven heavy metal genre has made her a hero to some, but her persona has often been criticized as calculated to appeal to male adolescent sexual fantasies, simply embodying the standard wild-girl stereotypes of many male metal artists' lyrics. When she has the material to back her up, though,
is inarguably capable of rocking out aggressively and assertively.
Ford was born on September 19, 1958, in London, emigrating to the U.S. as a young child. She began playing the guitar at age 11; just five years later, she joined the
Kim Fowley-produced
Runaways, an all-female project designed to mix the aggression of simple, punky hard rock with teenage bad-girl sex appeal. When the band dissolved,
Ford took voice lessons and embarked on a solo career, supporting herself through a variety of jobs (gas station attendant, perfume salesperson, fitness instructor, hairdresser, etc.). She released her debut album,
Out for Blood, in 1983; it was followed the next year by
Dancin' on the Edge.
Nothing was heard from
Ford for the next four years; the follow-up to
Dancin' on the Edge, titled
The Bride Wore Black, was abandoned and never released, as
Ford switched from Mercury to RCA. By the time
Ford returned, the lighter pop-metal she had long favored had broken through to mainstream audiences, which set the stage for her most successful album, 1988's
Lita. Slickly produced by
Mike Chapman, the album featured
Ford's first hit, the number 12 "Kiss Me Deadly"; its follow-up, a duet with
Ozzy Osbourne entitled "Close My Eyes Forever," provided both artists with their first Top Ten single.
Ford celebrated her newfound success with a marriage to
W.A.S.P. guitarist
Chris Holmes, but unfortunately, this, like her commercial success, would be short-lived. Follow-up efforts like 1990's
Stiletto and 1991's
Dangerous Curves failed to match the popcraft of
Lita, and
Ford found herself without a label after alternative's explosion in the early '90s. She married
Jim Gillette, former vocalist with hair metal kings
Nitro, had two children and moved to the Caribbean. She eventually re-emerged on the scene in the 21st century with the uncharacteristically heavy
Wicked Wonderland in 2009. The album was released on her own label, JLRG Entertainment; the set was co-produced by
Greg Hampton,
Ford, and
Gillette. In the years that followed
Ford went through a particularly messy divorce with
Gillette, and resurfaced in 2012 with eighth solo album Living Like a Runaway, a cathartic break up album with themes of divorce, betrayal and estrangement throughout. The album was co-produced by Gary Hoey and represented a return to the more tuneful pop metal
Ford had enjoyed the most success with in the early 90's.
–
Steve Huey, Rovi