Lita Ford

Deep Dive

Overview

Lita Ford stands as one of rock’s most accomplished female instrumentalists and one of glam metal’s most distinctive voices. A guitarist and vocalist, Ford first gained prominence as the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s before transitioning to a solo career that would define much of the glam metal landscape of the 1980s. Her peak arrived in 1989 with the single “Close My Eyes Forever,” a duet with Ozzy Osbourne that became her signature achievement, climbing to No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and cementing her status as one of rock’s most commercially successful female artists.

Formation Story

Born in 1958, Lita Rossana Ford emerged from an era when female participation in rock music, let alone hard rock and heavy metal, remained largely marginal. Her early involvement with the Runaways in the late 1970s placed her in a pioneering context—an all-female rock band during a period when rock was almost exclusively a male-dominated field. That experience as a bandleader and lead guitarist in a high-energy rock outfit gave Ford both technical credibility and stage presence. By the early 1980s, as the Runaways’ moment passed, Ford pursued a solo path that would synthesize her rock foundation with the emerging glam metal sound then reshaping hard rock radio.

Breakthrough Moment

Ford’s solo career began in 1983 with Out for Blood, her debut album, followed by 1984’s Dancin’ on the Edge. These early releases established her as a serious guitar-driven rock artist, but it was not until 1988 that her self-titled album Lita arrived, signaling a fuller embrace of the glam metal idiom then dominating MTV and rock radio. The subsequent album Stiletto (1990) and its followup Dangerous Curves (1991) cemented her commercial presence. However, the pivotal breakthrough came with the 1989 single “Close My Eyes Forever,” a duet pairing Ford with Ozzy Osbourne. That song’s appearance on Stiletto propelled Ford into the mainstream consciousness and remains the defining moment of her commercial career, reaching No. 8 on the Hot 100—a rare achievement for a female rock guitarist in that era.

Peak Era

Ford’s peak creative and commercial period spanned the late 1980s and early 1990s, with Lita (1988), Stiletto (1990), and Dangerous Curves (1991) representing the apex of her visibility and output. These albums showcased her as a fully realized artist: a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter operating confidently within the glam metal genre’s conventions while maintaining a voice distinct from her male-dominated peers. The success of “Close My Eyes Forever” and its attendant touring and media exposure made this a period of maximum cultural prominence, with Ford joining the ranks of rock’s most commercially viable female artists of the moment.

Musical Style

Ford’s approach to rock guitar and songwriting is rooted in hard rock fundamentals—blues-inflected phrasing, power chords, and anthemic song structures—adapted to the glam metal framework that dominated the late 1980s. Her vocal delivery carries an edge characteristic of glam metal frontpersons, capable of both conversational verses and soaring, sustained choruses in the style of the era. As a guitarist, Ford’s technique reflects her roots in heavy rock, favoring melodic lead work and rhythmic solidity over the more shredding-oriented displays that defined some of her male counterparts. The production on her late-1980s and early-1990s albums—polished, radio-ready, engineered for maximum impact on MTV—aligned her work with the commercial glam metal sensibility, though her songwriting remained more guitar-centric and less dependent on ballad formulas than some genre peers.

Major Albums

Lita (1988)

Ford’s self-titled album represented her fullest step into the glam metal mainstream, showcasing her as a complete artist capable of crafting radio-friendly hard rock with genuine instrumental substance.

Stiletto (1990)

This album, which contained “Close My Eyes Forever” and its surrounding tracks, captured Ford at her commercial peak and stands as her best-selling and most culturally resonant work.

Dangerous Curves (1991)

Ford’s final album of the early 1990s commercial peak, maintaining the glam metal sound and radio sensibility of Stiletto while continuing her prolific output.

Black (1995)

Released mid-decade, Black showed Ford continuing her solo work and adapting to the changing rock landscape as grunge and alternative rock altered the commercial equation for glam metal artists.

Signature Songs

• “Close My Eyes Forever” — The duet with Ozzy Osbourne that became Ford’s signature achievement and her only major chart hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
• “Back Where You Belong” — A track from Stiletto that exemplifies Ford’s ability to balance melody and hard rock power.
• “Falling in and Out of Love” — A characteristic mid-tempo hard rock number showcasing her songwriting within the glam metal idiom.

Influence on Rock

Ford occupies a unique place in rock history as one of the few female guitarists to achieve sustained commercial success in heavy rock and metal during the 1980s and beyond. Her presence on MTV, her chart success, and her visibility as both a guitarist and vocalist helped establish that women could compete at the highest level of hard rock radio—a fact that seemed less obvious in 1979, when she was the Runaways’ lead guitarist. While the glam metal genre itself proved commercially ephemeral, disappearing from mainstream rock radio by the mid-1990s, Ford’s early success and technical credibility contributed to a slow but steady expansion of female participation in hard rock and metal contexts. The “Close My Eyes Forever” collaboration, pairing a female artist with metal royalty (Ozzy Osbourne), signaled that female rock musicians could operate as peer-level partners in high-profile rock moments.

Legacy

Ford continued releasing music well into the 21st century, including Wicked Wonderland (2009), Living Like a Runaway (2012), and Time Capsule (2016), demonstrating longevity uncommon among glam metal artists of her generation. Her catalog remains accessible through streaming platforms, and her early work with the Runaways and her late-1980s solo output continue to circulate in rock music discourse. “Close My Eyes Forever” endures as a defining moment in 1980s rock radio and MTV history, a song that benefited from the superstardom of both participants but also raised Ford’s profile as a serious artist. Her career serves as a record of female ambition and achievement in genres—hard rock, heavy metal, glam metal—historically resistant to female participation and creative authority.

Fun Facts

• Ford was the lead guitarist for the Runaways, an all-female rock band that emerged in the 1970s, making her a pioneer in an overwhelmingly male-dominated genre.
• “Close My Eyes Forever” remains her most commercially successful single and one of the few collaborations between a female hard rock artist and a metal legend that achieved major mainstream chart success in the 1980s.
• Ford continued her recording career across multiple decades, releasing albums from 2009 onward and maintaining an active presence in rock music well past the commercial decline of glam metal.