Singer-guitarist Lita Ford first joined the Runaways when she was only 16 years old. Now, at age 53, Ford is still at it. She just released her new album, Living Like a Runaway, and is on a summer arena tour with Def Leppard and Poison. We caught up with her (and her two adorable Chihuahuas) backstage at Quicken Loans Arena last night before she went on stage. She talked about her highly personal new album and how she hopes the Runaways might get back together.
Have you been playing arenas prior to this tour?
Not really. We’ve been doing little shows here and there in clubs and stuff. The last arena tour I did was, shit, I don’t know. Even when we toured with Queensryche, we just did clubs. I think the last arena tour would have been 1989. It’s hard to get intimate with the audience in an arena. In clubs, I can see everybody right there. I can go, “Hey you with that blue hat on. What are you doing!” I can read the writing on people’s shirts. In arenas, you feel really disconnected. You have to project yourself more and it’s very difficult.
This article appears in Jul 4-10, 2012.
