LITA FORD Talks About Her Return To Rock And Roll

Jesse Capps of Rock Confidential conducted an interview with Lita Ford earlier this week. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

Rock Confidential: The word is out that you're making your return and that's the first thing people want to know what have you been up to these past few years?

Lita: Oh boy. I married Jim Gillette (former NITRO singer) about 14 years ago and we pretty much checked out of the U.S. We moved to the Caribbean and have lived there for quite a long time. That's why nobody knows where I am. Literally, we're on a deserted island. Like Nihm's Island that movie with Jodie Foster. We've been living in the islands and I had two kids and we've just been raising our sons. That's it.

Rock Confidential: That still sounds like a pretty cool gig.

Lita: It is! We just bought a house in Miami so we're back in civilization.

Rock Confidential: It probably felt great to get away and recharge the batteries for a while, too.

Lita: The music scene got so weird I just didn't know what the heck I was doing. It was almost like anything from the '80s was a dirty word. I thought it was good time to check out.

Rock Confidential: At that time the music industry was going all to hell especially for artists that were popular in the '80s. Did that solely influence your decision to step away and start a family or was it just good timing to do both?

Lita: It was definitely the icing on the cake, Jesse. The music scene isn't so wacky today as it was a few years ago. Everything was so different. Rock 'n' roll just went completely out the window.

Rock Confidential: When you knew you were going to step away did you have an idea of how long you'd take a break? Did you ever think you may not come back?

Lita: Not really. I didn't think I'd give it up. I was wondering when the right time to step back in was going to be. My kids were young. I didn't want to leave them. We don't do babysitters. We home school them. I didn't want to take a little baby on the road. I wanted to watch the music scene and see what was going on. There's a lot of rock 'n' roll bands out there now and they're doing good. Things are changing and I'm really happy to see that.

Rock Confidential: Your fans are really looking forward to seeing you on the road. There are rumors of special appearances at a few select warm-up gigs

Lita: And I've got a really good, kick-ass band. We just put our toes in the water. We've only been together for about a week. We'll be writing some music, doing some new recordings.

Rock Confidential: Did you keep up your licks during your break?

Lita: Nah. I didn't. I just checked out completely. I think one of the hardest gigs in the world is being a parent. It takes all of me. It also takes all of you to be in a rock band. I just couldn't do both. When I had my kids they were priority over everything else. My kids are getting older and they're starting to rock! My son got a gold top Les Paul for his 11th birthday. My other son is playing QUEEN on the drums and he's only six. They're ready to rock! They want me to rock. When they were after me to play I knew it was time!

Rock Confidential: Do you think that some of the '80s bands confused their fans by changing their direction too much?

Lita: I don't know. There's more to life than rock n roll. You've gotta try different things. I know Bret Michaels did some country stuff. That's OK. If the fans are truly fans of the artist then they'll follow them no matter what. I think some bands are just trying to fit in to the wacky music business these days. It's not easy.

Rock Confidential: How does your passion for music differ now that you're a mom?

Lita: I've got to teach it to the kids. We start with the ABCs. "A stands for AC/DC. B stands for BLACK SABBATH. C is for THE CULT. D is for DEEP PURPLE. E is for EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER!" (laughs) My kids already want to do a remake of "Youth Gone Wild" by SKID ROW! I thought that would be really fun and it really fits them. They're insane!

Read the entire interview at www.rockconfidential.com.