In the 1970s, when the rock scene was at its peak, there were many memorable bands on stage. But two of them also saw one of the most turbulent romances: Black Sabbath and the Runaways. Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi was the childhood crush of the Runaways guitarist Lita Ford. One day, when Lita and her band became the opening band for Black Sabbath, it became the beginning of everything for the duo.
Lita Ford started playing the guitar when she was just ten years old. She was so talented that she had already mastered Led Zeppelin licks by age 13. At the age of 13, the guitarist experienced another life-changing moment when she attended a Black Sabbath concert. The moment she saw the thick, black-haired man she would later describe as ‘godlike’ and ‘superhuman,’ she was smitten with him. This was their first encounter, although Iommi didn’t know about Ford yet.
The musician’s talent and passion for the guitar eventually thrust her into the middle of the rock scene. The Runaways were formed in the mid-’70s, and the all-female band made their name in the rock scene in their short career. Lita’s life had become a dream, but one day, when they opened the Black Sabbath concert, that journey started to become even more incredible.
Finally, Tony Iommi had seen Lita too. The passion between the two was almost palpable, and they started dating immediately. They would have a short engagement in the 1980s. But during their time together, the dark side of Lita’s ‘superhuman’ perception of Iommi began to emerge. Lita Ford, in her memoir ‘Living Like A Runaway,’ described the details of this relationship, its beginning, how it continued, and how it ended. And there she was also talking about Tony physically abusing her. A beautiful romance soon turned into a toxic love affair.
The duo had many problems, including physical abuse, and couldn’t stay together very long. However, when two musicians were together, it was easy to immortalize this relationship. Lita and Ford recorded an album named ‘The Bride Wore Black’ together.
However, Lita was trying to survive as a female metalhead in a male-dominated industry driven by the motto ‘women can’t play metal.’ As you can imagine, many men, from managers to producers, could not bear to take orders from a woman. This toxic industry structure discouraged and hindered Lita from time to time. This album was also among those that could not be released due to this dark side of the industry and various personnel problems.
On the other hand, Lita has proven it all her life with her talent on the guitar and her musical genius, contrary to all prevalent prejudices. Having embarked on a successful solo career after the Runaways, she has shown again and again how to be a hell of a metalhead as a female musician.
