2025 is a big year for Lita Ford. Firstly, it's the year that the whole rock community will recognise this icon's 50th year in music. But it's not just the number, it's the content that fills this half century that justifies the spotlight and recognition. Albums such as Lita’s solo debut Out For Blood, 1988’s stratospheric Lita, her early 90s gems Stiletto and Dangerous Curves, 1995’s heavier Black and her comeback album 2009’s Wicked Wonderland are just some examples of the wholly outstanding music that has left an indelible mark on the rock music turntable. But Lita’s success hasn’t simply been about great music, it's about the passion within which she delivers this music, creating a hugely uplifting and massively empowering experience for the listener. Secondly for 2025, there's a huge sense of anticipation following the hint that this year we may see a new album from Lita. We shall have to wait and see. However, it's very easy to be patient when we receive the news that 2025 is going to be massive in terms of Lita’s touring commitments. 37 dates have already been announced which include the very special Rock Meets Classic run of shows in Germany, as well as a number of headline and festival appearances across Europe, the US and Lita’s birthplace, the UK. With a band of world class musicians, a Lita Ford show is something very special indeed, and on the eve of all this activity we catch up with Lita herself to soak up the excitement. It’s 28 degrees at her home in Arizona. With our Manchester UK climate being a wet and windy 2 degrees, we at Rock Today confess that we are perhaps feeling just a tad jealous. However, this soon subsides as we are given the warmest of welcomes from Lita. And understandably, it's a very bright and excited Lita that greets us, undoubtedly fuelled by the live road ahead. We make ourselves comfortable and our conversation begins...

First of all, I’d like to focus on the ‘big picture’ where 2025 and your live dates are concerned. This year we can see already that you will be performing 37 shows: some US dates that are happening now, and also extensive headline shows and festival appearances across Europe and the UK, with a scattering of more US dates throughout. It’s absolutely huge. As you look ahead at what promises to be an amazing spring and summer, what sort of thoughts are going through your mind?

It’s what we do. We tour, we travel, we perform. We love the fans. We love to get out and see everybody in all different kinds of weather, you know, sometimes it’s cold and sometimes it’s as hot as hell. So this is what we do. We just take it one step at a time rather than looking at the whole year and freaking out like ‘Oh, I gotta go here, I gotta go there’. I take my days one step at a time, for instance, this coming weekend we're in Johnson City, Tennessee performing with Dee Snider. So we will just get that under our belt and then we move on to the next show. Otherwise it does become overwhelming.

Well, let’s start with the Rock Meets Classic tour where you will be playing 13 arena shows across Germany in April. This is something really special, and quite an ingenious concept, where the rawness of rock is blended with a classical orchestra, and it’s where you will be sharing the stage with artists such as Randall Hall (Lynyrd Skynryd), Glenn Hughes, Fran Cosmo (Boston), John Elefante (Kansas) and Mal McNulty (Slade). How did your involvement come about and what was it about Rock Meets Classic that made you want to be a part it?

Well, my manager Adam Parsons had suggested that it might be a good thing for me to consider doing. At the time, I wasn't real familiar with Rock Meets Classic so he sent me over a bunch of videos and I watched them and just went ‘Wow! This is so awesome! I have to do this!’. Plus it gets me over to Germany for a while and I'm really happy about that and to be around all these fantastic musicians. With the Rock Meets Classic band and the singers it's just going to be so badass!

Absolutely! And not wanting to overwhelm you further but I know that where that run is concerned sometimes you're doing five days without a day off. How do you survive that sort of commitment?

Days off can be dangerous! I remember being out on the Lita tour when the Lita album came out and we all used to go “Oh no! It's a day off! What's going to happen today?!”. You can always guarantee that somebody's going to get in trouble on your day off! One of the roadies will be drunk in the bar or something will be off somewhere! So I feel like when it's work days and performance days that is my favourite time because I know that it keeps me out of trouble! (Laughs!)

Of course, what we must talk about is how you are returning to the UK to play 3 dates in July, these being at KK’s Steel Mill in Wolverhampton (23rd), The Indigo O2 in London (24th) and the Steelhouse Festival. These will be your first UK dates in 8 years. What does it mean to be coming back to the UK?

Well, you know, I was born in the UK. My father was British and it's where it's I'm from. It's my home town. So it's beyond exciting to come back to the UK and I love it so much. I love England! I love the shopping and the food – some of my favourite curries - and of course just the whole music scene over there. I hope it hasn't changed too much. Some of my favourite memories are from the UK, hanging out with a lot of these great musicians and some of them aren't with us anymore. What I’m glad about is that we get to come back and we're doing it with Vixen too! The girls from Vixen will be with us on a couple of shows, and then the Steelhouse Festival will be WASP so that's going to be really exciting.

As say, you were born in London and you recently said “there’s no place like home”. Does it still feel like that?

You know, it does to me! My mother is from Italy but my father was born and raised in London and I was born in London and when you go back to your roots it's just a certain feeling that you get when you're there that you can't get when you're anywhere else in the world. I can go to Texas, I can go to Arizona... I mean, I love Arizona, this is where my house is, but it's not the same. It’s just not the same as being back to those roots where you're from. It's just part of your soul.

I’ve followed your career since the 80’s and your music, Lita, for me has consistently been incredibly uplifting and hugely empowering. When I listen to albums like Dangerous Curves and Black, I quite simply feel like I can take on the world. One of the amazing things about your UK headline dates are that, as you say, you will be joined by the absolutely outstanding Vixen who have similar qualities. What does it mean to have Vixen sharing the stage with you at these shows?

Well, they've been through a lot over the years and I remember when they had their first record out. I had my record out with Ozzy at that time and they were just kicking ass back then! I know Roxy (Petrucci, drums) who is the leader of the band, she has worked her ass off over the decades to put together a really, really fantastic newer version of Vixen. All the girls are great! Musically, they are top notch. The singer Rosa (Laricchiuta) is just badass and I know it's going to be a fantastic show. I'm just grateful to be on the same stage with them. I think we're going to tear it up! We're going to wreak havoc!

Well let's talk a little bit more about this because everything you’ve just said about Vixen I wholeheartedly agree with and I think they are absolutely on fire! And UK tour has been labelled the Girls Night Out Tour. You have been a beacon, a trailblazer, and one of the most powerful and successful women in rock – and as I said before, you leave people feeling empowered. With Vixen and also artists Chez Kane and Bobbie Dazzle performing, to what extent are these shows about celebrating strong women and flying the flag for women in rock?

For me, my whole plan is just to leave a mark on the UK - on London and Wolverhampton. We just want to leave a mark! I just want to go there and for everyone to just sort of wait until the dust settles before they realize what just came in and hit them! (Laughs!) We have a great band and I know we're going to be doing some meet and greets. The band are just the greatest musicians around, honestly. Next to the Rock Meets Classic, that's my goal – just to tear it up as much as possible, have a great time, get hot and sweaty and enjoy some really loud rock and roll!

The summer is a great opportunity for rock fans to see you on the festival circuit, and you are playing some great festivals including Z! Live in Spain, the Masters Of Rock Festival In Vizovice, the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, the Bilbao Music Legends Festival, Steelhouse in Wales and the mighty Wacken festival. How much do you enjoy playing festivals?

I love playing festivals. They're always a bit of the challenge because you've got a lot of other bands on the show with you. But the fans are so great at these festivals, they just roll up their sleeves and get down and dirty with you! They’re a whole different animal than playing a place like a club or a theatre... and that’s okay! I mean, this is what we do. We are thunder rock whether we are at a festival or whether we're in a theatre. You just have to know how to handle it and I'm so grateful to be coming back and doing all these great festivals. It's such an honour to be on all these shows with all these other great bands, and we're good with it! We can't wait to see the fans... and eat the food! Try all the food and go shopping!

Absolutely! Make the most of it all! And picking up on what you said earlier about playing at Steelhouse and how WASP are going to be on the bill, are festivals also a great opportunity to catch up with friends who may be zigzagging about on the festival circuit?

Sometimes, if you have time you go and watch the other bands and it's always good to hook your head in and say hi. You can also run across old friends in passing when you're coming off stage and they're going on stage. There's really not a whole lot of time to hang out and do that kind of stuff, but yes, of course. I'm going to try and catch a couple of songs from WASP. I mean, I've known Blackie (Lawless) since the early 80s so, you know, they’re family and it's always good to see your family up there rocking it out.

Lita, you've touched upon what a great band you have. You have a fantastic band! You've mentioned that they are some of the greatest musicians around and I couldn't agree with you more. Patrick Kennison (guitars), Marten Andersson (bass) and Bobby Rock (drums) aren’t just great musicians, they are great performers and their musical heritage is a who’s who of rock. What does it mean to play onstage with these amazing guys every night?

Well, we keep each other on our toes, that's for sure! (Laughs!). Some nights you maybe don't feel good or your tired or you're just kind of feeling ‘blah!’, and then you have someone like Patrick Tennyson that will come in and crack a joke and he will get everybody laughing! Everybody is then just cracking up and all the negativity just kind of goes out the window and you forget about it! And Bobby Rock is an athlete! He is the fittest of the fittest and we always do a pre-show Zen where we do like a huddle and he gives us a rap or a speech like ‘Come on! Let’s destroy this village!’. Everybody else sort of gets shoved to the background and we just huddle together as a band. So when we go on stage, we go on stage as a band. And I know a lot of bands don't have that, for whatever reason. There may be one guy who doesn't like the other guy or whatever. And that's the thing with us – we all like each other, we all respect each other and we take that to the stage and it's huge! So if anybody so to speak ‘falls’, the rest of us are there to catch that person. Marten is from Stockholm and it's just really great having him in the band. We do these shout-outs, even here in the US, like ‘Marten, say hello to Texas like they do in Stockholm’ and then Marten speaks Swedish to the Texas audience and gets them to shouting and throwing their fists in the air, and it's really cool! They don't even know what he's saying but they love it! They throw their fists up in the air! And then Patrick will say something completely nasty. He gets everybody laughing. I'm really not even quite sure what he says but I mean he cracks me up every time and Bobby is the backbone of it all. He's just a badass! All he wants to do is play drums and be a badass and he does it well. And I’m the fearless leader! It's what Martin calls me: “You are our fearless leader!”. Yes I am!

And proudly so! 2025 is a special year because it marks a number of anniversaries and milestones. It’s your 50th year in music, the 35th anniversary of the album Stilleto and the 30th anniversary of 1995’s Black. How do you intend celebrating these wonderful milestones and achievements?

Oh god! I don't know! I'm not very good with dates!

Well, one of the things I was going to ask is whether you are even aware of these milestones or whether you perhaps rely on the fans to tell you?

Yes, because I'm really bad with dates. As a matter of fact, my girlfriend called my friend was over the other day and we were talking and she says “ Lita, do you know how old you are?” and I said “Of course I do! I'm 64”, and she said “What? No you’re not!” so I asked her “Well, how old am I then?” and she said “You’re 66!”. I said “No, I’m not!”. She said “Yes, you are!” and we got into a fight over it. So I went and got my computer and I had to Google it: ‘How old is Lita Ford...’ ... 66!! And I said to her “Oh my god! You just ruined my day!” (Laughs!) I had no idea! Isn't that terrible?!

Well, in that moment your good friend stole two years from you!

But life is good and we're all strong and we're all healthy and we're all ready to rock the world!

Let's for a moment just talk about new music. I believe you may be working on a new album that's currently under wraps but the world is already seen you be a part of new music over the last couple of months. I am of course referring to your collaboration with Ricky Warwick on his latest album Blood Ties on the track Don't Leave Me In The Dark. When the news broke that you and Ricky had undertaken this collaboration it was so wonderful to see all the comments that were coming from the rock community, especially in the UK. The love that was there was amazing and they just made me think what a truly wonderful collaboration this really is. How did that collaboration come about and what did it mean to work with Ricky on this track?

Well, Ricky and I both share the same management which is how the track came about. They sent the track over to me and I heard the track and they said ‘Lita, do you want to sing on this?’ and I just thought it was a great track and that I would love to sing on it. It's upbeat even though it's ‘don't leave me in the dark’ – it's still an upbeat song! After recording it, it turned out so great in the studio that they decided they wanted to do a video. They asked me if I wanted to do the video and I thought absolutely! I'm so happy that they liked the vocal performance and that the song turned out as well as it did. It meant a lot to me to be doing the song with Ricky because of his musical legacy, where he comes from and everything he's done in his musical career. I was there. I kind of went through all that with him so, you know, in a way he is my brother. My brother from another mother! So it was really just a no brainer to get in and do that duet with Ricky. And then when they wanted to do the video shoot, they wanted to do it in a boxing ring and I just thought that was badass! That just makes so much sense in the world! I'm so happy to have been a part of it and I will support Ricky forever. He's the greatest!

And finally, as we’ve said, 2025 is promising to be a great year for you out on the road. What can fans expect from a Lita Ford Show In 2025?

Lots of high energy! That's one thing! When we get together on stage, me and the guys, there's no shortage of high energy. Great musicians and we are each a rock star in our own right. We each offer something for the audience to look at and for the audience to share and take home with them. I'm hoping that we can get the new music out by then because that would be the ultimate, but if not we've got some great tunes from decades of putting stuff together and from live performance. Absolutely nobody will be let down!