Female Musicians Reveal How Lita Ford Inspired Them to Rock and ‘Not Give a F–k’

At the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards, rock’s top female talents shared the stage with Halestorm and Lita Ford to jam the Runaways classic “Cherry Bomb.” After the performance, all the ladies headed to the PRS Backstage Artist Lounge to spread the love and share how Lita Ford helped spark their love for rock and roll.

Everyone had something inspiring to say about Lita Ford, whether it was Lzzy Hale, New Year’s Day’s Ash Costello, Stitched Up Heart’s Alecia Demner, Sick Puppies’ Emma Anzai or Butcher Babies vocalists Carla Harvey and Heidi Shepherd.

“You obviously paved the way for girls like us to go out there and not give a fuck and just tell the world that we can rock just as hard as the boys, so thank you so fucking much,” Shepherd told Lita Ford.

Lzzy Hale added, “When you first pick up a guitar, as a girl, for me, there was that light at the end of the tunnel. There was that hope because [Lita] had come before me and so it was possible. I was stoked because there was something inside of me that said I can totally do that because Lita can.”

“I’m so proud of all of you,” Ford said to the group of women rockers. “I’m glad I didn’t give up, I didn’t want to give up, it’s in my blood. I think I was put on this planet to do that and carve that path for everybody, because there’s no reason a female can’t play a guitar or play a drum kit.”

Check out our exclusive interview with the Women of Rock in the video above.

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Halestorm + Lita Ford Rock 'Cherry Bomb' - 2017 Loudwire Music Awards