At age 16 Lita Ford joined all-girl rock band The Runaways as lead guitarist. She started playing guitar at age 11, and after seeing her first Black Sabbath show at aged 13 was a dedicated heavy rock fan. All the girls in the group based their looks on their idols and Ford’s was a cross between Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and Jeff Beck. The band split in 1979 after a disagreement about the direction, with Joan Jett and bassist Viki Blue wanting to play Ramones-influenced punk, while Ford and Drummer Sandy West wanted to continue with the hard rock sound. Ford continued on to have a successful solo career, and during the eighties was engaged to Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, Black Sabbath lead guitarist Toni Iommi, married and divorced W.A.S.P guitarist Chris Holmes.