Lita Ford, a former member of The Runaways and a solo performer, had been romantically linked to several famous musicians in the past, among them Black Sabbath‘s Tony Iommi. In a 2016 interview with Fox News Magazine, she fondly recalled her relationship with Nikki Sixx, the bassist of Mötley Crüe.
“My first love, of course, was Nikki Sixx and we helped each other along the way because he was young and struggling, pre-Mötley Crüe,” he said. “I remember him lighting his boots. He had these boots that were two sizes too small, and he would pour lighter fluid on them, and then light them with a Bic lighter, and then go on stage with these boots [laughs]. So obviously, [Mötley Crüe] progressed as far as pyrotechnics go.”
“I taught him how to make fake blood for the mannequins they used on stage. Because The Runaways used fake blood. We helped each other with money, we didn’t have much to eat or just to buy stuff, like a pair of socks, shoes, or anything like that.”
Lita Ford has discussed openly how she and her peers in the music industry during the 80s embraced the rock-and-roll way of life, which included indulging in sex and drugs.
“Everybody was just going crazy with the sex,” she said. “Look at bands like Poison. They would have a room full of girls after the show, and Bret [Michaels] and C.C. [DeVille] and all the guys from Poison, they would just pick a couple of girls — not one; two or three — and they would make the others go back out into the audience, and they would have their way. And the girls loved it; they would have the time of their life. It was just a real crazy time.
“And with me, I always went with the rock stars. I got off on that, because everybody else was going with the groupies, and here I am going with the rock stars. ‘Cause I was one of the only females out there. I was touring with all these guys and I was working with all these guys and meeting them at nightclubs and parties. It was awesome.”
When asked if she shared a lot in common with the rock stars she ended up with, Lita said: “I think people just naturally do that anyway. If you’re in school, you’re gonna attract someone who’s also in that same school. If you’re in a job, if you’re working as a doctor, you’re probably gonna attract the nurses.
“If you’re an attorney, you’re probably gonna attract other female attorneys or male attorneys or the secretaries. It just kind of goes that way. If you’re a rock band, you’re gonna attract other singers or guitar players. And I did. I had an affair with a lot of guitar players in the music industry and a lot of lead singers in the music industry.”