Lzzy Hale: Without Lita Ford Halestorm Might Not Exist
Earlier this year, Halestorm teamed up with female rock legend Lita Ford for a short tour in April. Ford helped pave the way for women in rock and metal, entering the fold with the Runaways in the mid-1970s. In a recent interview, Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale discussed Ford's impact, even saying Halestorm may not have existed if it weren't for her.
Speaking with WDHA's Box of Rock (video below), Lzzy discussed the recent tour and the recent rise in women in hard rock and metal. "Just to be a part of it is so cool," she began. "It's really neat to see that kind of flood happening right now. And it's really starting to… I mean, I wanna say it evened out, but I think it's tipping the scales, 'cause we've been doing a lot of festivals lately and it's just so many girls." The frontwoman mentioned how 10 years ago and through 2009, she was typically the only female on the bill.
Continuing this sentiment, Hale added, "It's something that Lita [Ford] and I have been talking a lot about because she kind of kicked the door open for both myself and [tourmate] Dorothy, all of us, to kind of waltz right in. And it's a huge testament to just the strength… And you have to kind of have blinders on to everything. Don't worry about what people think. Don't quit. Don't worry about opinions, especially [on the] Internet; don't worry about that."
Riffing on the quitting idea, Hale pondered if the scene would look similar to today, stating, "I wonder what would have happened if [Lita] was, like, after all the stuff that she went through [in the early years], if she just said, 'You know what? I'm done.' What would have happened? There might have not been [a Halestorm]."
Halestorm recently received two Gold certifications from the RIAA for their first two records: Halestorm and The Strange Case Of... Their latest, 2015's Into the Wild Life, has not received a certification, but was the highest charting of all three Halestorm albums, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
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