Up next
'Migrant Influencer' Arrested
After Cherie Currie and Jackie Fox left the band, the Runaways continued on after also parting ways with manager Kim Fowley. But the band didn’t make it past 1979. For Sandy West, the Runaways’ drummer, who died tragically from lung cancer at 47, the breakup of the band was about a relentless schedule. “We just needed a break; we were getting tired,” she told Backfire in 2000.
By the Runaways’ fourth studio album, Jett believed she was on the verge of being ousted. “I’ve got a bad feeling,” she recalled thinking. “I don’t wanna get fired from a band that I started.” She believes that it was simply diverging musical tastes that did the band in. “I’m sure none of us wanted to,” she told Lars Ulrich. “We all got along fine, so there wasn’t anything like that. It was not a personality thing.” Lita Ford agreed with Jett that the Runways’ demise was due to musical differences. “We weren’t happy with what we were doing,” she told Bravewords in 2017. “We weren’t a team.” Ford said that she and Jett just “didn’t click musically.” While the Runaways didn’t survive, both Jett and Ford went on to successful careers, and the band inspired generations of other musicians, both women and men.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
