Metal queen LITA FORD spoke with Mike Rothman from Sun-sentinel.com recently about a number of topics including her new album, Wicked Wonderland. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Sun-sentinel.com: Wicked Wonderland was just released in October. How is it different from your earlier work with THE RUNAWAYS in the 1970s or even your solo work touring with OZZY OSBOURNE in the 1980s?

Ford: "It is a lot heavier sounding than my earlier stuff. I've always had record companies telling me I need to be more poppy and try to get me to be like BRITNEY SPEARS. I just have heavy metal in my blood and that's what I want to do. With Wicked Wonderland, I didn't have anyone telling me what to do. I came up with something heavy, upbeat and something sexy."

Sun-sentinel.com: You were out of the game for almost 15 years until last year. What were you up to?

Ford: "We live in the Caribbean, my husband and I. When we got married 15 years ago, I wanted a beach house and instead he bought me an island. We live there with my two boys, James, 12, and Rocco, 8, and I just raise my kids on the beach. I think there is a lot of built up energy that went into Wicked Wonderland after not performing for 15 years."

Sun-sentinel.com: The 2010 movie The Runaways is filming. Have you met the cast or Scout Taylor-Compton, who is playing you in the film? Or have you distanced yourself from the project?

Ford: "It's a long story but I'll try to make it short. I have a really bad relationship with people behind the scenes of the film for the past 30 years. It's been a war and I don't know why because nothing happened. This guy is off his freaking tree. For some reason, he has it out for me. It's Joan Jett's management. When I heard the movie was being made, I thought I might be portrayed in a bad light. I didn't want to be a part of it and they offered me a ridiculously low sum of money for the rights to my life story. Now, Scout Taylor-Compton came to the show in Lake Tahoe and I had the pleasure of meeting her. She is awesome. I just felt so much better after meeting her. She understood me and I understood her. I think the movie is gonna be OK."

Sun-sentinel.com: What is one of the craziest stories you can tell that took place while writing and touring with Ozzy?

Ford: "When I wrote Close My Eyes Forever with Ozzy, he showed up at the studio with Sharon and I had just bought a new house, so he brought me a gift. It was a life-size duplicate of Koko the Gorilla from the San Diego Zoo. We had some wine and it took all night to write the song. Sharon left and Ozzy took a cab in the morning. When I left, I was stuck with Koko and was a little intoxicated from night before. I had to drive in rush hour traffic with this gorilla in the passenger seat of my Jeep. Thank God I wasn't pulled over."

Read the entire interview here.