LITA FORD has issued the following update:

"Jim received an extra-special for his birthday last week (November 10th). During the show in Houma, Geoff Tate sang him 'Happy Birthday' on stage.

Jim said this about the moment and the tour with the ‘Rÿche: "We are honored and touched that he (Geoff) would do this. Queensrÿche has been the utmost in cool, professional, and hands down most awesome band to tour with. We couldn't have asked for a better situation.

Geoff is one of a couple singers that inspired me to learn all I could about the human voice. The Queensrÿche demo with 'Queen Of The Ryche' changed my life. Without that, I might not have met my wife... I might not be where I am today.

Geoff, the band, and Susan Tate - the manager, have been more cool to us than we could have imagined. Long live the 'Rÿche!"

Greek-based webzine, Rockpages.gr, did an exclusive interview a couple of weeks ago with Lita Ford regarding her latest comeback album Wicked Wonderland. Here's an excerpt:

Rockpages.gr: Let’s go now to the Wicked Wonderland. How much has the music industry changed since your last album? “Black” was released fifteen years ago.

Lita Ford: "Yes, I think Wicked Wonderland is much heavier. It has more energy, it’s more sexual, it has more depth to it. It’s an overall album, I think. When Black came out, I was really tired and bored. I wanted to do something different. I wasn’t ready to make another record. I was sick and tired of everything and everybody in my life. At that time…that’s when I got married to Jim Gillette. I had my first child and I wanted to be a good mother. I wanted to be there for my children. Some mothers prefer to hire baby-sitters, nannies, housekeepers, they never see their kids. Other people take care of their children. I didn’t want to be like that it’s a very American thing to do. I still have my kids with me when I am on tour. I take them with me everywhere I go. I think that’s the best school."

Rockpages.gr: Listening to the songs off your new album, I discovered your passion for being creative again. Do the songs represent your thoughts and feelings of these fifteen years, or do they simply represent Lita Ford in 2009?

Lita Ford: "2009! We didn’t write for 15 years. I didn’t listen to any music, I didn’t buy any rock n' roll record, I didn’t watch MTV. I had really turned off the radio and television. We really just became different people. We tried to make a record as honest as possible. We didn’t have a clue what was out there. We didn’t listen to…let’s say Lady Gaga. I wanted to make a record like MADONNA, without following any trends. In a way, I think that this was good to me because I remained true to myself as an artist. I still play like Lita and nothing else!"

Read the full interview here.