Complete List Of The Runaways Band Members

Feature Photo: David Johnson, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

As I’ve written on the site many times, I was 15 years old when I first saw the cover for the first Runaways album in Sam Goody’s in 1976. I bought the album just based on the cover. I was blown away by what I heard. Nobody in my high school at the time had ever even heard of The Runaways. They were a brand new band, and I was one of the first ones to discover them, at least in my high school. This complete list of The Runaways band members article presents the small group of musicians who were part of The Runaways. One of my favorite bands of all time.

The Runaways formed in Los Angeles in 1975 and lasted less than four years, but the band’s lineup changed several times during that short period. Joan Jett and Sandy West became the two constants from the group’s formation through its breakup in 1979. Around them came a remarkable succession of singers, guitarists, and bassists whose combined work helped make The Runaways one of the most influential all-female rock bands of the 1970s.

Joan Jett

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We had to open this list up with Joan Jett. She was a founding member of the band and, of course, the most commercially successful of The Runaways in her post-band career, with Lita Ford also going on to major success. As one of the founding members of The Runaways, Joan Jett served primarily as rhythm guitarist and shared lead vocals, first with Micki Steele and later with Cherie Currie. Jett joined the band at its inception in 1975 and remained until its disbandment in 1979.

Jett contributed to all four Runaways studio albums: The Runaways (1976), Queens of Noise (1977), Waitin’ for the Night (1977), and And Now… The Runaways (1978). After Cherie Currie left, Jett became the band’s principal lead vocalist. Her raw vocal style, rhythm guitar playing, songwriting, and instinct for direct rock and roll became defining elements of The Runaways’ sound.

After the band split, Joan Jett went on to have an incredible rock and roll career, first under her own name and then with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Blackhearts in 2015 and has remained an active recording and touring artist into 2026.

Sandy West

Sandy West was the drummer and one of the founding forces behind The Runaways. West and Joan Jett began playing together in 1975 before the full lineup had taken shape, making them the two members who remained through the band’s entire existence. West’s hard-hitting drumming gave The Runaways much of their power and helped distinguish the group from the novelty act that some early critics wrongly assumed they were.

West played on all four Runaways studio albums and also sang lead or backing vocals on several recordings. Her playing ranged from straight-ahead hard rock to faster punk-influenced material, and her physical attack behind the kit became one of the band’s most recognizable live elements.

After The Runaways broke up, West continued playing music and led her own projects but never achieved the commercial success of Joan Jett or Lita Ford. She died from lung cancer on October 21, 2006, at the age of 47. West is remembered as a trailblazer for female drummers in hard rock.

Kari Krome

Kari Krome was part of the earliest history of The Runaways and helped shape the concept before the classic lineup existed. A teenage songwriter in the Los Angeles rock scene, Krome connected with Kim Fowley in 1975 and was briefly part of an early trio with Joan Jett and Sandy West. She was considered for the lead-vocal role before the group moved in another direction.

Krome’s importance to The Runaways extended far beyond that brief performing period. She became one of the young songwriters associated with the band’s formative material and received writing credits on Runaways songs including “Thunder,” “American Nights,” “Blackmail,” and “Secrets.” Her early involvement belongs in any complete account of the musicians and writers who helped establish the band.

Micki Steele

Shane Greentree, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Micki Steele, later professionally known as Michael Steele, was one of the original members of The Runaways. She joined during the band’s first months in 1975, playing bass and singing lead vocals in the early power-trio lineup with Joan Jett and Sandy West.

Steele participated in the band’s early demos before leaving prior to the recording of the 1976 debut album. Those early recordings were later issued in various archival forms, preserving a glimpse of The Runaways before Cherie Currie, Jackie Fox, and the classic five-member lineup arrived.

Steele later achieved far greater commercial success as bassist and vocalist for The Bangles, joining that group in 1983. Her singing and bass playing became important parts of albums such as Different Light and Everything, and she remained with The Bangles until 2005.

Peggy Foster

Peggy Foster held the bass position for a very brief period in late 1975 during one of the fastest-changing stretches in Runaways history. She joined after Micki Steele’s departure and played in an early lineup that included Joan Jett, Sandy West, Lita Ford, and newly recruited lead singer Cherie Currie.

Foster’s tenure lasted only a few weeks, but she did perform live with the group before Jackie Fox became the regular bassist. Foster did not appear on a Runaways studio album, yet her place in the lineup makes her part of the band’s complete personnel history.

Cherie Currie

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Cherie Currie joined The Runaways as lead vocalist in 1975 at the age of 15. Her powerful voice and charismatic stage presence quickly became central to the band’s image and sound. Currie sang on The Runaways (1976) and Queens of Noise (1977) and appeared on the 1977 live album Live in Japan. Her performance on “Cherry Bomb” became one of the defining moments in the band’s history.

Currie left The Runaways in 1977 and pursued solo music, acting, and visual art. She later recorded with her twin sister Marie Currie and continued releasing and performing music in subsequent decades. Her memoir Neon Angel became an important source on the band’s turbulent history and helped inspire the 2010 film The Runaways.

Lita Ford

Feature Photo: David Johnson, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Lita Ford joined The Runaways in 1975 and became the band’s lead guitarist, remaining through the breakup in 1979. Ford’s guitar solos and heavy-metal influences were instrumental in shaping the band’s harder edge. She played on all four Runaways studio albums and increasingly contributed vocals as the lineup changed during the band’s final years.

Ford’s role expanded substantially after Cherie Currie and Jackie Fox left. By the final studio album, And Now… The Runaways, she was not only the lead guitarist but also sang lead on material and handled bass parts during the recording after another lineup transition.

After The Runaways disbanded, Ford embarked on a solo career, releasing Out for Blood and Dancin’ on the Edge before reaching a new level of commercial success with Lita in 1988. The album featured “Kiss Me Deadly” and the Ozzy Osbourne duet “Close My Eyes Forever.” Ford has remained an active performer and continued touring in 2026.

Jackie Fox

Jackie Fox, born Jacqueline Fuchs, joined The Runaways in late 1975 as the bassist after initially auditioning on guitar. She became part of the classic lineup with Joan Jett, Sandy West, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie. Fox was the band’s official bassist during the era of The Runaways (1976), Queens of Noise (1977), and Live in Japan (1977), although later accounts have complicated the exact studio-bass credits on the debut album.

Fox left during the band’s 1977 tour of Japan. After leaving The Runaways, she returned to school, graduated from UCLA, earned a law degree from Harvard, and built a career as an attorney and writer under her birth name, Jackie Fuchs. She later became a multi-game champion on Jeopardy!, adding another unexpected chapter to one of the most unusual post-Runaways careers.

Vicki Blue

Vicki Blue, later known as Victory Tischler-Blue, replaced Jackie Fox as The Runaways’ bassist in 1977. She became part of the post-Currie lineup in which Joan Jett handled the majority of the lead vocals and played during the period surrounding the band’s third studio album, Waitin’ for the Night.

Blue left The Runaways in 1978 before the final studio album was completed. Although her name appeared in credits associated with And Now… The Runaways, later accounts of the sessions state that she did not play the finished bass parts, which were handled by Lita Ford. Blue subsequently moved into film, television, writing, and production under the name Victory Tischler-Blue.

Her most significant later contribution to the Runaways story came as director of the 2004 documentary Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways, which featured extensive interviews and offered a darker account of the band’s internal history.

Laurie McAllister

Laurie McAllister, born Laurie Hoyt, became the final bassist in The Runaways’ history. She joined in 1978 after Vicki Blue’s departure and toured with Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Sandy West during the band’s final months.

McAllister did not play on a Runaways studio album. She joined after the recording of And Now… The Runaways and performed the material live as the group continued touring in 1978. Plans for further touring in 1979 were abandoned when the band broke up.

After The Runaways, McAllister became part of another all-female rock band, The Orchids. She died on August 25, 2011, at the age of 54 after an asthma attack. As the last bassist to perform with The Runaways before their breakup, McAllister completed a remarkable chain of bass players that stretched from Micki Steele through Peggy Foster, Jackie Fox, and Vicki Blue.

The Runaways’ contribution to rock music, particularly in paving the way for future generations of female musicians, remains their enduring legacy. The group existed for only a few years, but Joan Jett, Sandy West, Kari Krome, Micki Steele, Peggy Foster, Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Jackie Fox, Vicki Blue, and Laurie McAllister all played roles in its fast-moving history. The band’s music and attitude continued to influence punk, hard rock, heavy metal, and generations of women who saw The Runaways and realized they could take the stage on their own terms.

Updated August 8, 2026.