Lee Aaron
Encyclopedia
Lee Aaron is a Canadian
rock
and jazz
singer. She had several hits in the 1980s and early 1990s such as "Metal Queen", "Whatcha Do to My Body", and "Sex with Love".
, and began singing in school musicals at the age of five. She was discovered singing in a music production when she was fifteen years old, and was asked to join a local rock group called "Lee Aaron" while still in high school
in Brampton, Ontario
. Aaron sang, played alto saxophone
and keyboards
in this first incarnation of the band.
At age seventeen, Aaron's face was badly bruised and her nose broken in a car accident. No surgery was required, but years later, in a profile on Aaron, Canadian Musician Magazine mistakenly embellished the incident into Aaron requiring complete facial reconstruction. The magazine printed a retraction in the following month's issue.
That same year, she signed with her first manager, Bob Connolly. Aaron was removed from playing any instruments and pulled centre stage to front the band.
, Riff Raff
, Santers, and Triumph
's Rik Emmett
. The album, available in England
only as an import, created a groundswell of interest that resulted in Aaron's appearance that year at the Reading Festival.
In late 1982, Aaron flew to New York
and posed topless for the men's magazine OUI. The magazine's March 1983 issue featured Aaron on the cover and in an interview. Aaron later concluded that posing for the magazine damaged her musical credibility; she regretted the decision and assigned blame for it to pressure from her manager.
1984's recording of the album Metal Queen
resulted in a multi-album deal with Attic Records
. During the recording of Metal Queen, guitarist John Albani joined the band and he and Aaron formed a solid songwriting partnership that would last eleven years. Aaron walked out on her management deal with Connolly the following year.
Between 1984 and 1992, Aaron toured almost non-stop, including over twenty Europe
an tours and appearances in Japan
and the US. She released six albums on Attic Records in Canada, as well as international releases in the UK
, Germany
, Austria
, Switzerland
, The Benelux, Italy
, Scandinavia
, Australia
and Japan. She has won three Toronto Music Awards for Best Female Vocalist, ten Juno
nominations, and topped dozens of European music polls.
Her greatest commercial success came with the release of Bodyrock
in 1989. The album spawned several hit songs, including "Whatcha Do to My Body", and was certified double platinum in Canada.
) Aaron worked with Don Short and Don Binns (Sons of Freedom
), Reeves Gabrels
(David Bowie
's Tin Machine
), and Knox Chandler
(The Psychedelic Furs).
1995's 2preciious
was a project record written with members of Sons of Freedom. It was critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful, as she tried to drop the name "Lee Aaron" entirely and use her real name, Karen.
In 1997, she began exploring jazz and blues.
In 2002, Aaron was approached to audition with the Modern Baroque Opera Company. She was cast and appeared that year in an ALCAN Performing Arts Award-winning production called 101 Songs for the Marquis De Sade.
Her eleventh album, Beautiful Things, a pop-jazz hybrid, was released in 2004. Aaron and husband John Cody have two children: Angella, born June 7, 2004 and Jett, born January 7, 2006.
Lee Aaron continues to play both rock and selected jazz shows. On June 11, 2011, after 30 years in the business, she will make her first appearance on Swedish soil when she plays the Sweden Rock Festival
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
singer. She had several hits in the 1980s and early 1990s such as "Metal Queen", "Whatcha Do to My Body", and "Sex with Love".
Background
Lee Aaron was born in Belleville, OntarioBelleville, Ontario
Belleville is a city located at the mouth of the Moira River on the Bay of Quinte in Southern Ontario, Canada, in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. It is the seat of Hastings County, but is politically independent of it. and the centre of the Bay of Quinte Region...
, and began singing in school musicals at the age of five. She was discovered singing in a music production when she was fifteen years old, and was asked to join a local rock group called "Lee Aaron" while still in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in Brampton, Ontario
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...
. Aaron sang, played alto saxophone
Alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
in this first incarnation of the band.
At age seventeen, Aaron's face was badly bruised and her nose broken in a car accident. No surgery was required, but years later, in a profile on Aaron, Canadian Musician Magazine mistakenly embellished the incident into Aaron requiring complete facial reconstruction. The magazine printed a retraction in the following month's issue.
That same year, she signed with her first manager, Bob Connolly. Aaron was removed from playing any instruments and pulled centre stage to front the band.
1980s
Aaron's debut 1982 album The Lee Aaron Project on Freedom Records (later reissued on Attic) featured a who's who of the Toronto music scene, with members of MoxyMoxy (band)
Moxy was a Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band, formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1974, from previous members of the rock group, Leigh Ashford — which included singer Douglas "Buzz" Shearman Earl Johnson , Bill Wade Moxy was a Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band, formed in Toronto, Ontario in...
, Riff Raff
Riff Raff
Riffraff is a term for the common people or hoi polloi, but with negative connotations. The term is derived from Old French 'rif et raf' meaning 'one and all, every bit'Riff Raff, Riff-Raff, or Riffraff may also refer to:-In music:...
, Santers, and Triumph
Triumph (band)
Triumph is a Canadian hard rock power trio that was popular in the late 1970s through the 1980s. Eight of the band's albums were certified gold or higher, and Triumph was nominated for multiple Juno Awards, including Group of the Year Award in 1979, 1985, 1986 and 1987.Like their fellow Canadians...
's Rik Emmett
Rik Emmett
Richard Gordon Emmett is a vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of the Canadian rock band Triumph. Emmett left Triumph in 1988 to pursue a solo career. His first solo album, Absolutely, was released in 1990 and became a moderate hit across North America thanks to the hits "When a Heart...
. The album, available in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
only as an import, created a groundswell of interest that resulted in Aaron's appearance that year at the Reading Festival.
In late 1982, Aaron flew to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and posed topless for the men's magazine OUI. The magazine's March 1983 issue featured Aaron on the cover and in an interview. Aaron later concluded that posing for the magazine damaged her musical credibility; she regretted the decision and assigned blame for it to pressure from her manager.
1984's recording of the album Metal Queen
Metal Queen
Metal Queen is the second studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released on February 24, 1984 through Attic Records. It reached #69 on the RPM Canadian Albums Chart on April 14, 1984 and held that position for two weeks.-Track listing:-Personnel:...
resulted in a multi-album deal with Attic Records
Attic Records (Canada)
Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label, founded in 1974 by Alexander Mair and Tom Williams. The label was known for developing Canadian talent, including Anvil, Lee Aaron, Maestro Fresh Wes, The Nylons, Teenage Head, and Triumph...
. During the recording of Metal Queen, guitarist John Albani joined the band and he and Aaron formed a solid songwriting partnership that would last eleven years. Aaron walked out on her management deal with Connolly the following year.
Between 1984 and 1992, Aaron toured almost non-stop, including over twenty Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an tours and appearances in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and the US. She released six albums on Attic Records in Canada, as well as international releases in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, The Benelux, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Japan. She has won three Toronto Music Awards for Best Female Vocalist, ten Juno
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
nominations, and topped dozens of European music polls.
Her greatest commercial success came with the release of Bodyrock
Bodyrock (Lee Aaron album)
Bodyrock is the fifth studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released on September 13, 1989 through Attic Records and Alfa Records ....
in 1989. The album spawned several hit songs, including "Whatcha Do to My Body", and was certified double platinum in Canada.
1990s
In 1992, Aaron left Attic Records to start her own label, Hip Chic Music, and released two more albums. On 1994's Emotional Rain (distributed by A & M CanadaA&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
) Aaron worked with Don Short and Don Binns (Sons of Freedom
Sons of Freedom (band)
Sons of Freedom were a Canadian alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band, consisting of vocalist James Newton, guitarist Don Harrison, bassist Don Binns and drummer Don Short, formed in 1987 in Vancouver, British Columbia....
), Reeves Gabrels
Reeves Gabrels
Reeves Gabrels is an American guitarist, known for virtuosity, versatility, and originality. His compositions and improvisations defy genre and "explore sonic extremes with a great, adaptive intuition for what each song needs most."...
(David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
's Tin Machine
Tin Machine
Tin Machine was a hard rock band formed in 1988, famous for being fronted by singer David Bowie. The group recorded two studio albums before dissolving in 1992, when Bowie returned to his solo career...
), and Knox Chandler
Knox Chandler
Knox Chandler is mostly known as a session guitarist and cellist, he has worked with such acts as Depeche Mode , Lori Carson, The Golden Palominos, The Psychedelic Furs, Ultra Vivid Scene, The Creatures and R.E.M....
(The Psychedelic Furs).
1995's 2preciious
2preciious
2preciious was a Canadian alternative rock band of the 1990s. The band consisted of Lee Aaron, guitarist Don Harrison, bassist Don Binns and drummer Don Short. The "three Dons" were all former members of the band Sons of Freedom....
was a project record written with members of Sons of Freedom. It was critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful, as she tried to drop the name "Lee Aaron" entirely and use her real name, Karen.
In 1997, she began exploring jazz and blues.
2000s
In 2000, she released Slick Chick, again on her own imprint, Barking Dog Music (with distribution by Fusion 3). Aaron played extensively for this release, showcasing at The Top of the Senator in Toronto and numerous jazz festivals across Canada and Europe.In 2002, Aaron was approached to audition with the Modern Baroque Opera Company. She was cast and appeared that year in an ALCAN Performing Arts Award-winning production called 101 Songs for the Marquis De Sade.
Her eleventh album, Beautiful Things, a pop-jazz hybrid, was released in 2004. Aaron and husband John Cody have two children: Angella, born June 7, 2004 and Jett, born January 7, 2006.
Lee Aaron continues to play both rock and selected jazz shows. On June 11, 2011, after 30 years in the business, she will make her first appearance on Swedish soil when she plays the Sweden Rock Festival
Sweden Rock Festival
Sweden Rock Festival is an annual rock/metal festival held in Sweden since 6 June 1992. While having a clear rock/metal focus, the festival is noted for its diversity across these genres, having featured southern rock bands such as Molly Hatchet to death metal legends like Obituary.The first...
.
Discography
- The Lee Aaron ProjectThe Lee Aaron ProjectThe Lee Aaron Project is the first studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released in 1982 through Freedom Records and reissued as Lee Aaron on May 18, 1984 through Attic Records.-Track listing:...
(1982) Freedom - Metal QueenMetal QueenMetal Queen is the second studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released on February 24, 1984 through Attic Records. It reached #69 on the RPM Canadian Albums Chart on April 14, 1984 and held that position for two weeks.-Track listing:-Personnel:...
(1984) AtticAttic Records (Canada)Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label, founded in 1974 by Alexander Mair and Tom Williams. The label was known for developing Canadian talent, including Anvil, Lee Aaron, Maestro Fresh Wes, The Nylons, Teenage Head, and Triumph... - Call of the WildCall of the Wild (Lee Aaron album)Call of the Wild is the third studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released on June 27, 1985 through Attic Records. It reached #86 on the RPM Canadian Albums Chart on August 24, 1985 and held that position for three weeks.-Track listing:-Personnel:...
(1985) Attic - Lee AaronLee Aaron (album)Lee Aaron is the self-titled fourth studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released on February 17, 1987 through Attic Records. It reached #39 on the RPM Canadian Albums Chart on May 6, 1987 and held that position for two weeks...
(1987) Attic - BodyrockBodyrock (Lee Aaron album)Bodyrock is the fifth studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released on September 13, 1989 through Attic Records and Alfa Records ....
(1989) Attic - Some Girls DoSome Girls Do (album)Some Girls Do is the sixth studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released on September 23, 1991 through Attic Records. It reached #38 on the RPM Canadian Albums Chart on November 30, 1991 and held that position for a week. The only single, "Sex with Love", reached #55 on the RPM Canadian Singles Chart...
(1991) Attic - Powerline – The Best Of Lee Aaron (1992) Attic
- Emotional RainEmotional RainEmotional Rain is the seventh studio album by singer Lee Aaron, released on August 3, 1994 through A&M Records and in 1995 through Koch Entertainment ; it was later reissued in 2004 through Solid Gold Records.-Track listing:...
(1994) Hip Chic - 2preciious (1996) Spastic Plastic
- Slick Chick (2000) Barking Dog
- Beautiful Things (2004) Faithful Productions