Lee Aaron

Lee Aaron

Aaron performing in Toronto (1987)
Background information
Birth name Karen Lynn Greening
Born (1962-07-21) July 21, 1962
Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Genres Rock,[1] jazz,[1] pop,[1] heavy metal[2]
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1980–present
Labels Attic, Faithful
Associated acts 2preciious
Website leeaaron.com

Lee Aaron (born Karen Lynn Greening, July 21, 1962) 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".

Background

Lee Aaron was born in Belleville, Ontario, and began singing in school musicals at the age of five.[3] 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.[3] Aaron sang, played alto saxophone and keyboards in this first incarnation of the band.[3]

At age seventeen, Aaron's face was badly bruised and her nose broken in a car accident.[3] 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.[4][5] The magazine printed a retraction in the following month's issue.[6]

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 Moxy, Riff Raff, Santers, and Triumph's Rik Emmett.[3] 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.[3]

In late 1982, Aaron flew to New York and posed topless for the men's magazine OUI.[3][5][7] 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.[8]

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.

Between 1984 and 1992, Aaron toured almost non-stop, including over twenty European tours and appearances in Japan and the United States. She released six albums on Attic Records in Canada, as well as international releases in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Benelux, Italy, Scandinavia, Australia and Japan. She has won three Toronto Music Awards for Best Female Vocalist, ten Juno nominations,[9] and topped dozens of European music polls. Her 1985 album Call Of The Wild featured perhaps her best known song, the rock ballad Barely Holdin On, which was championed at the time by UK DJ Tommy Vance on his Radio 1 Friday Rock Show.

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.[3][10]

1990s

In 1992, Aaron left Attic Records to start her own label, Hip Chic Music,[3] and released two more albums. On 1994's Emotional Rain (distributed by A & M 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).[3]

1995's 2preciious was a project record written with members of Sons of Freedom. It was critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful,[3] as she tried to drop the name "Lee Aaron" entirely and use her real name, Karen.

In 1997, she began exploring jazz and blues.[3]

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.[3]

Her eleventh album, Beautiful Things, a pop-jazz hybrid, was released in 2004.

Lee Aaron continues to play both rock and selected jazz shows.[11] On June 11, 2011, after 30 years in the business, she made her first appearance on Swedish soil when she played the Sweden Rock Festival.[12]

On March 25, 2016, Lee Aaron released her first all-rock album in 20 years. Self-financed and released on her own Big Sister Records, the new album is entitled Fire And Gasoline.[13]

In 2016 it was disclosed that Aaron would appear at the three-day Rockingham 2016 melodic/hard rock festival, held in Nottingham, United Kingdom. She appeared on Friday 21 October.[14]

Discography

Album Charts

Year Album RPM Top 100 Swedish Charts Ch Charts De Charts Artist
1982 The Lee Aaron Project - - - - Lee Aaron
1984 Metal Queen 69 - - - Lee Aaron
1985 Call of the Wild 86 - - - Lee Aaron
1987 Lee Aaron 39 26 28 51 Lee Aaron
1989 Bodyrock 32 - - 36 Lee Aaron
1991 Some Girls Do 38 - - - Lee Aaron
1994 Emotional Rain - - - - Lee Aaron
1996 2preciious - - - - Lee Aaron and 2preciious
2000 Slick Chick - - - - Lee Aaron and the Swingin' Barflies
2004 Beautiful Thing - - - - Lee Aaron
2016 Fire And Gasoline - - - - Lee Aaron

Single

Year Single Canada Charts Album Artist
1982 "Under Your Spell" - The Lee Aaron Project Lee Aaron
1984 "Metal Queen" - Metal Queen Lee Aaron
1984 "Shake It Up" - Metal Queen Lee Aaron
1984 "We Will Be Rockin'"- Metal Queen Lee Aaron
1985 "Barely Holdin' On"- Call of the Wind Lee Aaron
1985 "Runnin' From the Fire"- Call of the Wind Lee Aaron
1985 "Rock Me All Over" - Call of the Wind Lee Aaron
1987 "Only Human" 44 Lee Aaron Lee Aaron
1987 "Dream With Me" - Lee Aaron Lee Aaron
1987 "Power Line - Lee Aaron Lee Aaron
1987 "Goin' Off the Deep End" 93 Lee Aaron Lee Aaron
1988 "Do You Know What I Mean" 47 Single Only Myles Goodwyn Featuring Lee Aaron
1989 "Watcha Do To My Body" 25 Bodyrock Lee Aaron
1990 "Hands On" 38 Bodyrock Lee Aaron
1990 "Sweet Talk" - Bodyrock Lee Aaron
1991 "Sex with love"55 Some Girls Do Lee Aaron
1994 "Odds Of Love" - Emotional Rain Lee Aaron
1995 "Baby Go Round" - Emotional Rain Lee Aaron
2016 "Tom Boy" - Fire And Gasoline Lee Aaron

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dillon, Charlotte. "Lee Aaron – Artist Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Miller, Glen. "Lee Aaron – Lee Aaron". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Lee Aaron Official Biography".
  4. ↑ "none". Canadian Musician (magazine). Norris Publications. April 1987. ISSN 0708-9635.
  5. 1 2 "CANOE JAM! Music - Pop Encyclopedia - Aaron, Lee". Jam.Canoe.ca. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  6. ↑ "none". Canadian Musician (magazine). Norris Publications. May 1987. ISSN 0708-9635.
  7. ↑ "A Lee Aaron biography". MTS.net. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  8. ↑ "Lee Aaron interview". Full In Bloom Music.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  9. ↑ "Juno Awards". junoawards.ca.
  10. ↑ "The Canadian Encyclopedia - Aaron, Lee". TheCanadianEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  11. ↑ "Lee Aaron". LeeAaron.com.
  12. ↑ "Sweden Rock Festival". swedenrock.com.
  13. ↑ Begai, Carl. "LEE AARON – Back On The Rock N' Roll Radar". Bravewords. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "rockinghamlive.com/#lineup". rockinghamlive.com. Retrieved 2016-08-09.
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