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Lee Aaron

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Lee Aaron
Aaron performing in Toronto (1987)
Aaron performing in Toronto (1987)
Background information
Birth nameKaren Lynn Greening
Also known as"Metal Queen"
Born (1962-07-21) July 21, 1962 (age 62)
Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
Years active1980–present
Labels
Websiteleeaaron.com

Lee Aaron (born Karen Lynn Greening; July 21, 1962) is a Canadian rock singer.[5] She had several hits in the 1980s and early 1990s, such as "Metal Queen", "Whatcha Do to My Body", and "Sex with Love".[6]

Early life

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Aaron was born as Karen Lynn Greening in Belleville, Ontario,[7] and began singing in school musicals at the age of five. She attended high school in Brampton, Ontario.

At age seventeen, Aaron was in a car accident. No surgery was required, but she did suffer a broken nose and badly bruised her face. However, years later Canadian Musician Magazine mistakenly embellished the incident into Aaron requiring complete facial reconstruction.[8][9] The magazine printed a retraction in the following month's issue.[10]

Career

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After singing in a music production when she was fifteen years old, she was asked to join a local rock group, which the members including Karen would name "Lee Aaron". The members placed random names into a hat and drawn by the young musicians. [11] She sang, played alto saxophone and keyboards in this first incarnation of the band, and took on the stage name of Lee Aaron.

1980s

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Aaron recorded her debut album, The Lee Aaron Project, in 1982 on Freedom Records;[5] it was later reissued on Attic. The album featured well-known musicians of the Toronto music scene, including members of Moxy, Rif Raf3 (Q107 Homegrown Vol 4 / Lee Aaron Project band), Santers, and Triumph's Rik Emmett.[12] Although the album was available in the UK only as an import, Aaron was invited to appear later that year at the Reading Festival.

In late 1982, Aaron flew to New York and posed topless for the men's magazine OUI.[9] 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;[5] she regretted the decision and assigned blame for it to pressure from her manager.[13]

1984's recording of the album Metal Queen resulted in a multi-album deal with Attic Records.[5] During the recording of Metal Queen, guitarist John Albani (ex-Wrabit)[14] joined the band and he and Aaron formed a solid songwriting partnership that lasted eleven years.[5]

Between 1984 and 1992, Aaron toured extensively through Europe and made appearances in Japan and the United States. She released six albums on Attic Records in Canada and international releases in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Italy, Scandinavia, Australia and Japan. She won three Toronto Music Awards for Best Female Vocalist and was nominated for Juno awards sixteen times.[15] She amassed zero wins. [16] Her 1985 album Call Of The Wild featured her well-known rock ballad "Barely Holdin On".

Her most commercially successful album was Bodyrock, released in 1989.[5] The album included several hit songs, including "Whatcha Do to My Body", and was certified double platinum in Canada.[17]

1990s

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In 1992, Aaron left Attic Records to start her label, Hip Chic Music, and released two more albums. On 1994's Emotional Rain (distributed by A & M Canada), Aaron recorded 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, in which she dropped the name "Lee Aaron" entirely and used her real name, Karen. Neither of these recordings was commercially successful, and shortly afterwards, the Sons broke up.[18]

Aaron studied acting for a year before beginning to perform jazz and blues in Toronto with Dennis Ziebart.[18]

2000s

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Aaron in 2017

In 2000, Aaron released a jazz album, Slick Chick, on her imprint, Barking Dog Music, with distribution by Fusion 3.[18] She performed extensively in support of this release, showcasing at The Top of the Senator in Toronto and various 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 continued to play rock and selected jazz shows; in 2011 she made her first appearance in Sweden at the Sweden Rock Festival.[19]

In March, 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 was entitled Fire And Gasoline.[20] Later that year she was inducted into the Brampton Arts Walk Of Fame.[12] She then went on to appear at the Rockingham 2016 melodic/hard rock festival in Nottingham, United Kingdom.[21]

In 2017, Lee Aaron played a number of shows in Germany as well as an appearance at Bang Your Head Festivals and two separate gigs in London and Wolverhampton.[22]

Discography

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Lee Aaron performing at the Kitchener Blues Festival

Albums

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Year Album RPM Top 100 SWE chart CH chart DE chart
1982 The Lee Aaron Project - - - -
1984 Metal Queen 69 - - -
1985 Call of the Wild 86 - - -
1987 Lee Aaron 39 26 28 51
1989 Bodyrock 32 - - 36
1991 Some Girls Do 38 - - -
1994 Emotional Rain - - - -
1996 2preciious (with 2preciious) - - - -
2000 Slick Chick (with the Swingin' Barflies) - - - -
2004 Beautiful Things - - - -
2016 Fire and Gasoline - - - -
2018 Diamond Baby Blues - - - -
2020 Almost Christmas - - - -
2021 Radio On! - - - -
2022 Elevate - - - -
2024 Tattoo Me - - - -

Compilations

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  • 1992: Powerline: The Best of Lee Aaron, Attic
  • 2005: Museum: Videos, Clips and More 1997–2005
  • 2008: Rarities, Studio & Live: 1981–2008
  • 2012: Live in Sweden (DVD)
  • 2012: Radio Hitz and More...

Singles

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Year Single Canadian chart position Album
1982 "Under Your Spell" - The Lee Aaron Project
1984 "Metal Queen" - Metal Queen
"Shake It Up" -
"We Will Be Rockin'" -
1985 "Barely Holdin' On" - Call of the Wild
"Runnin' from the Fire" -
"Rock Me All Over" -
1987 "Only Human" 44 Lee Aaron
"Dream with Me" -
"Power Line" -
"Goin' Off the Deep End" 93
1988 "Do You Know What I Mean" (Myles Goodwyn featuring Lee Aaron) 47 Single only
1989 "Whatcha Do to My Body" 25 Bodyrock
1990 "Hands On" 38
"Sweet Talk" -
1991 "Sex with Love" 55 Some Girls Do
1994 "Odds of Love" - Emotional Rain
1995 "Baby Go Round" -
2016 "Tom Boy" - Fire and Gasoline
2021 "C'mon"[23] - Radio On!

References

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  1. ^ a b c Dillon, Charlotte. "Lee Aaron". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  2. ^ Miller, Glenn. "Lee Aaron – Lee Aaron". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  3. ^ Aaron, Lee (2022). "Biography". leeaaron.com. Retrieved October 6, 2022. I realized (after stepping away from rock for a few years) that embracing my past doesn't have to prevent me from moving into the future. Plus, I really missed picking up a guitar and rocking out.
  4. ^ Aaron, Lee (2022). "Vintage Live". leeaaron.com. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Colin Larkin, ed. (1999). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock (First ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 5/6. ISBN 0-7535-0257-7.
  6. ^ "Lee Aaron: From Metal Queen to Rockin' Mom". Observer, By Bryan Reesman • 08/23/16
  7. ^ "Lee Aaron, Canada's Metal Queen, Is Back to Reclaim Her Crown", Noisey, J Bennett, February 4, 2016
  8. ^ Canadian Musician. Norris Publications. April 1987. ISSN 0708-9635.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  9. ^ a b "CANOE JAM! Music - Pop Encyclopedia - Aaron, Lee". Jam.Canoe.ca. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  10. ^ Canadian Musician. Norris Publications. May 1987. ISSN 0708-9635.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  11. ^ "Lee Aaron Biography And History". metallian. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  12. ^ a b "Lee Aaron: Portrait Of A Survivor". FYI Music News, Sep 29, 2016 by Kerry Doole
  13. ^ "Lee Aaron interview". Full In Bloom Music.com. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
  14. ^ "Wrabit Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  15. ^ "Juno Awards and Nominations - Lee Aaron". junoawards.ca.
  16. ^ "Lee Aaron Bio". metallian. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Lee Aaron". Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Retrieved August 17, 2019.
  18. ^ a b c Nielsen Business Media, Inc. "Metal Queen Aaron takes Detour". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 24 June 2000. ISSN 0006-2510. p. 97–.
  19. ^ "Sweden Rock Festival". swedenrock.com.
  20. ^ Begai, Carl. "LEE AARON – Back On The Rock N' Roll Radar". Bravewords. Retrieved 15 June 2016.
  21. ^ "Rockingham United Festival". Review by Kimmo Toivonen, October 2016.
  22. ^ "Lee Aaron live @ The Underworld in London". overland metalhead. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  23. ^ Lee Aaron (2021-05-28). Lee Aaron - C'mon official video (Music video). Canada: LeeAaronTV. Retrieved 2021-05-31. The lead-off single and video from Lee Aaron's new album, Radio On! available worldwide on July 23, 2021
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