Jon Lee

Infobox musical artist
Name = Jon Lee


Img_capt = http://www.geocities.com/melodicplanit/jonbluescreen1.gif
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Born = birth date|1968|3|28|mf=y
Newport, Monmouthshire, UK
Died = death date and age|2002|1|07|1968|3|28
Miami, Florida, USA
Instrument = drums, Guitar
Genre = Rock
Pop
Years_active = 1992 - 2001
Label = Echo
Associated_acts = Feeder
URL = http://www.feederweb.com

Jon Lee (March 28, 1968 – January 7, 2002) was the original drummer for the successful British rock band Feeder.

Biography

Jon Henry Lee, was born to Patricia and Norman Lee in Newport, Wales, where he also grew up. He took to athletics at a young age, representing his county as a sprinter, but was forced out of the sport by a leg injury that was to change his direction in life. Already inspired to play the drums, having acquired a drum kit in his teens, he teamed up in the early 1990s with Grant Nicholas to form a band called "Temper Temper". Without much in the way of success, the two took to London to set up a new band called "Hum", but the true turning point came when a Japanese bassist called Taka Hirose answered an ad in "Loot" magazine to form a new band called "Reel" and a record contract with the Echo Label followed in October 1994 when their name was "Real". From here the band changed their name to Feeder named after Grant's goldfish.Lee worked hard with the band, touring heavily, which included an exhausting 125 venue tour of the United States. There he met his wife to be, Tatiana Englehart, who also became the mother to his child, Cameron. Jon and Tatiana married in Miami in 2000, where the couple lived together.

Lee worked with Feeder throughout their major rise in success, including the band's first major hit album "Echo Park", and had recorded demos for most of the following record "Comfort in Sound".

His first taste of mainstream success was on the 2001 breakthrough hit single "Buck Rogers", which is still played on UK rock music TV channels, and still makes the all-time lists of many rock magazines and alternative radio stations today. An appearance on TV's "Never Mind The Buzzcocks" followed. He would later win an award with the band when Feeder picked up "Best British Live Act" at the 2001 Kerrang! awards.

He already gained a lot of critical success with the band, when Feeder's debut album "Polythene" released in 1997, was "Album of The Year" in Metal Hammer magazine.

Death

Jon Lee committed suicide by hanging himself [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/2171610.stm BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Feeder singer regrets 'suicide call' ] ] in 2002 at his Miami home. Feeder decided to continue, with Grant Nicholas saying, "Jon would have wanted us to carry on." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/1750644.stm BBC news report of the suicide] ] Former Skunk Anansie and Little Angels drummer Mark Richardson helped the band out on drum duties for 4th studio album "Comfort In Sound" before being made a permanent member for follow-up album "Pushing The Senses" in 2005.

With an increasingly successful music career, a supermodel wife and a young son, Jon's death was a surprise to the public and sparked a massive reaction in tributes to the drummer.

Lee's funeral took place at St. Mary's Church, Newport, on January 18, 2002, where thousands of fans showed up alongside family and friends to pay their own respects. Matt Page, Feeder's manager, read "Do not stand at my grave and weep", as requested by Jon Lee's father, Norman.

Feeder's 1997 single "High" was also played during the ceremony which heard Grant Nicholas say this about his much missed friend:

"Jon had such a taste for life, which makes this whole thing such a mystery to us all. He could be the life and soul of any party. Yet, quiet, sensitive and understanding to anyone that needed a friendly ear. I always felt there was a raging fire in his soul which he channeled into his drumming; showing no fear to anything he put his hand to...."Hope you are at peace now, Jon boy. Forever young. Your friend always."

Aftermath

The bands first official live appearances after Jon's tragic death was at the Reading/Leeds Festivals, which saw Grant dedicate "Quick Fade" to "absent friends". Thousands of fans turned up to pay their respects to Jon and watch the band, with the tent filled beyond its capacity on both occasions.

In 2003, frontman Grant Nicholas dedicated the bands award win for "Best British Band" at the Kerrang! awards to him, saying its the award he always wanted the band to win. In 2006 the band released a singles album, entitled "The Singles" in which Jon features on many of the album's tracks. The album quickly became a platinum seller.

Jon was buried at St. Woolos Cemetery.

In 2006, an unreleased and incomplete 1998 recording named "Uptight", was released as a b-side on "Lost and Found" after Grant Nicholas laid down the vocals, eight years later after the demo was locked in the vaults. It features Jon Lee on the drums.

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/1750644.stm BBC News article]
* [http://jonlee.disko.co.uk/ Jon Lee tribute site]
* [http://feederfansite.moonfruit.com/jonlee Feeder Fan Site page on Jon Lee]
* [http://myspace.com/jonleetribute Myspace tribute to Jon lee]