Johnny Lee (singer)
Johnny Lee ( born July 3, 1946 in Texas City, Texas) is an American country musician.
Johnny was not an easy childhood. His father left the family early, and his mother took a number of short marriages. As a student he founded the band "Johnny Lee & The Roadrunners " that could win prizes several times in competitions. After finishing school, he served four years in the U.S. Navy, which he spent mostly in Southeast Asia. After a short stay in California, where he married for the first time, he returned to Texas back in 1968. With a good dose of bragging he gained a place as a backup singer and trumpet player in Mickey Gilley's band. Over the years he rose to become the lead guitarist and took Mickey Gilley occasionally during appearances in the club, the legendary " Gilley's ".
Career
1973 tried to start a solo career Lee. However, his produced the independent label Arista singles flopped consistently, and so he returned shortly afterwards back to Gilley. In various labels, he played in the following years a further plates, but never got over medium charts courts. His biggest success in 1977 was the Top 20 hit Country Party, a cover version of an old Willie Nelson song.
In 1979 he made an appearance in the TV movie "The Girls In The Office." His big breakthrough came a year later with the Travolta movie " Urban Cowboy", which became a huge success in the U.S. and sparked a wave of enthusiasm country. The key scenes were filmed at Gilley 's Club and Johnny Lee had the opportunity to several performances. His mainstream song Lookin ' For Love was the biggest hit of the film and reached top positions in the country and pop charts. He also earned him a Grammy nomination and other awards.
By Urban Cowboy Johnny Lee became a star overnight. He left Mickey Gilley and put his own group together, the Western Union tape. There was a long series of top 10 hits, including One In A Million, Bet Your Heart On Me, The Yellow Rose and You Could Have Heard A Heart Break, both reaching number one. Caused a stir in 1982 his marriage with Charlene Tilton, Lucy Ewing embodied in the popular television series Dallas. A short time later he opened not far from Gilley's own club, the "Johnny Lee 's".
The Urban Cowboy boom time of the mid-eighties its decline. Lee's sales eased accordingly, and in 1986 he lost his recording contract. His marriage broke up a year later. After a long dry spell he tried the 1989 Curb label a new beginning, which failed however. Johnny Lee was also financially at the end and henceforth worked again as a musician in the club scene.