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"While her peers are content to get fat and play "Classic Rock" festivals, Lee Aaron was aging more gracefully into a jazz singer.... Beautiful Things winds its way through pop, jazz, torch, lounge and blues like a well laid out buffet. Most importantly it shows that she is still learning and growing as an artist."
Stylus Magazine

What do Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette, and Avril Lavigne all have in common? According to Canada’s Chart Magazine, they are all "under the influence" of Lee Aaron. In 2005 Much More Music named Aaron one of the 20 Best Rocker Chicks of all time, alongside such luminaries as Janis Joplin and Patti Smith.

Lee Aaron is indeed a Canadian treasure. A formidable and versatile artist with eleven albums to her credit, over the course of her career she's been nominated for eight Juno Awards, won the CMPA Songwriters Award, a Much Music Video Award, three Toronto Music Awards, and an Ampex Golden Reel Award. Innovative and adventurous, she is the queen of reinvention, exploring everything from rock to jazz to opera.

"Lee Aaron has pulled off one of the biggest musical transformations ... while it may be hard for some to believe that Aaron could tread so confidently in so many jazzy sub genres, the fact is, she did."
Globe and Mail

From modest beginnings singing jazz and Broadway standards in local choir and community theatre, Lee Aaron - the shy girl who hung around in the music room after school to study and practice - went on to tour the world many times over and become one of the most admired female rock stars of the eighties and nineties.

But life in the music industry didn't begin with such a rosy start for Aaron. Totally naïve - barely out of high school, turned pro at seventeen - Aaron was discovered by a small-time Toronto manager who svengalied a provocative sex-kitten pin-up persona for her. Initial hype generated plenty of press, but Aaron walked out on her management deal two years later when she realized her musical credibility had been completely overshadowed by the image.

By then she had written and recorded her debut LP, 1982's The Lee Aaron Project, released independently on the Freedom record label. The disc flew out the door of import shops in London, and garnered a feature article in Kerrang!, which in turn led to an appearance at the prestigious Marquee Club. The showcase was a huge success, with reviewers emphasizing that her voice and stage presence were forces to be reckoned with.

Later that year - just days after putting the finishing touches on her second release, Metal Queen - Aaron returned to England to play before a crowd of 60,000 at the Reading Festival.

The album mixed aggressive wall-of-sound guitars with solid melodies, which led to a deal with Attic Records in Canada, who quickly reissued her first album with an added bonus track, turning the original version into a highly collectible release.

At the time Aaron’s sound and image pushed the envelope of pop culture, which was embracing lighter, less threatening pop artists.

The title track's video - a tongue-in-cheek treatment depicting Aaron as a "Wonder Woman meets Xena"-type character - has her conquering the forces of darkness, complete with loin cloth and sword in hand. Missing the joke entirely, the video was banned by the BBC in England and Australia for a scene in which Aaron’s arm is set on fire.

The video was an unexpected underground phenomenon, endearing her to legions of fans both at home and abroad, who crowned her "Metal Queen". Venerated as the ultimate metal fantasy, she was officially an icon in the hard rock world.

As her popularity grew, producer Bob Ezrin (Alice Cooper/Pink Floyd) came on board for her third album, 1985's Call of the Wild.

She toured Europe opening for Bon Jovi and by mid-tour was receiving raves from the media. She returned to Europe later that year, now headlining at the very same venues she had opened in. She sold over 100,000 copies of Call of the Wild on Roadrunner, at the time a small independent label based out of Belgium. Her live shows were popular enough to later warrant release of two full-length concert videos, both recorded in London, and reissued on DVD in 2005.

She then signed a deal for her next album to be released in Europe through Virgin/10 Records. Still fighting for credibility as a songwriter, she refused when record executives tried to convince her to record an album of cover material. Instead she brought in producer Peter Coleman (Pat Benatar/Rodney Crowell) and together they refashioned Aaron’s sound, creating a new, more sophisticated image. The self-titled disc was released in 1987 and resulted in her first top 40 hit in her home country as well as a multi-country tour that included a return to the Reading Festival stage.

The album's success opened the door at radio for Aaron's next disc, Bodyrock. Co-produced with her guitarist John Albani and Attic A & R director Brian Allen, it was a solid, commercial effort in the tradition of Aerosmith.

Tired of being "the face", Lee convinced the label to release the first single with no photo of her on the cover - to let the music sell itself. The label agreed, and it turned out to be a brilliant marketing plan, resulting in a breakthrough top 10 AOR hit, multi-platinum sales, and successful releases in Europe, the U.K., Scandinavia, Japan, Australia, and Italy. She topped international music polls, and appeared on the cover of dozens of magazines, including Sounds and TV Guide. Sadly, bound to an archaic record contract and poor management decisions - and despite continued interest - American distribution consistently fell through the cracks for Aaron.

Using the same production team, Lee reached platinum status again with 1991's Some Girls Do.

Aaron was impressed by the portfolio of one up-and-coming photographer, Floria Sigismondi. Choosing to work with her on the album's artwork, Aaron took a leap of faith and suggested that Floria direct the video for "Peace On Earth". It was the first for Sigismondi, who would go on to become one of the most in-demand directors in the industry, working with such acts as Nine Inch Nails, Sheryl Crow, The White Stripes and Bjork.

A decade into Aaron’s career - and with well over a million records sold - industry insiders still couldn’t quite peg her, questioning "who wrote the single?" when she was the writer of nearly all of her material.

Unhappy about Attic's marketing - which was once again emphasizing her sexuality - Aaron decided it was time to get out of her recording contract. After long and bitter negotiations, the label released Powerline: The Best of Lee Aaron, and she left to start Hip Chic Music, her own imprint distributed by A & M.

Anticipating a shift in music in the early nineties, she let her band go and assembled a group which included such visionary players as Knox Chandler (Psychedelic Furs/REM/Marianne Faithful), Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie/Rolling Stones/The Cure), and the rhythm section from Slash recording artists the Sons of Freedom. The result was a cutting edge sound showcasing Aaron's deeper and more introspective writing. 1994's Emotional Rain was met with glowing press reviews - the best of her career up to that point - yet failed to rally the support of radio or TV, which were chasing after the newer "grunge" sounds out of Seattle, and pigeonholed her as part of a dying era.

Two years later Lee got together with three members of Sons of Freedom to form 2Preciious - an ultra-cool, alternative band project - in which she sang under the name "Karen". The disc received amazing reviews and garnered great interest initially - promo reps and management kept her identity anonymous. Upon discovering that the mystery singer was indeed Lee Aaron, industry perception dropped it’s heaviest bomb - with some stations actually pulling the single from their play lists.

Completely disenchanted, Lee refused to play the game. Rather than tread the oldies circuit, she took time off from singing and immersed herself in acting, appearing in a few small roles after relocating to the west coast.

She re-emerged after a year-long hiatus singing jazz - her first love - and was soon playing the jazz and blues circuit. This led to the release of Slick Chick in 2000 and appearances at a number of major jazz festivals, both in Canada and Europe. The metamorphosis surprised fans and industry insiders alike with its unpretentious charm.

By 2006 Lee had established a new fan base and credibility in a whole new milieu. Her pop/jazz sound has garnered raves in the Globe & Mail, Billboard, The Vancouver Sun, Georgia Straight, as well as countless other publications, and her new videos charted Top 10 on Bravo! and Cool TV.

Her latest disc Beautiful Things is her most creative and personal work to date, seamlessly blending jazz, roots and pop. A brilliant collection of originals and select covers, Beautiful Things features some of Canada's finest musicians, including acclaimed piano whiz Michael Kaeshammer.

Aaron not only survived her awkward early career years, but has come back stronger than ever, transcending an image that never did her talent justice, and evolving into an artist of grace and distinction.

"Beautiful Things features Lee Aaron producing music of rare beauty that not only captures the power, range and sensitivity of her invincible voice but successfully melds her rock, blues and jazz influences."
Larry LeBlanc, Billboard

"Such canny choices in collaborators and material and such tasteful production, add up to a varied and very cool pop record. Beautiful Things proves that at this point in her career, we underestimate Aaron at our own risk."
Georgia Straight