Grammy Award-winning artist Will Lee
To say that Grammy Award-winning Will Lee has done it all in the music business would be quite an understatement. Born in San Antonio, TX, he grew up in a family of musicians and began playing the drums at age 5, then took up trumpet and even majored on French Horn at the University of Miami, before abandoning it and “coming home” to bass guitar. Perhaps best known as bassist for over three decades on „The Late Show with David Letterman“, he holds the world record for longest-running bassist on late night television.
Will has also lent his considerable talents to well over 1.700 Pop, Jazz and Rock albums including those by Mariah Carey, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, Cat Stevens, Michael Bolton, Ringo Starr, Frankie Valli, Laura Nyro, Spyro Gyra, Bob James, Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine, Sadao Watanabe, Pat Metheny, Nancy Wilson, Luther Vandross, Cyndi Lauper, Ray Davies, Chaka Khan, James Brown, Go Hiromi, George Benson, Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Ray Davies, Cher, D’Angelo, Michael Franks, Chuck Loeb, Billy Joel, Weather Report, Al Green, the Brecker Brothers, Akiko Yano, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, David Sanborn, Ryuji Sakamoto, SMAP, Ricky Martin, Natalie Cole and Gato Barbieri. He has sung and played on an equal number of TV and radio commercials (he was the voice of Teddy Grahams Stroh’s Beer, The US Army “Be All That You Can Be”, as well as movie soundtracks. )
Will performed at Live Aid with The Thompson Twins and, with The CBS Orchestra, is in the house band for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. He has toured with Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Horace Silver, The Brecker Brothers and Herbie Mann. He has played with Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and was held in Charlie Parker’s arms as a baby. Will also has the enviable position of having performed or recorded with all 4 of the Beatles, which is pretty thrilling for a guy who is a founding member of the world’s premier Beatles band, The Fab Faux!
Will is an inductee in the Musician’s Hall of Fame in Nashville TN, and has a permanent display (check out www.musicianshalloffame.com).