Jesse Lee (born 1986)
is an American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer and songwriter. Signed to
Atlantic Nashville in 2007, she released her debut single "It's a Girl Thing" in 2009, which debuted on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
chart dated for June 6, 2009. A second single, "
Like My Mother Does
"Like My Mother Does" is a song written by Nathan Chapman, Liz Rose, and Nikki Williams. It was first recorded by American country music artist Kristy Lee Cook from her 2008 album, '' Why Wait''. It was later recorded and released as a single by ...
," was released in 2010, which failed to chart. Jesse and Atlantic Records parted ways after three and a half years together. She is signed as a songwriter with
Disney Music Group
Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...
.
In 2016, Lee celebrated her first #1 song,
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. ...
's "
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
".
In 2016, Jesse penned one of the 13 songs on Keith Urban's album RIPCORD. "That Could Still Be Us".
In January 2018, Jesse Lee had her second consecutive #1 song with Brett Young, "Like I Loved You." It was a three-week Billboard number one which she co-wrote with Brett Young.
Biography
Jesse Lee was raised in
Los Altos, California
Los Altos (; Spanish for "The Heights") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 31,625 according to the 2020 census.
Most of the city's growth occurred between 1950 and 1980. Originally a ...
.
Inspired by country music at an early age, she began performing in state festivals by age eleven before her family moved to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, eventually serving as an opening act for
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, ...
,
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
and
Clay Walker
Ernest Clayton Walker Jr. (born August 19, 1969) is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1993 with the single " What's It to You", which reached Number One on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Son ...
.
By age 14, she had made her first trip to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
to collaborate with hit songwriters, as well as record
demo
Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to:
Music and film
*Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release
* ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes
* ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
s. She attended
Belmont University
Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...
's music business program after graduating from high school,
meanwhile performing at local songwriters' clubs. She co-wrote and sang the duet "Me Again" on
Uncle Kracker
Matthew Shafer (born June 6, 1974), also known by his stage name Uncle Kracker, is an American singer and musician. He was previously a turntablist for Kid Rock's backing group Twisted Brown Trucker and since 1999 has recorded as a solo artist. ...
's album ''
Happy Hour'' and wrote the title track to
Kristy Lee Cook
Kristy Lee Cook (born January 18, 1984) is an American country music singer and television personality. She was the seventh place finalist on the seventh season of ''American Idol''. In 2005, Cook released her first album called ''Devoted''. In ...
's debut album ''
Why Wait''.
Jesse was living in Nashville at the time but traveled back to
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
, where Lee was singing at a fair and was discovered by someone who sent her music to the president of
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
, who upon hearing her demo, flew her to New York and offered her a record deal.
Her debut album is produced by
Paul Worley
Paul Worley (born February 16, 1950 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American record producer and session guitarist, known primarily for his work in country music. Formerly a vice president at Sony BMG, he later joined the staff of Warner Bros. Rec ...
, Mark Bright and Nathan Chapman, and it includes her debut single "It's a Girl Thing", which debuted at No. 59 on the U.S. country charts dated for June 6, 2009. The song was also made into a
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
, which has aired on
CMT.
"It's a Girl Thing" received a favorable review from Matt Bjorke of Roughstock, who said that the song (which she co-wrote with
Victoria Banks
Victoria Wenonah Banks (born February 8, 1973) is a Nashville-based Canadian singer and songwriter. Her self-produced debut CD ''When You Can Fly'' was released on the On Ramp/ EMI Canada label in April 2009. The CD earned Banks a 2010 Canadian ...
and
Rachel Proctor
Rachel Christine Proctor (born August 11, 1974) is an American country music artist. Before signing to a record deal, she co-wrote Martina McBride's 2002 single " Where Would You Be". By 2003, Proctor had signed to BNA Records, releasing her de ...
) had a mainstream sound but showcased Lee's vocals. Karlie Justus of Engine 145 gave it a thumbs-down rating, saying that the song was cliché and stereotyped, although she also described Lee's vocal performance favorably.
In 2016, Lee celebrated her first #1 song,
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Nicole Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is an American country pop singer. She began songwriting as a child and signed with Black River Entertainment in 2014, releasing her debut studio album the following year, '' The First Time''. ...
's "
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
".
In 2016, Jesse penned one of the 13 songs on Keith Urban's album RIPCORD, "That Could Still Be Us".
In January 2018, Jesse Lee had her second consecutive #1 song with Brett Young, "Like I Loved You." It was a 3-week Billboard number one which she co-wrote with Brett Young.
Discography
Albums
*''Hotel'' (2015)
Singles
Music videos
Other appearances
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jesse
American women country singers
American country singer-songwriters
Atlantic Records artists
Musicians from Palo Alto, California
1986 births
Living people
Singer-songwriters from California
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
Country musicians from California