Catherine Anne Leone, known professionally as Leather Leone, is an American

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

vocalist, best known for fronting the groups Rude Girl and Chastain in the 1980s. She released one solo album, ''

Shock Waves In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a med ...

'', in 1989, before taking a twenty-year break from the music scene. In 2011 she began performing again in The Sledge/Leather Project, which released a debut heavy metal album, ''Imagine Me Alive'', in 2012.

Early career

Rude Girl

Leather Leone started singing in the early 1980s. She joined with drummer Sandy Sledge to start the all-female metal band Rude Girl in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Leone handled vocals. The group began headlining metal shows in the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

area, and were on stages with groups like Exodus and

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

. The band was asked to sign a seven-year record deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, with producer

Sandy Pearlman Samuel Clarke "Sandy" Pearlman (August 5, 1943 – July 26, 2016) was an American music producer, artist manager, music journalist and critic, professor, poet, songwriter, and record company executive. He was best known for founding, writing for, ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

, but the band split before they recorded their first album. Rude Girl would morph into Malibu Barbi. Leather Leone guest sang on a released highly collectible "Rude Girls" 2-song 12" EP in 1987.

Chastain

Leone soon became lead vocalist of the band Chastain. The group was put together in 1984 by

Mike Varney Mike Varney is an American record producer and music publisher. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records, and Blues Bureau International. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Record ...

, president of

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label founded in 1980 by record producer Mike Varney. History Guitarist Marty Friedman (formerly of Megadeth and Cacophony), one of the label's most successful artists, first appeared on the album ''Unsu ...

for a David T. Chastain solo album. Varney had noticed the

shred guitar Shred guitar or shredding is a virtuoso lead guitar solo playing style for the guitar, based on various advanced and complex playing techniques, particularly rapid passages and advanced performance effects. Shred guitar includes "fast alternate p ...

ability of Chastain, member of the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

-based band CJSS and, at the same time, he wanted to create an output for the talent of young singer Leather Leone, formerly with the San Francisco band Rude Girl. She recorded five albums with him over six years, and the group at different points contained members from

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released fifteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radi ...

, and

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

. After a long hiatus Leather Leone has begun recording with Chastain again. They released "Surrender to no one" in 2013. An uncut version of "Surrender to no one" in 2014. Chastain also released "We bleed metal" in 2015 on the Leviathan label. Chastain, with Leather Leone hasn't toured since 1990. However Leather Leone has once again begun to play shows as the voice of Chastain. In 2016 she began working with a new band in Brasil with tours in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Solo album

She released her debut solo album, ''

'', in 1989 on

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is an American record label focused on heavy metal and hard rock bands. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. History The label was launched in 1980 in t ...

. The album was first released in 1989 through David T. Chastain's own label Leviathan Records. After a final tour in 1991, she disappeared from the music scene. She has recently resurfaced with a band in Brasil. In 2016 she did a South American tour with much success. Leather has begun writing and making touring plans with her band from Brasil. She released "Leather II in 2018 and is currently writing again with a 2021 date.

Resurfacing

Sledge/Leather Project

Leone resurfaced in 2011 to form the duo The Sledge/Leather Project with former bandmate Sandy Sledge on drums, and Matthias 'Matthew' Weisheit on guitar. The heavy metal duo released a debut album, ''Imagine Me Alive'', in early 2012. She has recently toured in South America where she found a new band. As of Dec 2016, she has begun writing with her new band and planning a tour of Europe this year. "Leather II" was released on April 13, 2018, via Divebomb Records in the United States and via High Roller Records in Europe. Leather is writing a new record with the working title ''We Are the chosen''.

Discography

Malibu Barbi

* ''Rude Girls'' EP (1987)

Chastain

* ''

Mystery of Illusion ''Mystery of Illusion'' is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Chastain, released in 1985 by Shrapnel Records. Track listing Personnel Band members *Leather Leone – vocals * David T. Chastain – guitar *Mike Skimmerhorn ...

'' (1985) * ''

Ruler of the Wasteland ''Ruler of the Wasteland'' is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Chastain, released in 1986 through Shrapnel Records. During the same year, David T. Chastain released also two other studio albums with his second band CJSS ...

'' (1986) * ''

The 7th of Never ''The 7th of Never'' is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Chastain, released in 1987 through David T. Chastain's own record label Leviathan Records in the USA. In Europe the album was reissued by Massacre Records in 1995. ...

'' (1987) * ''

The Voice of the Cult ''The Voice of the Cult'' is the fourth studio album by heavy metal band Chastain, released in 1988 through Leviathan Records. Critical reception Andy Hinds at AllMusic gave ''The Voice of the Cult'' two stars out of five, calling it "mainly ...

'' (1988) * ''

For Those Who Dare ''For Those Who Dare'' is the fifth studio album by the American heavy metal band Chastain, released in 1990 through Leviathan Records. New members David Harbour and John Luke Hebert were part of the band that played in Leather Leone solo album ...

'' (1990) * ''The Reign of Leather'' (2010) * ''Surrender to No One'' (2013) * ''We Bleed Metal'' (2015) * "We Bleed Metal 17" (2017) * "1319" (2019)

Leather

*''

'' (1989) * ''Leather II'' (2018) * ''We Are the Chosen'' (2022)

Sledge/Leather

*''Imagine Me Alive'' (2012)

References

External links

*
Leather Leone
on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

Leather Leone
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

Chastain "We Bleed Metal"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leone, Leather American heavy metal musicians Living people Singers from San Francisco Chastain (band) members 1959 births