Lee Mulhern (born 12 June 1988), now known as Lee Matthews, is an Irish singer-songwriter. Starting age 8, Lee Mulhern (his birth name) had performed as a child star prodigy covering pop and country songs on many Irish and UK radio and television shows. At age 17, he embarked on a series of music projects like Streetwize, Streetside and Access All Areas, in a bid to be launched as an "international boy band" made up of singers from various nationalities. After the boy band projects fell through, he relaunched a solo music career adopting the name Lee.M, and for a short time formed NXT-GEN, an electropop duo collaboration with

Pete Doherty Peter Doherty (born 12 March 1979) is an English musician, songwriter, actor, poet, writer, and artist. He is best known for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he formed with Carl Barât in 1997. His other musical projects are indie b ...

. In 2013, as Lee Matthews, he became part of the

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, ...

scene in Ireland in the

Country and Irish Country and Irish is a musical subgenre in Ireland formed by mixing North American country-style music with Irish influences. It is especially popular in the rural Midlands and North-West of the country, but less so in urban areas or in the South- ...

genre releasing two albums, ''A Little Bitty Country'' in 2014 and ''It's a Great Day to Be Alive'' in 2015 and a string of singles releases.

Beginnings as a child star

Lee Mulhern was born in

Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. North ...

, Northern Ireland. He now lives in the

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an admini ...

town of

Strabane Strabane ( ; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,172 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the east bank of the River Foyle. It is roughly midway from Omagh, Derry and Letterkenny. The River Foyle marks ...

.Carton, Donna. "Child star Lee finds Mum knows best", ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print ...

'', 1999-10-05, p. 8. He started his career at age 7, making his first appearance on Irish television winning the top prize in ''Children at Heart''. He went on to sing live on the BBC for '' Children in Need'' appeal. Aged 8, Lee released his first cassette album entitled ''Hey Good Looking'' a selection of pop, country and ballads. At age 9, he appeared on

Hugo Duncan Hugo Duncan (Hugh Anthony Duncan) (born 26 March 1950, in Strabane) is a singer and BBC broadcaster born in Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland on 26 March 1950. His nickname is "The wee man from Strabane" or "Uncle Hugo". In the early ...

's BBC TV show ''Hugo and Friends'' as a child star. At 10, he won top spot in an 'Esat Digifone' talent competition. In 1999, at age 11, Lee was chosen to represent Ireland at the World Championships for Performing Arts in Los Angeles. He travelled with 35 other Irish contestants to compete against 1500 hopefuls from around the world. He won a gold, a silver and two bronze medals.Regan, Claire. "It's viva Las Vegas for teenager: Singer Lee to jet off for date with the stars", ''

The Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant pop ...

'', 22 December 2001. His gold medal was for the song "I May Be Young", co-written by him and his mother Veronica, who was in

Irish showbands The Irish showband was a dance band format popular in Ireland from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. The showband was based on the internationally popular six- or seven-piece dance band. The band's basic repertoire included standard dance numbers and ...

in the 1980s. He won the silver as well during the same competition with his cover version of " The River" from Garth Brooks. In 2001, at age 13, he participated in a

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

New Year's Eve concert that included

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

and

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

. He made television appearances on TV3, BBC, ITV, RTÉ. In 2002, he performed at the Buncrana Music Festival and also in many TV shows in Ireland and in the UK. On 6 September 2002 in New York, Lee joined Ronan Tynon of the

Irish Tenors The Irish Tenors are a singing trio from Ireland that was started in 1998 by a group of television producers for a PBS special ''The Irish Tenors''. They have since recorded five PBS specials and eight albums. The group's members are Declan K ...

and a host of other American artists at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center for a concert to remember the victims of the 11 September attacks on New York. Lee also joined

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Gerry Ryan Gerard Ryan (4 June 1956 – 30 April 2010) was an Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He presented '' The Gerry Ryan Show'' on radio station RTÉ 2fm each weekday morning from 1988 until ...

at Ground Zero on 9 September when he sang "Fields of Gold" at a special wreath-laying ceremony. Songs from this early period performed by Mulhern include most notably "I May Be Young", " The River", "

Fields of Gold "Fields of Gold" is a song written and performed by English musician Sting. It first appeared on his fourth studio album, ''Ten Summoner's Tales'' (1993). The song was released as a single on 7 June 1993, reaching 16 on the UK Singles Chart an ...

" and " Bright Eyes". At various times, he appeared on various stages with well-established artists like

Daniel O'Donnell Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, MBE (born 12 December 1961) is an Irish singer, television presenter and philanthropist. After rising to public attention in 1983, he has since become a household name in Ireland and Britain; he has also had cons ...

, Brian Coll,

Philomena Begley Philomena Begley (born 20 October 1942) is a country music singer from Northern Ireland. In 1975, Begley had a hit with her version of the Billie Jo Spears' song Blanket on the Ground reaching higher sales then Spears in both the UK and Irelan ...

, Michael English. In 2004, he was the lead actor in the short film "Buy Rights" about shoppers rights in the UK. He also completed a one-year acting course in performing arts in Northern Ireland's NW Institute of Performing Arts. Lee Mulhern studied at St Colman's Secondary School in

with music studies at

North West Regional College North West Regional College is a further education and higher education college in the north-west region of Northern Ireland. The college has five main campuses in counties Londonderry and Tyrone: Strand Road ( Derry), Springtown (Derry), ...

in Derry.

Lee Mulhern in bands and formations

;Streetwize In 2005, Lee Mulhern joined the band Streetwize, billed as the world's first "global

boyband A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many ...

", as one of its original members, alongside Irish

Donal Skehan Donal Skehan (born 3 June 1986) is an Irish people, Irish television personality, presenter (specialising in food programmes), food writer, cook, photographer and former singer. He is known for his television series, cookbooks, popular YouTube ...

, English

Lee Hutton Lee Andrew Hutton (born 13 March 1987, Chesterfield, England) is an English singer-songwriter. Early life Lee Hutton was interested very early in music and learned to play guitar. In 2006, when he was just 18, he became part of the global/inter ...

and Swedish

Jonathan Fagerlund Jonathan Fagerlund (born 8 January 1991), sometimes just Jonathan, is a Sweden, Swedish singer. He has released two albums ''Flying (Jonathan Fagerlund album), Flying'' and ''Welcome to My World (Jonathan Fagerlund album), Welcome to My World'' ...

following successful auditions. The original members made a tour in Ireland, UK, Sweden, and appeared on the US television station

CN8 The Comcast Network (TCN) was an American cable television network owned by the Comcast Corporation, through NBCUniversal; it was carried mostly on Comcast cable systems in four states and 20 television markets in the Eastern U.S. from New Jersey ...

, a cable television station where they performed "

Room in Your Heart "Room in Your Heart" is the third single from the British group Living in a Box's 1989 album, '' Gatecrashing''. It rivalled the band's eponymous 1987 single as their highest-charting song. Both peaked at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. This song ...

" during morning show hosted by Greg Coy. Streetwize (with the amended set-up of Lee Mulhern, Lee Hutton, Kyle Carpenter, Antonio Jones and Allan Cutler sang its signature song, a cover of

Living in a Box Living in a Box are a British band founded in 1985. They are best known for their eponymous debut single, produced by Richard James Burgess. The group currently consists of founding members Anthony "Tich" Critchlow (drums) and Marcus Vere (key ...

's hit "

" during the annual drive of the " ChildLine" charity in 2007 in Ireland. Soon Streetwize disbanded without any actual hits. Streetwize band members were successful individually. Besides Mulhern's solo musical career, two other original members of Streetwize project, Donal Skehan and Lee Hutton went on to form a 4-member boy/girl Irish band named

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

(2009–2010) with two number one singles in Irish Pop Charts. Another Streetwize member,

became a successful solo singer in Sweden with two albums, the single "Playing Me" and a participation in

Melodifestivalen 2009 Melodifestivalen 2009 was a Sweden, Swedish song contest held between February and March 2009. It was the selection for the 49th song to represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, and was the 48th edition of Melodifestivalen. Five heats were ...

with "

Welcome to My Life "Welcome to My Life" is a song by Canadian rock band Simple Plan. "Welcome to My Life" was released to radio on September 14, 2004, as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Still Not Getting Any...'' (2004). It peaked at number 40 ...

". ;Stateside After many member changes, Streetwize was reformed and renamed Stateside. The main vocalists were Lee Mulhern and Venezuelan Antonio Jones, a young singer in a popular Latin American musical formation Fuera de Clase. Lee Mulhern left the band in August 2008 preferring a solo career. Other members included Chris Johnson and Ben Hazlewood ;Access All Areas In 2009, Lee Mulhern became part of a 4-member boy band project called Access All Areas alongside former Stateside member, the Venezuelan Antonio Jones in addition to 2 new recruits,

Mali-Michael McCalla ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor'' is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fifth series was broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 August 2008 until 13 December 2008. Dermot O'Leary returned t ...

, the ''UK X Factor'' Final 24 contestant from series 5 and another UK recruit Tom Pepper. McCalla was later replaced by the Irish/Welsh/Australian Brandon Kemeny. The band broke up in 2011.

In NXT-GEN duo

In 2012, Lee Mulhern now adopting the stage name Lee.M joined forces with

previously the frontman of

The Libertines The Libertines are an English rock band, formed in London in 1997 by frontmen Carl Barât (vocals/guitar) and Pete Doherty (vocals/guitar). The band, centred on the songwriting partnership of Barât and Doherty, has also included John Hassall ...

and also a part of the indie musical project

Babyshambles Babyshambles were an English rock music, rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) during a hiatus from the Libertines. As of 2013 the band includes Mick Whitnall (lead guitar), Drew McCo ...

. The two formed the Irish electropop danse duo NXT-GEN (Next Generation), releasing an electrodance demo titled "Magnetic". Other materials co-written as a result of Mulhern / Doherty collaboration included "Invincible", "Rescue", "Hypnotized", "FTMN (Feel the Music Now)", "Painkillers", "We Can Rescue This", "Same as Me" and "Better Man". Lee.M also engaged in a 2012 tour to promote his music.

Solo career as Lee.M and collaborations

Lee.M collaborated with New York singer J Pearl as well as

Iyaz Keidran Jones (born 15 April 1987), better known by his stage name Iyaz, is a British Virgin Islands singer and songwriter, formerly signed with the record label Beluga Heights Records. He is known for his singles " Replay", "Solo" and " Pretty ...

and

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

in his official debut single release in "

Slow Motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use o ...

" credited to Lee M & J Pearl featuring Iyaz and Snoop Dogg. The opportunity for collaboration arose when Lee was spotted performing at a

Kool and the Gang Kool & the Gang is an American R&B/soul/ funk band formed in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1964 by brothers Robert "Kool" Bell and Ronald Bell, with Dennis "Dee Tee" Thomas, Robert "Spike" Mickens, Charles Smith, George Brown, and Ricky West. ...

60th birthday party in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

and was asked months later if he would be interested to do a track involving Snoop Dogg and Iyaz. The track was produced by Swiss producer David May and was on an international release with Strictly Rhythm label who has signed J. Pearl to its label. The music video was shot in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Italy and Snoop Dogg parts in Los Angeles and is directed by renowned Italian music video director

Claudio Zagarini Claudio is an Italian language, Italian and Spanish first name. In Portuguese it is accented Cláudio. In Catalan language, Catalan and Occitan language, Occitan it is Claudi, while in Romanian it is Claudiu. Origin and history Claudia (gens), ...

. In early 2013, Lee was approached by several of the mentors of "Eurosong 2013" to be in the Irish competition for choosing the Irish entry to the

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 The Eurovision Song Contest 2013 was the 58th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Malmö, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Euphoria" by Loreen. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EB ...

and he suggested "Magnetic". But due to his commitments with the launch of "Slow Motion" with his record label, Lee had to decline for this year.

Solo career as Lee Matthews

During visits to the United States in 2012–2013, Lee's love of country music was reignited, after he saw the upsurge of a new generation of young country singers as crossover pop stars with a country flavour. Changing his name to Lee Matthews, he started giving gigs with a country flavour. He explains his decision in an interview with the '' Strabane Chronicle'':

In America I got a buzz from seeing the country scene explode with a new generation of young country artists making country cooler. When I got back to Ireland I was so excited to see that Derek Ryan and
Nathan Carter Nathan Kane Tyrone Carter (born 28 May 1990) is a British-born Irish country music singer based in the UK and Ireland. He has released thirteen studio albums and six live albums as of December 2022, five of which peaked at number one, and four ...
were also making country cool again here
n Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...
It's such a buzz to be back on stage again singing great songs that people love and enjoy dancing to. The people in Ireland appreciate good country music and they go out of their way to make you feel welcome. The first couple of gigs I did this year people were coming up and thanking me and just talking country music, it's great.

Later on in 2013, he released "Sadie's Got Her New Dress On", a bluegrass classic by

Doyle Lawson Doyle Lawson (born April 20, 1944) is an American traditional bluegrass and Southern gospel musician. He is best known as a mandolin player, vocalist, producer, and leader of the 6-man group Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. Lawson was inducted into ...

and Quicksilver. Lee also released a music video that features Chloe Coyle. Lee followed that up with "That Country Girl". On 8 February 2014, Matthews launched a tour with a live band to promote his new country music career. In May 2014, he released a charity single in support of the Join Our Boys Trust in Ireland, a charity for those suffering from

Duchenne muscular dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe type of muscular dystrophy that primarily affects boys. Muscle weakness usually begins around the age of four, and worsens quickly. Muscle loss typically occurs first in the thighs and pelvis fol ...

. The song "

Love Shine a Light "Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves. It represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. It was released as a single on 28 April 1997 and was later included on the band's ninth studio a ...

, is a cover of a

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band widely known for the 1985 hit " Walking on Sunshine". They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Love Shine a Light". History Pre-history (1975–1980) The band's earliest inc ...

song, the UK entry and eventual winner of

Eurovision Song Contest 1997 The Eurovision Song Contest 1997 was the 42nd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 3 May 1997 at the Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTÉ) and prese ...

. It appears also on his 2014 album ''A Little Bitty Country''. Matthews has gone on to have five Irish Country download number one hits in just one year 2014–2015 including the self penned tracks "That Country Girl" from his album ''A Little Bitty Country'' and "There's Irish in Our Eyes" from the follow-up album ''It's a Great Day to Be Alive''. The latter also included a new version of "

Cotton Eye Joe "Cotton-Eyed Joe" (also known as "Cotton-Eye Joe") is a traditional American Country music, country folk song popular at various times throughout the United States and Canada, although today it is most commonly associated with the Southern Unite ...

", a

Rednex Rednex is a Swedish musical group whose style is a mix of American country music and modern Eurodance, with their appearance and stage names taking inspiration from the American redneck stereotypes. The band originally consisted of the lead sin ...

global hit two decades earlier, based on a 200-year-old traditional instrumental song. His original hit single "The Irish Way" won "Best Original Single" at the Irish Hot Country Awards.

Discography

Albums

;As Lee Mulhern *1996: ''Hey Good Looking'' ;As Lee Matthews

Singles

;as NXT-GEN *2012: "Magnetic" *2012: "Painkillers" ;as Lee.M *2012: "

" (Lee M & J. Pearl featuring

) ;as Lee Matthews ;Others *2015: "

" *2015: " It's a Great Day to Be Alive" *2015: " Buy Me a Boat" *2015: "Girl Next Door" *2015: " Bang on the Ear" *2016: "The Farmer Wants a Wife" *2016: "Do Dat Diddly Ding Dang" *2017: "

Castle on the Hill "Castle on the Hill" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of the double lead singles from his third studio album '' ÷'' (2017), along with "Shape of You". "Castle on the Hill" was writt ...

" *2018: "A Mother's Call" *2018: "Seven Nights in Eire" *2019: "Marie" *2020: "Girl Next Door" *2020: "Mirror on the Wall" *2021: "I Think She Likes Me"

References

External links

Official websiteLee Mulhern MySpace siteLee Mulhern YouTube site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Lee 1988 births Living people People from Strabane Male singers from Northern Ireland Child singers from Northern Ireland Pop singers from Northern Ireland Country singers from Northern Ireland Musicians from County Tyrone