Lee Harding (born 8 June 1983) is an Australian singer from

Frankston, Victoria Frankston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Frankston recorded a population of 37,331 at the 2021 census. Due to ...

. He is best known for placing third in the third season of ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...

'' in 2005.

Career

Bedrock

Prior to competing in ''Australian Idol'', Harding was a member of a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. Ne ...

named "Bedrock" who described themselves as a "party band", with a repertoire of hits from the 1960s to the present day. Harding was quoted on his website as saying, "I'd been going to see them since I was 16. I saw them every single week so I knew every song when I joined Bedrock".

2005–2007: ''Australian Idol'' and ''What's Wrong with This Picture?''

In 2005, Harding auditioned for the third season of ''

'', ultimately placing third. Harding's performances on ''Australian Idol'' include: Immediately following the show, Harding was signed to

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

and released his debut single "

Wasabi Wasabi (Japanese: , , or , ; ''Eutrema japonicum'' or ''Wasabia japonica'') or Japanese horseradish is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and mustard in other genera. The plant is native to Japan and the Russian ...

"/"

Eye of the Tiger "Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', which was released a day before the single. The song ...

" in December 2005. The song debuted at number one on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

and was the eighth highest single in 2006. Harding's debut album '' What's Wrong with This Picture?'' was released in February 2006 and peaked at number 3 on the ARIA albums charts. Two further singles followed; " Anything for You" and "Call the Nurse". In July 2007, Harding's contract ceased with

, with the record label claiming they had "their line up of priority artists for the year, and he was not one of them."

2007–2018: Projects

Since 2007, Harding has been involved in a number of short-lived projects, including the group Rock City 2, who released an album in October 2007. and the Patience Project who released a single titled "Lipstick Cabaret" in June 2011. Harding also plays in cover bands at Crown Casino in Melbourne.

2019: ''The Voice''

In 2019 Harding auditioned for the eighth season of ''

The Voice Australia ''The Voice'' is an Australian singing competition television series. It premiered on the Nine Network on 14 April 2012, before moving to the Seven Network in 2021. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', and part of ''The Voice '' ...

'' where he joined team

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

. He was eliminated in the top 9.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Concerts/Tours

Shannon Noll support act

Lee was support for fellow ''Idol'' contestant

Shannon Noll Shannon Noll (born 16 September 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter who first came to prominence as runner-up of the first season of ''Australian Idol'' in 2003, which led to him being signed to Sony BMG. He has released five top ten albu ...

on his nationwide tour with mate and fellow ''Idol'' contestant

Dan England The third season of '' Australian Idol'' debuted on 26 July 2005. The first of three semi-finals was held on 16 August 2005 with three of the Top 12 contenders announced the following night on 17 August 2005. 2Day FM radio host Kyle Sandilands ...

. Harding played venues such as

Luna Park Sydney Luna Park Sydney is a heritage-listed amusement park located at 1 Olympic Drive in the harbourside suburb of Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. The amusement park is owned by the Luna Park ...

's Big Top.

INXS support act

August 2006, Harding was opening act for rock group

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

with bandmates Bedrock for one night of their tour in Brisbane.

Anything for You Tour

In April 2006, Harding headlined his own tour titled the Anything for You Tour. Before acts included the Sydney-based power-pop group

Kid Courageous Kid Courageous was a pop punk band from Australia. The band consists of Mick Anderson (lead vocals, piano), Huw Griffiths (guitar, vocals), Patrick Ricapito (lead guitar), Richie Newman (drums) and Dave Simon (bass guitar). All five members of ...

, rapper Figgkidd, and the indie rock group Town Hall Steps. Harding performed at such venues including Penrith Panthers and Castle Hill RSL Club. The tour covered venues along the east coast of Australia.

All Age Rampage/Pop Punk Tour 2006

In September 2006, Harding began his co-headlining tour with Kid Courageous of small venues across the nation. The tour commenced in Brisbane, then continued to the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Albury and Adelaide. Artists on the tour included Lee Harding and Bedrock, Kid Courageous, 919 (later known as Amber Calling) and Enolas Secret (formerly known as Wishlist). Melbourne band Don't Ask Us supported the tour on the Victorian dates. Due to the arisal of a family issue, the tour was postponed for the NSW shows, which consisted of venues such as Penrith Leagues, the Manning Bar and Dapto Leagues. News was received after the conclusion of the Adelaide show and was confirmed in an official press release by Harding's manager at the time.

Bass in the Grass

Lee attended Bass in the Grass in Darwin in 2006. While on stage he was "hit by a barrage of full water bottles hurled at him from all sides".

References

*http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22064138-5012974,00.html

External links

WHO.com Australian Idol blogTake40 Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Lee 1983 births Australian Idol participants Singers from Melbourne Living people 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century Australian male singers People from Frankston, Victoria