Martin Lee (born 26 November 1946) is an English singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the pop group Brotherhood of Man.

Early career

Lee was born Martin Barnes in Purley, Surrey, but spent five years of his youth in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. As a teenager, he had a great interest in music and after learning to play guitar he formed his first band. In the early 1970s, he came to the attention of songwriter and publisher

Tony Hiller Anthony Toby Hiller (30 July 1927 – 26 August 2018) was an English songwriter and record producer. He was best known for writing and/or producing hits for Brotherhood of Man, including " United We Stand" (1970) and " Save Your Kisses for Me" ( ...

, while he was working as lead singer with the Johnny Howard Band. Hiller signed him up to his company, Tony Hiller Music initially as a writer. On discovering that he could sing as well, he asked him to be part of the group he managed, Brotherhood of Man. The group had recently disbanded and Hiller was keen to put a new line-up together. Along with Lee Sheriden and

Nicky Stevens Nicky Stevens (born Helen Maria Thomas in Carmarthen, Wales, 3 December 1949) is a singer, famous as a member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. She is the only Welsh person to have won the Eurovision Song Contest. Early career Nicky Stevens be ...

and later Sandra Stevens, the new line-up was born. Lee had already released a solo single by this time, a song called "Cry José", but it failed to gain much interest. Working alongside Hiller and Sheriden, he began composing new songs for the group during 1972. The following year they released their first single and the year after, their first hit. Lee quickly emerged as the lead singer of the group, taking the lead on many of their songs, including that first hit "Lady".

Eurovision win

In 1975, Brotherhood of Man scored their first European No.1 with the song "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", again with a Martin Lee lead vocal. Later that year, the writing team set about composing a song they would enter for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. The song they came up with was " Save Your Kisses for Me" and featured Lee on lead vocals. The song went on to win the Eurovision and made No.1 in several countries including the UK, where it became a million seller. Lee received three Ivor Novello Awards for this composition. The group continued this run of success over the next three years with two more UK No.1 hits "

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" and "

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" - both co-written by Lee. Lee still performs with Brotherhood of Man today as they regularly tour the UK and appear on television throughout Europe.

Personal life

Martin Lee spent five years of his early life in Australia. His mother died when he was young and with his father, he returned to the UK. Soon after she joined the group in late 1973, Sandra Stevens began a relationship with Lee, and they were living together by the time of their Eurovision win in 1976. Lee married Stevens in August 1979. They live in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Martin 1949 births Living people English male singers People from Purley, London Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom Eurovision Song Contest winners Ivor Novello Award winners Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1976 Brotherhood of Man members