Sara Lee is an English-American

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

and singer-songwriter, who came to prominence replacing Dave Allen on bass guitar in

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

, which she was a member of from 1982 to 1984. She was also a member of

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

's short-lived band

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the lives o ...

and is also notable for work with B-52s,

Ani DiFranco Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influe ...

and

Indigo Girls Indigo Girls are an American folk rock music duo from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. The two met in elementary school and began performing together as high school students in Decatur, Georgia, part o ...

. As of October 2021, Lee rejoined

with founding members

Hugo Burnham Hugo Hamilton Mark Burnham (born 25 March 1956) is an English musician, and drummer for the rock group Gang of Four. The band formed in 1977 at Leeds University, where Burnham was studying English Literature. Before the band signed with EMI ...

and

Jon King Jonathan Michael King (born 8 June 1955) is an English musician, songwriter, and Grammy nominated Art Director in the post-punk band Gang of Four. Biography King attended Sevenoaks School, where he was a member of the 'Art Room' that produc ...

as well as

David Pajo David Pajo (born June 25, 1968) is an American alternative rock musician. He has played a wide variety of music, loosely fitting into several other genres such as hardcore punk, math rock, post-rock, electronica, folk rock and indie pop. Though ...

, to tour in 2022.

Biography

Lee confirmed in an interview on Rundgrenradio.com that Sara Lee is her birth name. Born in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

of England, Lee's entire family was musical. Both parents were music teachers (her father was latterly a bass

song man A lay clerk, also known as a lay vicar, song man or a vicar choral, is a professional adult singer in an Anglican cathedral and often Roman Catholic Cathedrals in the UK, or (occasionally) collegiate choir in Britain and Ireland. The vicars chora ...

in the choir of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

), her sister a cellist, and her brother a trombone player. Music formed an important part of her childhood. She played

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

and double bass in school and local orchestras as a teenager, until the day she discovered the electric bass guitar. After playing with a couple of local bands, she moved to London and worked as a secretary at Polydor Records. Here she was discovered by

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

leader

, who was encouraged to stay at a show to see "a girl who works in the office." Fripp invited her to join his band,

. Lee went on to work with

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

on his album ''

Groovy Decay ''Groovy Decay'' was the second solo album by Robyn Hitchcock, released in 1982. His backing band for the record featured Sara Lee of Gang of Four on bass and Anthony Thistlethwaite of the Waterboys on saxophone. Hitchcock refuted claims that ...

'' and recorded two albums with famed political, post punk band

in England. Later she moved to the United States. Lee became a sought-after session, concert and recording artist, playing with the

Thompson Twins Thompson Twins were a British Pop music, pop band formed in 1977 in Sheffield. Initially a New wave music, new wave group, they switched to a more mainstream pop sound and achieved considerable popularity during the mid-1980s, scoring a string ...

before she crossed paths with

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...

during the recording of their ''

Cosmic Thing ''Cosmic Thing'' is the fifth studio album by American new wave band the B-52's, released in 1989. It contains the singles " Love Shack" and " Roam". The success of the album served as a comeback after the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson in 19 ...

'' album, and can be seen in the "

Love Shack "Love Shack" is a song by American new wave band the B-52's from their fifth studio album, ''Cosmic Thing'' (1989). It was released on June 20, 1989, and was produced by Don Was. The song was a comeback for the band following their decline in p ...

" and the "

Roam Real-time optimally adapting mesh (ROAM) is a continuous level of detail algorithm that optimizes terrain meshes. On modern computers, sometimes it is more effective to send a small amount of unneeded polygons to the GPU, rather than burden the C ...

" videos. Following a stint on the Cosmic tour, Sara formed ''The Raging Hormones'' with B-52 session drummer

Charley Drayton Charles Leslie Drayton (born May 9, 1965) is an American multi-instrumentalist and producer, known primarily as a drummer. Artists he has recorded or performed with include The Cult, Keith Richards, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Neil Young, Mi ...

. She then started a seven-year run with the

, contributing "sterling performances". In 1996 and 1997 she accompanied singer-songwriter

on tours of Europe and North America, as documented on the double-live album '' Living in Clip''. Lee has played with many other artists, including

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

Ryuichi Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, singer, record producer and actor who has pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his bandmates Haruomi Hosono and Yukihiro Takahashi, Sakamoto inf ...

and

Fiona Apple Fiona Apple McAfee-Maggart (born September 13, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has released five albums from 1996 to 2020, which have all reached the top 20 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Apple has received numerous awards an ...

, and is a close friend of former

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

bassist

Gail Ann Dorsey Gail Ann Dorsey (born November 20, 1962) is an American musician. With a long career as a session musician mainly on bass guitar, she is perhaps best known for her lengthy residency in David Bowie's band, from 1995 to Bowie's death in 2016. Asid ...

. Lee re-joined the B-52's as a touring member in 1999. On 12 September 2000, she released her debut solo album ''Make It Beautiful'' on Difranco's

Righteous Babe Righteous Babe Records is an American independent record label that was created by folk singer Ani DiFranco in 1990 to release her own songs in lieu of being beholden to a mainstream record company. History Righteous Babe Records was originally c ...

records. Lee recorded instrumental tracks, which were sent to musicians with whom she had previously worked to provide lyrics, including

, Emily Saliers of the

Pal Shazar Pal Shazar is an American singer/songwriter. She was a founding member of the 1980s new wave pop group Slow Children, and married one of the band's producers, Jules Shear, in the late 1980s. Career Slow Children released two albums on the RC ...

Barbara Gogan The Passions were a British post-punk/ new wave band which formed in 1978 and disbanded in 1983. The Passions' music was grounded mainly in Barbara Gogan's voice and Clive Timperley's delicate Echoplex guitar work. They were considered one of th ...

of The Passions and

Kristen Hall Kristen Hall (born October 24, 1962) is an American folk rock singer-songwriter and a founding member of the country music group Sugarland. She had a solo career and released several albums, formed the country band Sugarland, and more recently ...

. She replaced

Rachel Haden Rachel Haden (born October 11, 1971 in New York City) is an American musician and one of the triplet daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden. In the early 1990s, Haden played bass guitar for That Dog, a band that also included her sister Petra. ...

for the final dates of

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

's 2009 ''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

'' tour. Lee was also a judge for the fifth annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

References

External links

Rundgren Radio online audio interview with Sara Lee from 11/18/09

on Archive.org (requires Flash) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Sara English rock bass guitarists Righteous Babe Records artists Living people American lesbian musicians LGBT songwriters LGBT singers from the United States Year of birth missing (living people) American rock bass guitarists Women bass guitarists Indigo Girls members Gang of Four (band) members Place of birth missing (living people) The B-52's 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Women in punk