Aaron Lewis (born April 13, 1972) is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and founding member of the

nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...

band Staind, with whom he released seven studio albums. Since 2010, he has pursued a solo career in

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, ...

with his debut EP ''

Town Line A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

'', which was released in 2011. Lewis' first full-length solo release, ''

The Road ''The Road'' is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that ha ...

'', was released by Blaster Records in 2012. In 2006, Lewis was ranked at number 49 in the "Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists" by ''

Hit Parader ''Hit Parader'' was an American music magazine that operated between 1942 and 2008. A monthly publication, it focused on rock and pop music in general until the 1970s, when its focus began turning to hard rock and heavy metal. By the early 1980s ...

''.

Early life

Lewis was born in Rutland,

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, to a Jewish mother and a Catholic father of Italian, English and Welsh descent. At the time of his birth, his parents were living in a log cabin. Lewis moved to New Hampshire when he was 8, and lived there until he was 12. When his parents split up, he moved with his father to

Longmeadow, Massachusetts Longmeadow is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, in the United States. The population was 15,853 at the 2020 census. History Longmeadow was first settled in 1644, and officially incorporated October 17, 1783. The town was originally farm ...

, where he attended

Longmeadow High School Longmeadow High School (LHS) is an American public high school located in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Founded in 1956, it enrolls approximately 1,000 students.Get The Feeling: Masacksic 1988, Vol. 32. The school's mascot is a Lancer. It was ...

Career

Solo career

In July 2010, Lewis finished recording a

EP entitled ''

'' that was released on March 1, 2011, via

Stroudavarious Records R&J Records is an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was founded in May 2011 by James Stroud and Rick Carter. Stroud is a record producer and former president of Giant Records and DreamWorks Records. In 2008, Stro ...

. It features seven tracks including three versions of the first single " Country Boy" featuring

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Dev ...

, and Chris Young, as well as the songs "Massachusetts", "Vicious Circles", "The Story Never Ends", and a re-recording of "Tangled Up in You" originally from ''

The Illusion of Progress ''The Illusion of Progress'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Staind. It was released on August 19, 2008. ''The Illusion of Progress'' was produced by Johnny K and recorded in lead singer Aaron Lewis's home studio. It debuted at N ...

''. Lewis said in a July 2011 interview that he was introduced to country music as a child by his grandfather, but his interest was recently rekindled when he toured with fellow rock turned occasional country singer

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

Lewis released his first full solo album, ''

'', in November 2012. Its debut single, "Endless Summer", has also made the country charts. Lewis wrote every song on the ten track collection, except for "Granddaddy's Gun" which was penned by Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Bobby Pinson, marking the first time Lewis has recorded outside material for an album. In an interview with Broadway's Electric Barnyard, Lewis said he recorded "Granddaddy's Gun" as both a compliment to a friend, and because he was pressed for time. Lewis wrote songs for his second solo album whilst touring in support of ''The Road'', often performing with Katz Von Brunenburg in his live sets. The album, dubbed ''Sinner'', was mostly recorded in a single 18 hour session, with many tracks done in one take. Aaron's daughter Zoe also provides guest vocals on one song. On April 12, 2019, Lewis released his third solo album, '' State I'm In''. On July 4, 2021, he released " Am I the Only One", a song protesting America's leadership and left-wing activists. On October 21, 2021, Lewis released "Goodbye Town" and also announced that he would release his fourth solo album '' Frayed at Both Ends'' on January 28, 2022.

Collaborations

Lewis was featured on the song "No Sex" by

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...

on their album ''

Significant Other The term significant other (SO) has different uses in psychology and in colloquial language. Colloquially, "significant other" is used as a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming ...

''. He was also featured on a remix of the song " Crawling" on

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. The band's current lineup comprises vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, bassist Dave Farrell, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn and drummer ...

's first remix album '' Reanimation'' (titled as "Krwlng" on the remix album). He contributed vocals to the song "Follow" by

Sevendust Sevendust is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and rhythm guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and lead guitarist Clint Lowery ...

from ''

Animosity Animosity may refer to: * ''Animosity'' (comic), an American comic book series published by AfterShock Comics *Animosity (band) Animosity was an American death metal band from San Francisco, California, formed in 2000. The band released three ...

'', and to the songs "Bleed" and "Send in the Clowns" by the band

Cold Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

from ''

13 Ways to Bleed on Stage Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

''. He's also featured on

Jimmie's Chicken Shack Jimmie's Chicken Shack is an American alternative rock band from Annapolis, Maryland. They are best known for their 1999 single "Do Right" off their album ''Bring Your Own Stereo''. In 1996 they Signed to Elton John's Rocket Records and release ...

's song "Falling Out", the only single off their 2004 album '' re.present''. In December 2010, while promoting his ''

'' album, Lewis collaborated with

Corey Taylor Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the ...

for a one-night-only acoustic duet show covering songs such as

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

's "Black",

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's "

Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd from their eleventh album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a single in 1980, with " Hey You" as the B-side. The music was composed by guitarist David Gilmour. The lyrics were ...

", and

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

' "

Down in a Hole "Down in a Hole" is a power ballad by Alice in Chains, and the fifth and last single from their album ''Dirt'' (1992). It is the twelfth song on most pressings of the album and fourth or eleventh on others. The song was written by guitarist and ...

Personal life

Married to Vanessa Lewis, they have three daughters. Regarding the commercial success of Staind's albums in the early 2000s, Lewis reflected, "A lot of other people made a shit load of money but we're the same as any of you. I have to work to pay my bills." In a five-minute interview with ''

Outdoor Life ''Outdoor Life'' is an outdoors magazine about camping, fishing, hunting, and survival. It is a sister magazine of ''Field & Stream''. Together with ''Sports Afield'', they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publishing by Money ...

'' magazine, Lewis said that he has been hunting

whitetail deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

since he was old enough to keep up in the "good old woods", around age four or five. He prefers to hunt deer with a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struct ...

recurve bow In archery, a recurve bow is one of the main shapes a bow can take, with limbs that curve away from the archer when unstrung. A recurve bow stores more energy and delivers energy more efficiently than the equivalent straight-limbed bow, giving a ...

, and he occasionally utilizes a

muzzleloader A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern (higher tech and harder to make) design ...

. Lewis has been open about his struggles with substance abuse and mental health issues, writing about his problems in Staind songs and his country music.

Politics

Lewis supported

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

before the United States presidential election of 2016, although he said he was disappointed with his "bickering and name-calling". His last tours, from 2019 and 2020, featured him wearing a

Make America Great Again "Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in ...

cap. Lewis has been outspoken in his opposition to the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...

and mask mandates.

Philanthropy

On November 4, 2006, Lewis performed at his old high school in

, and gave all the proceeds to the music department to fund the department's expenses to buy new equipment and supplies. Lewis's main focus, however, is the non-profit organization It Takes a Community, where he and his wife have started to reopen their daughters' elementary school in

Worthington, Massachusetts Worthington is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,193 at the 2020 census, up from 1,156 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Worthington is dis ...

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
The Darkness Within
by

Jenny Eliscu Jenny Eliscu is a radio host for Sirius XM and a contributing editor for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. She also had a recurring presence on the TV program ''I'm from Rolling Stone'' and has been on other music programs, including ''Behind the Music' ...

, Rolling Stone, July 19, 2001 (In depth interview, includes birthplace)
Aaron Lewis lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Aaron 1972 births Living people Alternative metal musicians American country rock singers American country singer-songwriters American heavy metal guitarists American heavy metal singers American libertarians American male singer-songwriters American people of English descent American people of Italian descent American people of Welsh descent American baritones American rock songwriters Jewish American musicians Jewish heavy metal musicians Massachusetts Republicans Musicians from Springfield, Massachusetts Singers from Vermont Nu metal singers People from Rutland (city), Vermont R&J Records artists Singer-songwriters from Massachusetts Songwriters from Vermont Guitarists from Vermont Guitarists from Massachusetts American male guitarists American hunters American fishers Staind members 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists Country musicians from Massachusetts 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American Jews