Jon Lee
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Jon Lee (March 28, 1968 – January 7, 2002) was the original drummer for British rock band Feeder.
[edit] Biography
Jon Henry Lee, was born to Patricia and Norman Lee in Newport, Wales, where he also grew up. He took to athletics at a young age, representing his county as a sprinter, but was forced out of the sport by a leg injury that was to change his direction in life. Already inspired to play the drums, having picked up a drum kit in his teens, he teamed up in the early 1990s with Grant Nicholas to form a band called 'Temper Temper'. Without much in the way of success, the two took to London to set up a new band called 'Reel', but the true turning point came when a Japanese bassist called Taka Hirose answered an ad in Loot magazine to form a new band called "Hum" (soon later Real) and a record contract with the Echo Label followed in October 1994 when their name was "Reel". From here the band changed their name to Feeder due to a skateboard company already sharing the same name.
Lee worked hard with the band, touring heavily, which included an exhausting 115 venue tour of the United States. There he met his wife to be, Tatiana Englehart, who also became the mother to his child, Cameron. Jon and Tatiana married in Miami in 2000, where the couple lived together.
Lee worked with Feeder throughout their major rise in success, including the band's first major hit album Echo Park, and had recorded demos for most of the following record Comfort in Sound.
He committed suicide in 2002 at his Miami home. It is believed the reason for his death was that he wanted to return to his home city, but his Brazilian supermodel wife, Tatiana Englehart, did not. Feeder decided to continue, Grant Nicholas saying "Jon would have wanted us to carry on", and former Skunk Anasie and Little Angels drummer Mark Richardson helped out on drumming duties.
With an increasingly successful music career, a supermodel wife and a young son, Jon's death was a surprise to the public and sparked a massive reaction in tributes to the drummer.
Lee's funeral took place at St. Mary's Church, Newport, on January 18, 2002, where thousands of fans showed up alongside family and friends to pay their own respects. Matt Page, Feeder's manager, read "Do not stand at my grave and weep", as requested by Jon Lee's father, Norman.
Feeder's 1997 single 'High' was also played during the ceremony which heard Grant Nicholas say this about his much missed friend:
Jon had such a taste for life, which makes this whole thing such a mystery to us all. He could be the life and soul of any party. Yet, quiet, sensitive and understanding to anyone that needed a friendly ear. I always felt there was a raging fire in his soul which he channelled into his drumming; showing no fear to anything he put his hand to.... Hope you are at peace now, Jon boy. Forever young. Your friend always.
The bands first official live appearances after Jon's tragic death was at the Reading/Leeds Festivals, which saw Grant dedicate "Quickfade" to "absent friends". Many fans turned up to pay their respects to Jon and watch the band.
Jon was buried at St. Woolos Cemetery.
[edit] External links
| Feeder |
| Grant Nicholas | Taka Hirose | Mark Richardson |
| Jon Lee |
| Discography |
|---|
| Albums and extended plays: Two Colours EP | Swim EP | Polythene | Yesterday Went Too Soon | Echo Park | Swim Rerelease | Comfort in Sound | Picture of Perfect Youth | Pushing the Senses | Feeder The Singles |
| Singles: Stereo World | Tangerine | Cement | Crash | High | Suffocate | Day in Day Out | Insomnia | Yesterday Went Too Soon | Paperfaces | Buck Rogers | Seven Days in the Sun | Turn | Piece by Piece | Just a Day | Come Back Around | Just the Way I'm Feeling | Forget About Tomorrow | Find the Colour | Comfort In Sound | Tumble And Fall | Feeling A Moment | Pushing the Senses | Shatter / Tender | Lost and Found | Save Us |
