Venice (band)

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Please improve this article if you can. (July 2007)

Venice was started in 1977 by cousins Michael and Kipp Lennon. Michael's brother Mark joined the band in 1978, followed by Kipp's brother Pat in 1980. (Kipp and Pat are younger brothers of the Lennon Sisters.)

Venice (and or members of Venice) have performed alongside or recorded with Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Elton John, Phil Collins, Sting, Melissa Etheridge, Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Stevie Nicks, Chris Isaak, Kenny Loggins, the Doobie Brothers, Styx, Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt Bon Jovi and Warren Zevon.

In 1993, Venice shared the stage with Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson in Jingu Stadium, Tokyo.

Venice has been featured nationally on such television programs as Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, E! News Daily, CNN's Showbiz Today, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, The Jerry Lewis Telethon and Rick Dees' Into the Night.

To date, Venice has found their biggest success in The Netherlands, where in 2003, the band won an Edison Award (the Dutch version of the Grammy) for Best International Artist, beating out superstars U2 and Coldplay. In that country, Venice's singles are a mainstay on radio, their tours sell out consistently, and they've guested on countless television programs, most notably on Two Metre Sessies, a popular prime-time program that has devoted three entire half-hour episodes to the band. The subsequent Venice - Two Metre Sessies CD release has gone gold.

The members of Venice are:

Kipp Lennon - lead vocals
Mark Lennon - lead vocals
Michael Lennon - electric & acoustic guitar, vocals
Pat Lennon - electric & acoustic guitar, vocals

Albums:

2008 - Venice Home Grown
2007 - Garage Demos Part III (self-released)
2006 - Amsterdam (Universal/Flow)
2006 - A Band Called Venice (Flow/Japan)
2004 - Pacific Standard Time (Flow)
2002 - Welcome To the Rest of Your Life (Columbia)
2000 - 2 Meter Sessies (Universal)
1999 - Spin Art (Vanguard)
1999 - Christmas With Venice (self-released)
1997 - Born and Raised (Vanguard)
1995 - Garage Demos Part I (self-released)
1995 - Garage Demos Part II (self-released)
1990 - Venice (album/CD) (Modern/Atlantic)
1986 - Do It Yourself (self-released LP)

DVDs:

Venice Live (At The Royal Carre Theatre)
Blue Paint (Music Video)
2 meter sessions (Harderwijk 1998 and Los Angeles 1999)

[edit] Trivia

American Idol judge Paula Abdul has been spotted exclaiming that Starting Here Again "could be in a movie soundtrack right now. And who knows, maybe it just will." Randy Jackson commented that they were "hot recording artists, ready to make an album." Lastly, judge Simon Cowell proclaimed the Lennon's works "kind of like coming out of karaoke hell into a breath of fresh air. It was original, it was daring, it stood out by a mile."
Artist Sarah Lee Hobocook shared the stage with the Lennons in 2008. Mark Lennon is the cousin of Hobocook's mother^{[citation needed]}.
Rick Astley commemorated^{[citation needed]} his pop song Never Gonna Give You Up back in 1987 to the Lennons and Sarah Hobocook after an alleged popsicle eating contest. In a 1995 Interview with Fox News^{[citation needed]}, Astley clarified that the entire song was a ballad to the efficiency at which Hobocook finished her popsicle.
The internet phenomena Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday was in fact^{[citation needed]} written for Venice after a Michael Jackson figure surprisingly appeared in an Easter chocolate brand.
Venice has also shared the stage with American musician^{[citation needed]} Krisley, who has married Sarah Hobocook in April 20th, 2008. They frequent live fan greetings and talks on the internet broadcasting website Stickam, along with Danny Noriega and Kady Malloy.