Johnny Lee

Like many his age, Johnny Lee grew up on the music of Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Raised on a dairy farm in Alta Loma, TX, he formed his first band, Johnny Lee & the Road Runners, during high school. He tricked his way into playing on-stage with Mickey Gilley at a Houston club called the Nesadel, and that shot brought him a long-term run at Gilley's clubs. When Urban Cowboy was shot at Gilley's, record executive Irving Azoff offered Lee an opportunity to sing in the picture, and he ended up with a song that more than 20 artists had previously rejected. In his hands, that song -- "Lookin' for Love" -- became a million-seller and the musical centerpiece of the movie. Stardom occurred practically overnight for Lee, but it was a mixed bag. He and Gilley toured steadily; Lee got a substantial string of hits for about three years and ended up marrying Dallas starlet Charlene Tilton. But when the marriage soured, he found his name constantly in the tabloids, and he was forced to record a large amount of same-sounding material. Nevertheless, Lee had an important role in a huge era for country music, and his easygoing vocal style still makes him very listenable. Following the demise of his high-school band, the Road Runners, Lee enlisted in the Navy, serving in Southeast Asia (including Vietnam) during the mid-'60s. After his discharge, he floated between California and Texas before settling near Houston. Lee convinced Gilley into letting him join his band as a backup singer and trumpeter in 1968, telling the pianist that they had previously met in Galveston, when in fact they hadn't. For the next ten years, Lee worked closely with Gilley, becoming an integral party of the pianist's Pasadena club, Gilley's. When Gilley was on tour, Lee acted as the...