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Leslee Lewis Wiki, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

April 8, 20240

 

Leslee Lewis, also known as Leslee Peter Lewis, is an Indian singer, music composer, and producer. He has remained an active music personality since 1987. His music genre is rock and pop music. Leslee is the torchbearer of the Coke Studio music season in India, having produced the entire music of its debut season. His duo collaboration ‘Colonial Cousins’ with the famous Indian singer Hariharan earned him popularity and prestigious music awards. Leslee composed music for KK‘s first solo album ‘Pal,’ releasing iconic songs like ‘Yaaron Dosti’ and ‘Pal.’

Wiki/Biography

Leslee Lewis was born on Monday, 20 June 1960 (age 63 years; as of 2023) in Mumbai, India. His zodiac sign is Gemini. He grew up in a creative environment, watching his father, P.L. Raj, playing the tabla and choreographing the most popular dance songs for Indian cinema of the 60s and 70s. He pursued his schooling at St. Mary’s High School, Mt. Abu in Rajasthan. At school, Leslee was influenced by The Beatles, ABBA, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton. Seeing them, he started playing guitar.

Childhood picture of Leslee Lewis (centre) with his sisters

After completing it, Leslee joined a local fishermen’s band called the Blue Diamond Orchestra in Bombay City and played guitar on the streets and railway stations of Bombay. He joined Catherine College in Bombay to pursue a B.Com degree and at the same time, played at the nightclub. He had failed in B.Com as his interest was solely in music. Later, Leslee played at Cafe Royal, gradually shiting to music studios for playing the guitar for jingles.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 6″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

 

Family

Leslee Lewis is half South Indian and half Hindu Goan. His father hails from South India.

Parents & Siblings

Leslee Lewis’ father, P. L. Raj (deceased), was a famous Bollywood film choreographer.

Leslee Lewis’ father, P. L. Raj, sitting beside Amitabh Bachchan on the sets of the movie Don

His mother, Devyani is a dancer.

Leslee Lewis with his mother

Leslee Lewis has two sisters, Greta Lewis and Eliza Lewis.

(Left-Right) Greta Lewis, Eliza Lewis, and Leslee Lewis

Wife & Children

Leslee Lewis is married to Lolette and has 2 children. His son Dev was born in 1991 and his daughter Divya Lewis was born in 1996. Divya is an aspiring singer.

Religion

Leslee Lewis is a Christian and follows Christianity.

Career

Jingle Composer

In the late nineties, Leslee founded a music company and became a popular advertisement jingle composer. He composed jingles like Amul Doodh, Thumbs Up Taste the Thunder, Mango Frooti Fresh and Juicy, etc. He was awarded for his jingle-ad compositions by the Indian Academy of Advertising Film Art (IAAFA) in 1989.

Music Composer & Producer

After creating a name in the jingles, Leslee started composing mainstream music and became a popular music producer by producing new artists for the music industry. Leslee Lewis is known as one of the pioneers who introduced ‘rock and pop’ music to the Indian industry. His music style combines Indian voices with Western musical beats like foot tapping and EDM. He composed and produced ‘Paree Hoon Main’ (1991) with singer Suneeta Rao. He also composed music for Sonu Nigam’s song ‘Kal Hi Ki Baat Hai’ from the album ‘Bombay Girl’ (1994).

Leslee Lewis with Sonu Nigam during the music composition of the album Bombay Girl

Leslee revived the voice of Asha Bhosle for the millennial generation by starting the trend of her remixes like ‘Piya Tu Ab To Aaja’ and ‘O Mere Sona Re’ in the album ‘Rahul & I’ (1996).

Leslee Lewis’ Instagram post about the popularity of Asha Bhosle’s album of remixes ‘Rahul & I’

He also produced an album with her titled ‘Janam Samjha Karo’ (1997), making ‘Raat Shabnami’ and ‘Janam Samjha Karo’ the hit pop-Hindi songs. Leslee Lewis also produced the celebrated Indian playback singer KK‘s first solo album ‘Pal’ in 1999, who gave him his demo tape in 1994, extending his wish to work with him. Its hit songs ‘Yaaron Dosti’ and ‘Pal’ have continued to be evergreen anthems on friendship and farewell in India.

Leslee Lewis’ Instagram post about K. K.

His other famous music compositions and productions include Leslee made his Hollywood debut song with ‘Entourage’ in 2021 for the film Trap City. It is a collaboration with rapper-singer Omar Gooding. He released an album in 2023 titled ‘The White Album.’

Colonial Cousins

Leslee reached the peak of his fame in 1996 when he formed a duo band named ‘Colonial Cousins,’ with Hariharan whom he first met in 1992 for a jingle project.

Leslee Lewis with Hariharan

This was the first Indian band featured on the original MTV Unplugged in London. He came as a singer and live performer for the first time with this album’s release. In an interview, Leslee Lewis said,

I became an artist with ‘Colonial Cousins.’

The Classic cassette of ‘Colonial Cousins’

The famous albums of this duo band are ‘ Colonial Cousins’ (1996), The Way We Do It (1998), Aatma (2001), and ‘Once More’ (2012). The song ‘Krishna’ from ‘Colonial Cousins’ became a peace march song of the late 90s for its message amid war and terrorism in Sri Lanka. Its other famous song was ‘Sa Ni Dha Pa.’

The ‘Colonial Cousins duo is still in demand for musical tours and got them the MTV Viewers’ Choice Award and U. S. Billboards Viewers’ Award in 1996.

Coke Studio

In 2012, Leslee Lewis introduced the idea of Coke Studio in India. It was a collaboration between MTV India with Coca-Cola India. Leslee produced the entire music of its first season.

Leslee Lewis with KK on the Coke Studio

Performer

Leslee Lewis is a live performer and tours with his band to different countries for corporate gigs, music festivals and events like weddings and birthday parties. Singer Kavya Jones is part of his band.

Leslee Lewis with his band. Kavya Jones standing 2nd from right

Awards & Achievements

  • MTV Asia Viewers’ Choice Award for ‘Colonial Cousins’ (1996)
  • U.S. Billboard’s Viewers’ Award for ‘Colonial Cousins’ (1996)
  • Awarded Doctorate in Music from the National Institute of Education Research (NIER) and the National American University (NAU) (2019)
  • Awarded Wow Iconic Personality – Iconic Musician par Excellence by Wow Awards (2019)
  • Global Music Icon Award (2021)

    Leslee Lewis while receiving the Global Music Icon Award

  • Legendary Singer-Composer-Performer by SOS Nightlife (2022)
  • Iconic Personality of the Year by Wow Corp (2022)
  • Awarded Artist of the Month by Radio City Freedom (2022)
  • Awarded ‘Maestro Award’ by Whistling Woods International (2023)

    Leslee Lewis receiving the Maestro Award from Whistling Woods

Honours

  • He is honoured as the mascot for IIMUN (India’s International Movement to Unite Nations since 2011.
  • Leslee is honoured by the World Peace Summit as the ‘Godfather of Independent Music’

Favourites

  • Desserts: Ice Cream, Cakes
  • Songwriter: Rod Temperton
  • Guitarists: Derek Julian, Jimi Hendrix

Facts/Trivia

  • Formerly Leslee Lewis was spelled as Leslie and Lesle.
  • He has also created soundtracks for Tamil films Modhi Vilayadu (2009) and Chikku Bukku (2010).
  •  In an interview, Leslee said that the boldest thing he has done is to do 51 songs in 40 days for the Coke Studio’s debut season. During these days, he used to sleep for just 2 hours i.e. 5.30 a.m. to 7.30 a.m. and had 2 such days, when he slept for just 45 minutes!
  • Leslee Lewis is a foodie and enjoys cooking. He shares many images of his self-cooked meals on social media handles.
  • Leslee Lewis is a non-vegetarian and posts many pictures of his non-vegetarian cuisine on Instagram.

    Leslee Lewis’ Instagram post about non-veg food

  • He has been a jury member of many talent hunt music competitions in India.
  •  Leslee Lewis often consumes alcohol.

    Leslee Lewis celebrating his friend’s birthday with liquor

  • He has created and composed the music anthem for India’s first F1 Race. KK, Daler Mehndi, and Lucky Ali were his co-singers in this anthem.

    Leslee Lewis’s Instagram post about composing the first Indian F1 Race anthem

  • In 2018, he composed and sang a short anthem for the Indian Air Force that was featured on National Geographic and when former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman took a Sukoi flight.
  • He directed the music of the first musical in India ‘ Beauty & the Beast’ by Walt Disney.

    Leslee Lewis’ Instagram post about his musical composition for Walt Disney

  • He considers the Indian dancer and actress Helen as her godmother.
  • His guitar gurus are Louiz Banks, Gussy Rikh, and Gorakh Sharma.

    Leslee Lewis’ Instagram post about his guitar Gurus, Gussy Rikh and Gorakh Sharma

    Leslee Lewis’s Instagram post about his guitar mentor, Louiz Banks

  • In 2022, Leslee recreated KK’s song ‘Yaron Dosti’ with his children Nakul and Taamara.
  • During the Covid-19 pandemic, he started a Facebook live series titled ‘Life of Leslee’ to discuss his musical journey.
  • One of his icons is the American record producer Quincy Jones.

    Leslee Lewis’ Instagram post about Quincy Jones

  • Leslee’s favourite song from ‘Colonial Cousins’ is ‘Indian Rain.’
  • During the Covid pandemic, he started a Facebook live series titled ‘Life of Leslee,’ where he talked about his life as a music artist.

    Instagram post of Leslee Lewis about his Live series ‘Life of Leslee’