Lee Ryan

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Lee Ryan
On The Red Carpet, MTV Asia Awards 2006, Bangkok,Thailand
Background information
Birth name	Lee Ryan[1]
Born	17 June 1983 (1983-06-17) (age 25)
Origin	Chatham, Kent
Genre(s)	Pop, Soul, Acoustic
Occupation(s)	Singer, Songwriter, Actor
Years active	2001–Present
Label(s)	Sony BMG (2005-2006) Tale Tale (2007-2008)
Associated acts	Blue, Antony Costa, Duncan James, Simon Webbe
Website	Officialleeryan.com

Lee Ryan (born 17 June 1983 in Chatham, Kent) is a singer-songwriter, actor and former member of the British boy band Blue and is now pursuing a solo career.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Solo career 1.3 Future in the music industry 1.4 Hell's Kitchen 1.5 Controversies 1.6 Personal life 2 Discography 2.1 Albums 2.2 Singles 2.3 Other Songs 3 Filmography 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Lee Ryan was born in Chatham, Kent. His parents split up when he was five years old. Lee mostly lived with his mother, sister Gemma and his grandmother. He was brought up in Plumstead. At the age of 5 it was discovered that he suffered from dyslexia. Lee attended performing arts schools including Sylvia Young and Italia Conti. In Blue, Lee was an irreplaceable member of the band as he was often regarded as the lead singer with his solid vocal performances. While in Blue, Lee recorded "Stand Up As People" for the War Child album. He left the band in 2005 to become a solo artist after a commercially successful career with the band.^[2][3]

[edit] Solo career

Lee released his first single "Army of Lovers" on 18 July 2005. It was released to mixed reviews and debuted (and peaked) at #3 in the UK Singles Chart. It hit #1 in Italy.

On 1 August, Lee released his debut album, Lee Ryan, to mixed reviews. The album reached #6 in the UK Album Chart and #3 in Italy, where it has spent 5 weeks in the Top10.

On 10 October, Lee released his second solo single "Turn Your Car Around". The single went under a heavy wave of promotion but due to the release of his album and the lack of enthusiasm for his first single, the track failed to reach the top ten, peaking at #12.

In late 2005, Dolce & Gabbana signed Lee up to be UK face of their new line of clothing.

In January 2006, Lee released his third and final single in the UK "When I Think of You". The song reached #15 in the UK.

Lee later presented two more tracks to the world. "Real Love" was used for the end credits of the film Ice Age 2: The Meltdown which later led to Lee voicing the part of an elk in the UK version of the movie. "How Do I" was released on Lee's website in the form of a video directed by Lee himself to thank his fans for their support. Lee had previously co-directed the video for Blue's single "Breathe Easy" after he wrote the track.

Lee Ryan also appeared on a celebrity edition of Come Dine With Me, aired on 17 September 2008 alongside fellow celebrities Peter Stringfellow, Michelle Heaton and Linda Barker. Lee finished in joint first place with Linda Barker, both of whom scored 26 points.

[edit] Future in the music industry

After the relative success of his first solo album, Lee is currently planning his second solo album. The currently unnamed album will now be under his old Blue label EMI, after Lee and his old solo label SonyBMG decided to part ways due to creative differences. Reports say that the new album may feature Elton John, Jo O'Meara, Rappers Lil' Kim & Charli Baltimore & his ex-Blue band mate Simon Webbe.^{[citation needed]} Although nothing has been confirmed, rumoured tracks from the album are "Peaches" which Lee has performed at many live performances and has released on his MySpace page, "It's Not Me", a song which Lee has told he would have liked on the first album but couldn't get produced fast enough, "Stand Up As People" and "Free" also released on his MySpace page.

Ryan began promotion for the album with a number live and acoustic performances across the UK in spring 2007, he also announced on his website that he has recently finished filming a TV show for BBC2 which was set to air in April and has also filmed a 24 Hours With... special for ITV which aired in June 2007.

The single "Reinforce Love" was released on 10 December 2007. The single was being release for Great Ormond Street Hospital and Clic Sargent, which were the two charities that Ryan was touring for in November and December, with young voices. The single peaked at a very disappointing #101 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the lowest chart position for a Blue former member.

He also recently starred alongside Natalie Casey in The Pretender Agenda at The New Players Theatre in London. (Aug-Sept 2008)

However, as his acting career is on the way, as he will be filming two movies in the United States, he has no plans for the near future to go back to the music scene^[4].

[edit] Hell's Kitchen

Ryan made an appearance in Hell's Kitchen where he only manage to last 3 days walking out of the show after a row with the Marco Pierre White, who was supervising him, for refusing to wear a hat when required to in fear of messing up his hair and refusing to carry out kitchen work when asked to such as cutting some carrots and grating some cheese.^[5][6] Ryan got kicked off the show when being told he was no longer part of the team. ^[7][8]

[edit] Controversies

On 31 December 2007, he was arrested for an assault on a taxi driver in Oxted Surrey. He was released on bail until February 2008 ^[9]]. At Guildford Magistrates' Court on 24 June 2008 he was fined £300. Claimed in court "he felt targeted because he is famous".^[10] As a result of this, he was fired from his prime time ITV show which he was due to appear in 6 episodes^[11]

[edit] Personal life

In June 2008, Ryan announced he was engaged to fan Samantha Miller, 20, who had written to him, enclosing revealing pictures via his MySpace page. The couple had met for dinner, and after Miller had become pregnant, they are engaged to be married at some date in 2009.^[12] In late July 2008, press stated that Ryan apparently had called off the engagement, leaving Miller 5 months pregnant. ^[13]. However, on 30 July 2008, Ryan stated on Loose Women that the engagement was still on and that his baby was due on 4 December 2008.

Lee is a supporter of Charlton Athletic F.C.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

• 2005: Lee Ryan - #6 UK, #3 ITA, #79 GER, #61 CH

[edit] Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
		UK Singles	UK Downloads	ITA	GER
2005	"Army of Lovers"	3	17	1	29	Lee Ryan
	"Turn Your Car Around"	12	22	2	52
	"When I Think of You"	15	29	—	—
2006	"Real Love" (not released in UK)	—	—	—	56
2007	"Reinforce Love"	101	—	—	—	—

[edit] Other Songs

• Stand Up As People (2004) - Released on the compilation "Hope".
• Why Me (2004) - Released on the movie soundtrack "The Passion of Christ".
• Come Together Now (2006) - Charity Single to raise money for the Katrina victims, alongside Céline Dion, Joss Stone, The Game, Wyclef Jean, Stacy Orrico and Natalie Cole, among others.

[edit] Filmography

• The Heavy (2008)
• Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006)
• Holby City (12 October 2000) - Guest appearance

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Official myspace
• International Blue LADS Forum
• Blue website
• 24 Hours With Lee Ryan preview
• Lee's Hell's Kitchen profile

v • d • e Blue Duncan James · Lee Ryan · Simon Webbe · Antony Costa Studio albums All Rise · One Love · Guilty Other albums Remixes · Best of Blue · 4Ever Blue · The Platinum Collection · The Collection Singles "All Rise" · "Too Close" · "If You Come Back" · "Fly By II" · "One Love" · "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" · "U Make Me Wanna" · "Guilty" · "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" · "Breathe Easy" · "Bubblin'" · "You and Me Bubblin'" · "Curtain Falls" · "Get Down On It" Discographies Blue discography · Simon Webbe · Duncan James · Antony Costa · Lee Ryan