Arthur Lee

Arthur Lee was born on March 7, 1945 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA as Arthur Taylor Porter. He was married to Diane.

During a break between sets at one of their first shows in late 1964, a fistfight broke out in a parking lot between Lee and John Fleckenstein, the original bass player for what would become the band Love. Although Fleckenstein was a football star at Hollywood High School, Lee put him down in two punches. The band was known then as The American Four, then the Grass Roots, but Lee had to change the name again when The Grass Roots began to have hit records. Lee and Fleckenstein had a tenuous relationship before Fleckenstein left the band and joined The Standells in early 1967. Both ended up dying from leukemia.

Got the inspiration to cover the Hal David / Burt Bacharach song "My Little Red Book" while watching What's New Pussycat (1965). The tune was Love's first hit on the charts and also served as the opening track to their debut album.

In 1966 he and his band Love were the first rock band ever signed to Elektra Records.

Jimi Hendrix was a big fan of Lee and his band Love. When Hendrix was found deceased, in his record collection was a copy of Love's second album "Da Capo" from 1967.

Started going bald around age 23 when he fell asleep in a bathtub with a hair straightening chemical in his hair. He began wearing wigs throughout the 1970s and 1980s into the early 1990s.

Was to form a group called Band-Aid in 1971 with Jimi Hendrix, Steve Winwood and African percussionist Rebop Kwakabooah. Hendrix's death scuttled those plans.

Recorded four solo albums, with only two seeing release--"Vindicator" from 1972, and "Arthur Lee" from 1981. His second solo album was 1973's "Black Beauty" and was produced by Paul A. Rothchild for Buffalo Records, while the third was 1977's unreleased "More Changes" for the E.X. Pression label.

In 1973 he recorded a solo album titled "Black Beaut"y for Buffalo Records. The label was owned by Michael Butler, who at the time also owned the rights to the musical "Hair". The album to date is unreleased and available only as a bootleg.

Mazzy Star covered the song "Five String Serenade" for their platinum album "So Tonight That I Might See", which inevitably made Love's obscure 1992 album (which would later be re-issued and re-titled as "Five String Serenade") Lee's most profitable venture. "Five String Serenade" was originally released on the French label then known as New Rose.

Singer/songwriter Ben Harper claims to have used Love's legendary "Forever Changes" album as one of his main inspirations for his 2003 release "Diamonds On the Inside".

In May 2006 he became the first adult in Tennessee to receive a stem cell transplant. He received it to aid him in his battle with leukemia.