Name |
Tommy Lee |
Height |
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Naionality |
American |
Date of Birth |
October 3, 1962 |
Place of Birth |
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Famous for |
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Lee was born in Athens, Greece. His mother, Vassiliki "Boula" Papadimitriou, was Miss Greece in 1957, and his father, David Lee Thomas Bass, was a US Army serviceman of Welsh descent.[1] He has one younger sister, Athena Kottak (b. 1964), who is currently the drummer of Kottak. His family moved to California a year after his birth. Lee received his first drum when he was four. However he received his first real drum kit when he was a teenager.
At that time, he was listening to Kiss, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Judas Priest. As he started listening to Kiss, his main drum influence became Peter Criss. After transferring from South Hills High School (West Covina, California); he joined the marching band at Royal Oak High School (now Royal Oak Middle School) in Covina, California, but dropped out of school in his senior year to focus on his musical career.
His first successful band Suite 19 played the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles during the late 70s. At this time he met future bandmate, Nikki Sixx. Casually, Sixx was forming a theatrical band that would specialize in anthemic heavy metal, and was impressed by Lee's drumming. At this time, he changed his name to Tommy Lee and earned the nickname "T-bone" from Sixx, in reference to his tall (6 foot 2 inch, or 189 cm) and thin physique.
Shortly afterward, guitarist Mick Mars joined the band. Mars recommended a singer Tommy had met while in high school, Vince Neil, who soon joined the group, and Mötley Crüe was formed.