Aaron Lewis
Aaron Lewis is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and founding member of the alternative metal band Staind, with whom he released seven studio albums. Since 2010, he also pursues a successful solo career in country music with his debut EP Town Line, which was released on March 1, 2011 on Stroudavarious Records. Lewis' first full-length solo release, The Road, was released by Blaster Records on November 13, 2012.
In 2006, Lewis was ranked at number 49 in the Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists by Hit Parader.
Early life
Lewis was born in Vermont to Jewish hippie parents living in a log cabin. When his parents split up, he moved with his father to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he attended high school.Career
Solo career
In July 2010, Lewis finished recording a country music EP entitled Town Line that was released March 1, 2011 on Stroudavarious Records. It features seven tracks including three versions of the first single "Country Boy" featuring George Jones, Charlie Daniels, and Chris Young, as well as the songs "Massachusetts", "Vicious Circles", "The Story Never Ends", and a re-recording of "Tangled Up in You" originally from The Illusion of Progress. Lewis said in a July 2011 interview that he was introduced to country music as a child by his grandfather, but his interest was recently rekindled when he toured with fellow rock turned occasional country singer Kid Rock. in Cleveland in 2013Lewis released his first full solo album, The Road, in November 2012. Its debut single, "Endless Summer", has also made the country charts. Lewis wrote every song on the 10 track collection, except for "Granddaddy's Gun" which was penned by Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Bobby Pinson, marking the first time Lewis has recorded outside material for an album. In an interview with Broadway's Electric Barnyard, Lewis said he recorded "Granddaddy's Gun" as both a compliment to a friend, and because he was pressed for time.
Lewis wrote songs for his second solo album whilst touring in support of The Road, often performing with Katz Von Brunenburg in his live sets. The album, dubbed Sinner, was mostly recorded in a single 18 hour session, with many tracks done in one take. Aaron's daughter Zoe also provides guest vocals on one song.
On April 12, 2019, Lewis released his third solo album, State I'm In.
Collaborations
Lewis was featured on the song "No Sex" by Limp Bizkit on their album Significant Other. He was also featured on a remix of the song "Crawling" on Linkin Park's first remix album Reanimation. He contributed vocals to the song "Follow" by Sevendust from Animosity, and to the songs "Bleed" and "Send in the Clowns" by the band Cold from 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage. He's also featured on Jimmie's Chicken Shack's song "Falling Out", the only single off their 2004 album re.present. In December 2010 while promoting his Town Line album Lewis collaborated with Corey Taylor for a one-night-only acoustic duet show covering songs such as Pearl Jam's "Black", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", and Alice in Chains' "Down in a Hole". Lewis told Broadway's Electric Barnyard that he's open to collaborating with anyone. When asked specifically about Jason Aldean, whom he shouts out in "Endless Summer", Lewis said, "Yeah."Incidents and controversies
2014 Kansas City Rockfest
At the 2014 Kansas City Rockfest, during the performance of the song "Something to Remind You" from Staind's eponymous 2011 album, Aaron Lewis scolded some men for groping a teenage female fan while she was crowd surfing. His rant was met with applause from the audience.2014 World Series performance
At the 2014 World Series Game 5, Aaron Lewis flubbed the United States' national anthem. Instead of singing "at the twilight's last gleaming," Lewis sang, "were so gallantly streaming," words that come later on. Lewis released a statement of apology, stating, "All I can say is I'm sorry and ask for the Nation's forgiveness. My nerves got the best of me and I am completely torn up about what happened. America is the greatest country in the world. The Star-Spangled Banner means so much to so many, including myself. I hope everyone can understand the intensity of the situation and my true intent of this performance. I hope that the Nation, Major League Baseball and the many fans of our national pastime can forgive me." The incident was particularly embarrassing for Lewis, as three years earlier he publicly criticized singer Christina Aguilera for doing the same thing.2019 Oklahoma City
Aaron Lewis was due to take part in a solo performance in Oklahoma City when he took to the stage and was three minutes from finishing his performance before shouting at the unruly audience and storming off stage.Members of the audience can be heard shouting at the singer, causing him to stop playing and shout “Shut the fuck up” before more audience members hurled abuse at the singer.
One audience member can be heard screaming, “Fuck you”. Obviously not happy with having insults hurled at him, the singer stopped playing and waited for the audience to be civilized. Another audience member can be heard shouting at the crowd, “Shut the fuck up and go home”.
Aaron responds to the audience saying “Listen, I'm fucking good. I don't have to do this... Listen, if you don't shut the fuck up, you can't even hear the guitar. So shut up. I've got 3 more fucking minutes... Can you please, for once-- Through the whole fucking evening, you guys have talked all fucking night. Shut the fuck up or I'm done! It's so fucking ironic that this song is a thank you and I can't get you to shut the fuck up to hear it.”
He tries to begin his song but, after the crowd refuses to be quiet, he drops his guitar on the ground and tosses a red drink cup into the audience before walking off stage."
. Lewis supported Donald Trump before the United States presidential election of 2016, even though he said he was disappointed with his "bickering and name-calling" that was not exhibiting presidential behavior. His last tours of the years 2019 and 2020 were made wearing a MAGA cap.
Personal life
Lewis is married to Vanessa Lewis and has three daughters, Zoe Jane, Nyla Rae and Indie Shay. Lewis also has two sisters, Evyette and Rachel, as well as a brother, Jesse. Regarding the commercial success of Staind's albums in the early 2000s, Lewis reflected "A lot of other people made a shit load of money but we're the same as any of you. I have to work to pay my bills."In a five-minute interview with Outdoor Life magazine Lewis said that he has been hunting whitetail deer since he was old enough to keep up in the "good old woods," since probably around age 4 or 5. His preferred method of hunting deer is with a compound or recurve bow, and he occasionally utilizes a muzzleloader.