Ted Leo

Ted Leo

Ted Leo performing at the 2006 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
Background information
Birth name Theodore Francis Leo
Born (1970-09-11) September 11, 1970
South Bend, Indiana
Genres Punk rock, hardcore punk, power pop, indie rock
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Years active 1989–present
Associated acts Citizens Arrest, Chisel, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Both
Website www.tedleo.com

Ted Leo is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman and lead guitarist of punk rock group Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and in 2013, he and Aimee Mann formed the indie rock duo The Both.

Biography

Ted Leo performing in December 2015, wearing Scott Miller button

Musical career

Leo was a founding member of the New York punk band Citizens Arrest in 1989. In the 1990s, Leo played in bands that included Chisel, Puzzlehead, and The Sin-Eaters.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists was formed in 1999 in Washington, D.C. The group recorded six studio albums between 1999 and 2010. Leo has also maintained a consistent presence as a solo performer since the 1990s.[1]

In early 2013, Leo and Aimee Mann formed a duo called The Both, after Leo had toured with Mann for several months as her supporting act. He and Mann began writing songs together, and in March 2013, the duo performed their first show together as The Both (originally formatted as the hashtag #BOTH). Their self-titled debut album, The Both, was released in April 2014.

Early life

Born in South Bend, Indiana, Leo grew up in Bloomfield, New Jersey, where his family was from, and spent many formative years in the hardcore punk scene of New York City during the 1980s and early 1990s.[2][3] He graduated from Seton Hall Preparatory School in West Orange in 1988 and the University of Notre Dame in the fall of 1993 with a degree in English.[4]

Personal life

Leo grew up in New Jersey before moving to South Bend, Indiana to attend the University of Notre Dame, where he formed Chisel.[5] He then moved to Washington D.C., and briefly moved to Boston thereafter.[5] Leo currently lives in Narragansett, Rhode Island, and splits time between there and New York City.[5]

Leo's brothers, Chris and Danny Leo, are also singer-songwriters, and have been members of bands such as Native Nod, The Lapse, The Van Pelt, Vague Angels, and Holy Childhood.

Leo is a vegan, and has served as a spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.[6][7] He makes frequent radio appearances as a contributor to programs on WFMU, most notably to Tom Scharpling's The Best Show on WFMU.

Discography

With Puzzlehead

With Animal Crackers

With Citizens Arrest

With Chisel

With Hell No

With Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

With The Both

Other appearances

References

  1. ↑ Timberg, Scott (February 18, 2011). "Ted Leo takes an extended solo". Archived from the original on 2015-09-19.
  2. ↑ Cavalieri, Nate. "Biography: Ted Leo". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2015-12-14.
  3. ↑ Lomax, John Nova (April 16, 2007). "Gang of New Jersey: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists mingle rampant Europhilia with American Girl". The Village Voice. Retrieved December 25, 2007. Bloomfield, Leo's hometown, is just west of New York City and just north of Newark.
  4. ↑ Almond, Steve (March 29, 2007). "Ted Leo". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Retrieved March 10, 2011. It's virtually impossible to figure out how Ted Leo became, you know, Ted Leo. Born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Leo graduated from Seton Hall Prep and received a degree in English from Notre Dame. He is now a strict vegan and plays socially conscious punk music.
  5. 1 2 3 Duguay, Rob (8 December 2015). "Interview: Now Christmas collaborators, Aimee Mann and Ted Leo find common musical ground". Vanyaland. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  6. ↑ Boylan, J. Gabriel (April 2, 2007). "Never Mind the Politics, Here's Ted Leo!". New York Observer. Archived from the original on 2014-04-11.
  7. ↑ PETA2. "Ted Leo's Living With The Living". Archived from the original on 2015-11-06.
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