Richard Lee Peng Boon
(born 24 August 1956) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Lee was awarded the
Cultural Medallion
The Cultural Medallion () is a cultural award in Singapore conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, Literature of Singapore, literature, Music of Singapore, music, photography, art and Cinema of Singapore, film ...
, Singapore's pinnacle arts award, for music in 2005.
Early life
Lee was born to a
Peranakan
The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...
father, Lee Kip Lee, (who wrote for ''
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...
'') and his wife, Elizabeth Tan.
He was the eldest child in the family of five,
with three brothers and a sister (now deceased). He received his early education at St. Michael's School (now
SJI Junior
St. Joseph's Institution (SJI) is an independent Catholic educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1852 by the De La Salle Brothers, it is the first Catholic school and the third oldest school in the country.
SJI has been offering a dual ...
) and his secondary education at
St. Joseph's Institution
St. Joseph's Institution (SJI) is an independent Catholic educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1852 by the De La Salle Brothers, it is the first Catholic school and the third oldest school in the country.
SJI has been offering a dual ...
.
Musical career
Early years
Lee started his career in 1971 at the age of fifteen when he joined the group Harmony as a pianist and participated in several talent contests with the group.
He soon left the group and formed his own group, Dick and the Gang, with his brothers.
He would performed on stage both as a group or on his own.
His first album, ''Life Story'', featuring his own compositions, was released in 1974.
Throughout the 70s and 80s, Lee championed the use of Asian elements in pop music. His pioneering album, ''Life in the Lion City'' (1984), won acclaim. But the album that achieved regional prominence for him was ''The Mad Chinaman'', released in 1989,
Lee won several awards in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan for these early artistic efforts.
In addition to his recordings, in 1983, he co-produced and contributed keyboards to
Zircon Lounge's debut album ''Regal Vigour''.
1990s
In 1990, Lee moved to Japan where he continued to develop the new Asian identity through his solo work, as well as collaborations with top Asian artistes such as
Tracy Huang,
Sandy Lam
Sandy Lam Yik-lin (; born 26 April 1966), is a Hong Kong singer, actress and producer. She rose to fame in the 1980s, before expanding her fan base significantly in Asia, releasing more than 30 stylistically diverse albums in Cantonese, Englis ...
and Japanese group
Zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...
. He has written numerous songs for top singing talents in Asia.
''Transit Lounge'', released by
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
, won both critical and music lovers' praise during the same time that he was regional vice-president of Artiste and Repertoire for Sony Music Asia, based in Hong Kong from 1998 to 2000. ''Everything'', released in November 2000 also by
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
, features a collection of his works written since the 1970s. In December 2001, Lee and his friend Leonard T contributed a song to a charity CD – ''Love Is The Answer For Kids With Aids, KK Outreach for Kids Fund''. The song "It All Begins With Love" is aired frequently on Singapore's radio stations.
Lee has written many staged musicals including ''
Beauty World'' (1988), ''Fried Rice Paradise'' (1991), ''Kampong Amber'' (1994), ''
Sing to the Dawn'' (1996), ''
Hotpants'' (1997),
Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung Hok-yau (born 10 July 1961) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. One of the most influential artists in the Greater China region, Cheung is widely regarded as a Heavenly King of Cantopop music and an icon of Hong Kong popular culture. He ...
's acclaimed ''
Snow.Wolf.Lake'' (1997), ''Nagraland'' (1992), ''
Puteri Gunung Ledang'' (2006) and ''P. Ramlee'' (2007). Since 1998, Lee has been the Associate Artiste Director of the
Singapore Repertory Theatre.
2000s
In 2000, Lee composed the songs for the musical version of the sitcom ''
Phua Chu Kang'', produced for the Singapore President's Star Charity Drive and broadcast by
Television Corporation of Singapore
Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...
(TCS). The musical raised over a record-setting $2 million.
In 2002, he wrote and co-directed his first dance musical ''re:MIX'' for the Singapore Repertory Theatre Young Company (SRT Young Company), and that same year wrote a commissioned work, ''
Forbidden City: Portrait of An Empress'', one of the highlights of the October opening festival of Singapore's prestigious new cultural centre,
The Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay. The production was a popular re-run in September 2003 and again in 2006. It was directed by
Steven Dexter and was scheduled to go on a world tour in 2008, with the first stop being
London's West End.
Lee was appointed the Creative Director for Singapore's 2002
National Day Parade. Coincidentally, his song "
We Will Get There" was selected to be 2002 theme song for the parade.
Stefanie Sun
Stefanie Sun Yanzi (; born Sng Ee Tze; 23 July 1978) is a Singaporean singer and songwriter. Known for her Ballad, ballads and girl next door image, Sun made her debut with the album ''Yan Zi (album), Yan Zi'' in 2000. Featuring the single "Cl ...
performed the song and also included it in her own top-selling album. This was his second National Day theme song, having written "
Home
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
", performed by
Kit Chan
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, in 1998.
In 2003, he penned the English lyrics of "Treasure The World", the image song of J-ASEAN campaign by
The Japan Foundation. Artistes from Japan and 10
ASEAN
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...
countries recorded this song for the campaign in English and their respective native languages. In July 2003, Lee was awarded the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize, an award by the
Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize committee to recognise an individual's substantial contributions to the arts scene in Asia.
Lee wrote an autobiography, ''The Adventures of the Mad Chinaman'', in 2004.
In 2004, he appeared on ''
Singapore Idol'' as a judge alongside fellow Singaporeans Florence Lian and
Ken Lim. He returned as a judge for the second and third seasons in 2006 and 2009.
On 17 and 18 December 2004, Lee held a 30th anniversary concert, titled ''Life Stories'' at the Kallang Theatre. Guest stars included Singapore Idol winner
Taufik Batisah and runner up
Sylvester Sim, Kumar, ex-wife Jacintha,
Koh Chieng Mun,
Hossan Leong, and others.
In 2005, Lee was awarded the
Cultural Medallion
The Cultural Medallion () is a cultural award in Singapore conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, Literature of Singapore, literature, Music of Singapore, music, photography, art and Cinema of Singapore, film ...
for music.
In 2009, he penned the theme song for the
APEC Singapore 2009 summit which was performed in front of world leaders such as
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
by Kit Chan during the Singapore Evening at the APEC Singapore 2009 summit on 14 November 2009 at the
Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. He was also the director of the 30-minute musical extravaganza involving 376 Singaporean artistes in a concert extravaganza enhanced by multimedia projections.
In 2010, Lee was the Creative Director of Singapore's 44th National Day Parade.
In 2011, Lee returned with ''The Adventures of the Mad China man'', a concert, and ''Beauty Kings'', an original comedy play.
In 2012, Lee also performed — and was a character — in
TheatreWorks’ ''National Broadway Company'' production for the
Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cle ...
's 10th anniversary celebrations.
In 2013, Lee returned to musicals by composing the 90-minute ''LightSeeker'', which premiered at
Resorts World Sentosa
Resorts World Sentosa (abbreviation: RWS) is an integrated resort on the island of Sentosa, which is located off the southern coast of Singapore. The key attractions within RWS include one of Singapore's two casinos, Universal Studios Singapore ...
. He was also named a
Steinway Artist and became Creative Director of the revamped
Rediffusion Singapore
Rediffusion Singapore (), started in 1949, was the first cable-transmitted radio station in Singapore. It was a Singapore subsidiary of the Broadcast Relay Services (Overseas) Ltd. It was also Singapore's only subscription radio service.
Redif ...
radio station.
In 2014, Lee held a concert, ''Dick Lee: Celebrating 40 Years In Music'', at the Drama Centre. In the same year, a revamped version of his 1997 musical ''Hotpants'' was restaged. After his third stint as National Day Parade's Creative Director, Lee will return to helm 2015's golden jubilee show; and he has been tasked to write the next big National Day song.
In 2015, Lee was the creative director of Singapore 50th National Day Parade, where he composed the NDP theme song "Our Singapore", performed by
JJ Lin
Wayne Lim Junjie (; born 27 March 1981), professionally known as JJ Lin, is a Singaporean singer, songwriter, record producer, and businessman. One of the most successful artists in the Sinophone, Chinese-speaking world, Lin achieved recogniti ...
.
In 2017, Lee made his directorial debut with the autobiographical musical film, ''
Wonder Boy
The series, also known as the series, is a franchise of video games published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment (formerly Escape). Beginning with the original ''Wonder Boy (video game), Wonder Boy'' arcade game released in April ...
''.
Fashion career
Having studied fashion design at
Harrow School of Art
Harrow may refer to:
Places
* Harrow, Victoria, Australia
* Harrow, Ontario, Canada
* The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland
* London Borough of Harrow, England
* Harrow, London, a town in London
* Harrow (UK Parliament constituency)
...
in London, Lee's interest in fashion began at 16 when he designed for his mother's boutique ''Midteen''.
He designed his own labels for his boutique ''Ping Pong'', as well as for ''Hemispheres'', the first young designer store he set up with a partner.
Other forays in the fashion world include Display Director for
Tangs
TANGS is a department store located on Orchard Road in Singapore, owned by C.K. Tang Limited. The store is regarded as a principal shopping destination in the city, comparable to Bloomingdale's in New York City and Selfridges in London. The co ...
departmental store in 1984, fashion editor of ''Female'' magazine in 1986 and one of the founders of the Society of Designing Arts, which spearheaded the introduction of Singapore designers to the local fashion market.
From 1982 to 1990, Lee also ran his own event company Runway Productions, which specialised in fashion and tourism events.
Lee chaired the 2011
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
The origins of the compa ...
Fashion Festival,
and in 2014, he was named brand ambassador for Audi Singapore.
Business career
In 1991, Lee created the Boom Boom Room, a drag cabaret venue at
Bugis Street
Bugis (; Kampong Bugis in Malay language, Malay) is an area in Singapore that covers Bugis Street, now located within the Bugis Junction shopping mall. Bugis Street was renowned internationally from the 1950s to the 1980s for its nightly gath ...
, featuring drag comedian
Kumar and other
drag queens
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and have ...
.
In 2000, Boom Boom Room moved to
Far East Square when Bugis Street underwent redevelopment.
It closed eventually in 2004.
In 2021, Lee recreated the Boom Boom Room for a limited run at
Marina Bay Sands
Marina Bay Sands is a integrated resort fronting Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay in Singapore and a landmark of the city. At its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino property at Singapore dollar, S$8&nbs ...
' Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.
In 2012, Lee opened MAD (Modern Asian Diner) in Singapore. It is a 5-way partnership with 4 other homegrown local companies namely Tung Lok group, Bakerzin, Bar Stories and Top Wines at
The Grandstand located at
Bukit Timah
Bukit Timah ( ), often abbreviated as Bt Timah, is a planning area and residential estate located in the westernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. Bukit Timah lies roughly from the Central Business District, bordering the Central ...
, Singapore.
It closed in March 2014.
Lee opened pancake joint
Slappy Cakes, another joint venture by Lee, in a portion of the original space used by MAD.
Personal life
Lee is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. In 1992, Lee married
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
singer
Jacintha Abisheganaden.
They divorced in 1997 .
Discography
On Vinyl
On CD
Online
Theatrical works
Musical
Plays
Awards
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Dick
1956 births
Living people
20th-century Singaporean male singers
21st-century Singaporean male singers
Singaporean composers
Peranakan people in Singapore
Singaporean people of Hokkien descent
Singaporean Roman Catholics
Singaporean television personalities
Saint Joseph's Institution, Singapore alumni
Recipients of the Cultural Medallion
Theatre in Singapore