Kay Hanley (born September 11, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known as the vocalist for the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band Letters to Cleo.

Life and career

Hanley grew up in

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood comprising more than in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester, Dorset, E ...

, across the street from the Wahlberg family. She attended school at St. Gregory's and Latin Academy. She has been lead singer/songwriter for rock band Letters To Cleo since 1990. The band name was inspired by Hanley's childhood penpal. In 1996, she co-starred alongside

Gary Cherone Gary Francis Caine Cherone ( ; born July 26, 1961) is an American rock singer and songwriter. Cherone is known for his work as the lead vocalist of the Boston rock group Extreme (band), Extreme and Van Halen. Early life Cherone grew up in Ma ...

in Boston Rock Opera's performance of ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

'' as

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

. In 1999, Hanley appeared as herself in the film ''

10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger in his film directorial debut and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union, and Larisa Oleynik. The scree ...

'', singing a cover version of

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock, power pop and New wave music, new wave,Cruel to Be Kind" to

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film care ...

and

Julia Stiles Julia O'Hara Stiles (born March 28, 1981) is an American actress. Stiles began acting at the age of 11 as part of New York's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club. Her film debut was a small role at age 15 in '' I Love You, I Love You Not'' (1996), ...

at their characters' high school prom, in addition to performing original song "Come On" with Letters to Cleo during an earlier scene at a club. Towards the end of the 90s she began performing with her then-husband and fellow Letters To Cleo member Michael Eisenstein outside of the band. Around the same time, she gave birth to their daughter, Zoe Mabel.

Songwriting

In 1999 Hanley began a shift in her music career. She wrote and performed songs for the

Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming block that originally aired on The WB from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006, and later on The CW from September 23, 2006, to May 17, 2008. Initially launched as a co ...

cartoon series '' Generation O!'' along with the rest of Letters to Cleo and provided the singing voice for

Rachael Leigh Cook Rachael Leigh Cook (born October 4, 1979) is an American actress and model. She has starred in the films ''The Baby-Sitters Club (film), The Baby-Sitters Club'' (1995), ''She's All That'' (1999), and ''Josie and the Pussycats (film), Josie and ...

's character Josie in the movie ''

Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) is a fictional girl group rock band created by Dan DeCarlo for Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic boo ...

''. In 2002, she released her first solo album, ''

Cherry Marmalade ''Cherry Marmalade'' is the first solo album by Kay Hanley, released in 2002 (see 2002 in music). Critical reception Linda Laban of the ''Boston Herald'' considered "Cherry Marmalade" one of the top ten CDs released in 2002.Katz, Larry; Rodman, ...

''. That same year saw the release of '' Face to Face vs. Dropkick Murphys'', a split EP by

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...

and Face to Face that featured Hanley on the original version of the Dropkick Murphys' song "The Dirty Glass". The song would be re-recorded a year later for the band's album '' Blackout'' with their merchandise seller Stephanie Dougherty replacing Hanley on vocals. In 2003, Hanley was approached by

Jun Senoue is a Japanese composer and guitarist. He is a sound director for the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series by Sega and serves as the songwriter of the Japanese-American rock duo Crush 40, which he formed with Johnny Gioeli in 2000. The duo co ...

from

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

to co-write and perform on an original song for the video game ''

Sonic Heroes is a 2003 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Chaos Emeralds needed to defeat Doctor Eggman. Wit ...

''. The result was the song "Follow Me." In 2004, Hanley released a follow-up to Cherry Marmalade, ''The Babydoll EP''. That same year, she and her then-husband Michael Eisenstein had their second child, Henry Aaron, the name given in honor of baseball player

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one ...

and their love for baseball. In August 2005, Hanley recorded a cover of

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

's "Lust for Life" for the soundtrack of the

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

film '' Just Like Heaven''. In September 2005, she appeared on ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' as part of a pre-taped man-on-the-street segment, singing a song about falling in love at

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

. Hanley is popular with fans of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

thanks to the team at one point going after she sang the pre-game National Anthem at

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States. The stadium is southwest of Downtown Boston and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and admi ...

. The streak came to an end when the Patriots lost on January 10, 2010, to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. Hanley is also very involved with the Boston-based charity "Hot Stove, Cool Music," both as performer and spokesperson for the semi-annual event, which has raised over 6 million dollars fo
The Foundation To Be Named Later
She sang the theme song for ''

My Friends Tigger & Pooh ''My Friends Tigger & Pooh'' is an American animated children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel. Inspired by A. A. Milne's ''Winnie-the-Pooh'', the series was developed by Walt Disney Television A ...

'', a half-hour Disney Channel TV show that premiered on Playhouse Disney on May 12, 2007, and "We Are Care Bears" from '' Care Bears: Oopsy Does It!'' and ''Care Bears to the Rescue''. Hanley and longtime writing partner Michelle Lewis currently compose all-original songs for animated television shows such as the hit Disney series ''

Doc McStuffins ''Doc McStuffins'' is an animated children's television series created by Chris Nee and produced by Brown Bag Films. It aired for five seasons on Disney Jr. from March 23, 2012, to April 18, 2020. The series centers on a girl who fixes toys, w ...

''., Cartoon Network/WB's ''

DC Super Hero Girls ''DC Super Hero Girls'', also released as ''DC Superhero Girls'', is an American animated superhero web series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network based on characters from DC Entertainment that launched in the third quarter ...

'', and '' Harvey Girls Forever'' and '' Ada Twist, Scientist'' on Netflix. Hanley won a 2022

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for songwriting on ''

We The People The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence of ...

''. She and writing partners

Michelle Lewis Michelle Robin Lewis (born ) is a singer-songwriter from United States who has released two solo albums. She has since worked as a songwriter for artists including Cher, Shawn Colvin, Hilary Duff, Kay Hanley and Kelly Osbourne. Biography Mic ...

, Dan Petty, and Charlton Pettus created '' Kindergarten: The Musical'', which debuted in 2024 on

Disney Junior Disney Jr. (formerly Disney Junior) is an American pay television network owned by the Disney Branded Television sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Aimed mainly at children two to seven year ...

. Hanley serves as

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

. She is co-executive director of Songwriters of North America, an LA-based non-profit which advocates for fair pay and other rights for songwriters. Due to her work with SONA in getting the

Music Modernization Act The Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, or Music Modernization Act or MMA (, ) is United States legislation signed into law on October 11, 2018, aimed to modernize copyright-related issues for music and audio recordings due ...

passed into law in October 2018, Hanley was elected Vice Chair of the

Mechanical Licensing Collective The Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) is a nonprofit organization established under the Music Modernization Act of 2018. It was created to issue blanket mechanical licences for qualified streaming services in the United States, such as Spot ...

's Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee in August 2019 On

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

2007, Hanley sang a song called "Caring Changes The World" in the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the American-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States ...

on the

Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. They were turned into plush teddy bears and featured in ''The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings'' (1983) and ...

float. In 2007–08, Hanley toured as a back-up singer with

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

for

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...

concerts and events. Hanley's latest album, ''Weaponize'', was released May 27, 2008. Hanley co-wrote "Don't Wanna Be Famous" on the band

The Dollyrots The Dollyrots are an American punk rock band formed in 2000, composed of Kelly Ogden (bass, lead vocals) and Luis Cabezas (guitars, backing vocals). They have released nine studio albums under Panic Button Records, Panic Button (part of Lookout R ...

' eponymous album. In 2014, Kay Hanley appeared in the '' Parks and Recreation'' season 6 finale, performing her song "Here & Now" at the Pawnee-Eagleton Unity Concert. The character of Ben Wyatt, played by Adam Scott, is seen offstage in his Letters to Cleo t-shirt, blissfully watching the band as Hanley winks at him. Hanley is seen later in the episode entering

Tom Haverford Thomas Montgomery "Tom" Haverford (born Darwish Sabir Ismail Ghani) is a fictional character on the NBC series '' Parks and Recreation''. He is a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee who—in his own mind—is rev ...

's new restaurant, ''Tom's Bistro''. In 2020, at the height of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she appeared as lead vocalist in a "distanced" music video, a cover of

Donnie Iris Donnie Iris (born Dominic Ierace, February 28, 1943) is an American rock musician known for his work with the Jaggerz and Wild Cherry (band), Wild Cherry during the 1970s and for his solo career beginning in the 1980s with his band, the Cruis ...

's "Ah! Leah!" Later that year, she appeared on '' Saving for a Custom Van'', a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

for

Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...

, with whom she had worked on ''Josie and the Pussycats'', following his death from COVID-19. She performed the

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...

song " Radiation Vibe" in his memory. Hanley married audio engineer Clayton Janes in 2021 in Bentonville, Arkansas. Oh 2023, Hanley and her fellow Letters to Cleo bandmate Tom Polce wrote the songs for “Subspace Rhapsody,” an episode of '' Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'' performed in the style of a broadway musical.

Discography

Letters to Cleo

Pet Projects

The title of this section indicates projects that both Hanley and Eisenstein have taken an active interest in developing, in terms of playing multiple roles, including production as well as composition and/or instrumentation.

Solo

Soundtracks

Special appearances

Filmography

References

External links

Kay Hanley on Twitter

Letters to Cleo website

Kay Hanley's MySpace
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanley, Kay American women rock singers Living people Zoë Records artists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers Letters to Cleo members 1968 births People from Dorchester, Boston Musicians from Boston