Catherine Anne Leone, known professionally as Leather Leone, is an American heavy metal vocalist, best known for fronting the groups Rude Girl and Chastain in the 1980s. She released one solo album, ''

Shock Waves In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

'', in 1989, before taking a twenty-year break from the music scene. In 2011 she began performing again in The Sledge/Leather Project, which released a debut heavy metal album, ''Imagine Me Alive'', in 2012.

Career

Rude Girl

Leather Leone started singing in the early 1980s. She joined with drummer Sandy Sledge to start the all-female metal band Rude Girl in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Leone handled vocals. The group began headlining metal shows in the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

area, and were on stages with groups like Exodus and

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

. The band was asked to sign a seven-year record deal with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, with producer Sandy Pearlman of

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

, but the band split before they recorded their first album. Rude Girl would morph into Malibu Barbi. Leather Leone guest sang on a released highly collectible "Rude Girls" 2-song 12" EP in 1987.

Chastain

Leone soon became lead vocalist of the band Chastain. The group was put together in 1984 by Mike Varney, president of

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the ''Shrapnel Records'' record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive ...

for a

David T. Chastain David Taylor Chastain (born August 31, 1953) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal guitarist and the owner of Leviathan Records and Diginet Music. Chastain emerged in the mid-1980s along with a wave of other neo-classical guitarists. ...

solo album. Varney had noticed the

shred guitar Shred guitar is a virtuosic style of electric guitar performance. Categorized by its use of advanced techniques, shredding is a complex art form. Shred guitar includes fast alternate picking, sweep-picking, diminished and harmonic minor scales, t ...

ability of Chastain, member of the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

-based band CJSS and, at the same time, he wanted to create an output for the talent of young singer Leather Leone, formerly with the San Francisco band Rude Girl. She recorded five albums with him over six years, and the group at different points contained members from

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1988, now based in Tampa, Florida. The band has released sixteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radio ...

, and

King Diamond Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond, is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto s ...

. After a long hiatus Leather Leone has begun recording with Chastain again. They released "Surrender to no one" in 2013. An uncut version of "Surrender to no one" in 2014. Chastain also released "We bleed metal" in 2015 on the Leviathan label. Chastain, with Leather Leone hasn't toured since 1990. However Leather Leone has once again begun to play shows as the voice of Chastain. In 2016 she began working with a new band in Brasil with tours in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Solo albums and Sledge/Leather

Leone released her debut solo album, ''

'', in 1989 on

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

. The album was first released in 1989 through David T. Chastain's own label Leviathan Records. After a final tour in 1991, she disappeared from the music scene. Leone resurfaced in 2011 to form the duo The Sledge/Leather Project with former bandmate Sandy Sledge on drums, and Matthias 'Matthew' Weisheit on guitar. The heavy metal duo released a debut album, ''Imagine Me Alive'', in early 2012. Leone has recently resurfaced with a band in Brasil. In 2016, 2018, and 2019, she did a South American and European tours with much success. She has since released another two full-length studio albums: ''Leather II'' was released on April 13, 2018, via Divebomb Records in the United States and via High Roller Records in Europe; ''We Are the Chosen'' was released on SPV/Steamhammer in 2022.

Discography

Malibu Barbi

* ''Rude Girls'' EP (1987)

Chastain

* '' Mystery of Illusion'' (1985) * '' Ruler of the Wasteland'' (1986) * '' The 7th of Never'' (1987) * '' The Voice of the Cult'' (1988) * '' For Those Who Dare'' (1990) * ''The Reign of Leather'' (2010) * ''Surrender to No One'' (2013) * ''We Bleed Metal'' (2015) * "We Bleed Metal 17" (2017) * "1319" (2019)

Leather

*''

'' (1989) * ''Leather II'' (2018) * ''We Are the Chosen'' (2022)

Sledge/Leather

*''Imagine Me Alive'' (2012)

References

External links

*
Leather Leone
on

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Leather Leone
on

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Chastain "We Bleed Metal"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leone, Leather American heavy metal musicians Living people Singers from San Francisco Chastain (band) members 1959 births