Richard Lee Peng Boon[1] (born 24 August 1956) is a Singaporean singer-songwriter, playwright and film director. Lee was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's pinnacle arts award, for music in 2005.
Early life
Lee was born to a Peranakan father, Lee Kip Lee, (who wrote for The Straits Times) and his wife, Elizabeth Tan.[1] He was the eldest child in the family of five,[1] with three brothers and a sister (now deceased). He received his early education at St. Michael's School (now SJI Junior) and his secondary education at St. Joseph's Institution.
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.[2] He soon left the group and formed his own group, Dick and the Gang, with his brothers.[2] He would performed on stage both as a group or on his own.[2] His first album, Life Story, featuring his own compositions, was released in 1974.[2]
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.[3]
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 and Japanese group Zoo. He has written numerous songs for top singing talents in Asia.
Transit Lounge, released by Sony, 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, 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.
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 (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.[4]Stefanie Sun performed the song and also included it in her own top-selling album. This was his second National Day theme song, having written "Home", performed by Kit Chan, 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 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 2009, he penned the theme song for the APEC Singapore 2009 summit which was performed in front of world leaders such as Barack Obama 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.[6]
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.[7]
In 2012, Lee also performed — and was a character — in TheatreWorks’ National Broadway Company production for the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay's 10th anniversary celebrations.
In 2013, Lee returned to musicals by composing the 90-minute LightSeeker, which premiered at Resorts World Sentosa. He was also named a Steinway Artist and became Creative Director of the revamped Rediffusion Singapore radio station.[8]
In 2014, Lee held a concert, Dick Lee: Celebrating 40 Years In Music, at the Drama Centre.[9] In the same year, a revamped version of his 1997 musical Hotpants was restaged.[10] 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.[11]
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.
In 2017, Lee made his directorial debut with the autobiographical musical film, Wonder Boy.
Fashion career
Having studied fashion design at Harrow School of Art 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.[12]
Other forays in the fashion world include Display Director for Tangs 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.[13]
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 Fashion Festival,[13] and in 2014, he was named brand ambassador for Audi Singapore.[14]
Business career
In 1991, Lee created the Boom Boom Room, a drag cabaret venue at Bugis Street, featuring drag comedian Kumar and other drag queens.[15] In 2000, Boom Boom Room moved to Far East Square when Bugis Street underwent redevelopment.[15] It closed eventually in 2004.[15] In 2021, Lee recreated the Boom Boom Room for a limited run at Marina Bay Sands' Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.[15]
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, Singapore.[16] It closed in March 2014.[17] Lee opened pancake joint Slappy Cakes, another joint venture by Lee, in a portion of the original space used by MAD.[17]
