VirgieSalter103 at 12:01, 11 April 2026

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{{Short description|Indian singer and composer (born 1960)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist 
| name = Leslee Lewis
| background = solo_singer
| image = Lesle Lewis.jpg
| birth_name = Leslee Peter Lewis
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1960|06|20}}
| birth_place = [[Mumbai]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}}
| genre = [[Indi-pop]], [[filmi]], [[Rock music|rock]]
| occupation = Singer, composer, producer
| instrument = Guitar, bass, keys
| years_active = 1987–present
| label =
| associated_acts = [[Colonial Cousins]], [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]]
}}

'''Leslee Peter Lewis''' (formerly spelled '''Leslie''' and '''Lesle'''; born 20 June 1960), popularly known as '''Lezz Lewis''', is an Indian singer and composer known for his work with [[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]] as the duo [[Colonial Cousins]].<ref name=IBNLive>[http://www.ibnlive.com/news/leslie-lewis-composes-for-his-first-bollywood-flick/48584-8.html Leslee Lewis composes for his first Bollywood flick] IBN Live; 13 November 2007</ref> They won the MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award and then the U.S. Billboard Viewer's Choice Award for 'Colonial Cousins', their debut album.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/music/The-Cousins-come-calling/article11643816.ece|title=The Cousins come calling|last=Chitra|first=Swaminathan|date= 11 November 2010|website=www.thehindu.com}}</ref> He conceived and created all the music for Coke Studio, MTV India debut season.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/coke-studio-will-be-a-revolution-indian-music-industry-mtv-head-aditya-swamy-leslie-lewis|title=Coke Studio will be a revolution in Indian music industry: MTV head Aditya Swamy & Leslee Lewis|access-date=2017-03-28}}</ref>

Lewis is one of the first Indian composers to have introduced the Indian audiences to rock and pop music. Lewis's creative side comes as an inherited value from his father, [[P. L. Raj]], noted choreographer from the film industry.

With an aim to give the audiences a taste of varied music flavours, he has been successful in keeping his originality intact with advertisement jingles, film music and other forms of modern music.

==Early life==
Leslee Lewis is the son of [[P. L. Raj]], a prolific film choreographer.<ref name=Biography>[http://leslelewis.com/biography/ Lesle Lewis - Biography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819235231/http://leslelewis.com/biography/ |date=19 August 2011 }} ; 17 June 2011</ref> He was educated at Bombay Scottish School, Mahim

As a child, Lewis was greatly influenced by [[The Beatles]], [[Jimi Hendrix]] and [[Eric Clapton]] and with further working on his musical capabilities bagged the opportunity of recording with renowned music directors.

He played guitar at the Cafe Royal, [[Oberoi Trident Towers|Oberoi Towers]], [[Mumbai]] and recorded with [[Kalyanji–Anandji]], [[Laxmikant–Pyarelal]], [[R. D. Burman]] and [[Louis Banks]].

== Biography ==
=== Jingles ===
From 1987, he composed advertising jingles and was nominated for awards from the Indian Academy of Advertising Film Art (IAAFA). In 1989 received an award for his work. He went on to make some famous jingles such as Doodh-Doodh-Doodh (Piyo full glass), Mango Fruity fresh and juicy, Thums up taste the thunder, Santoor Santoor, etc.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://magnamags.com/health-nutrition/celeb-secrets/lesle-lewis-tells-health-nutrition-about-his-struggle-his-relationship-and-his-undying-passion-for/2134|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117082041/http://www.magnamags.com/health-nutrition/celeb-secrets/lesle-lewis-tells-health-nutrition-about-his-struggle-his-relationship-and-his-undying-passion-for/2134|url-status=usurped|archive-date=17 November 2013|title=Lesle Lewis tells Health & Nutrition about his struggle, his relationship and his undying passion for music : MagnaMags|website=magnamags.com|access-date=2017-03-28}}</ref>

=== Mainstream music ===
Lewis remixed [[Asha Bhosle]]'s album ''Rahul and I'' and composed songs for ''Janam samjha karo, O mere sona, Piya Tu- ab toh aaja''. He also composed and produced the music for ''Paree Hu Main'' by [[Suneeta Rao]], ''Bombay Girl'' by [[Alisha Chinai]] and for [[Krishnakumar Kunnath|KK]]'s album ''[[Pal (album)|Pal]]''. He composed songs such as "Bombay Girl" and "De De- Mujh Ko" for Alisha Chinai.

He also launched Indipop boy band A Band of Boys and gave music for their hit songs such as "Meri Neendh", "Gori" and "Aa Jaa Meri Jaan".

In 1998, Lewis recorded his first solo album, ''Haseena''. He composed the score for the Hindi films ''[[Mela (2000 film)|Mela]]'' and ''Jahd'' and the [[Tamil language|Tamil]] films ''[[Modhi Vilayadu]]'' and ''[[Chikku Bukku]]''.

===Colonial Cousins===
[[File:Leslie Lewis's at Launch of his album 'Tanha Sa Hoon' (2).jpg|thumb|right|Lewis at the launch of his album 'Tanha Sa Hoon']]
Lewis first worked with [[ghazal]] singer Hariharan in 1992, creating a jingle. They formed ''Colonial Cousins'' in 1996 and recorded an album, ''[[Colonial Cousins (album)|Colonial Cousins]]''. They were the first Indian duo to be featured on ''[[MTV Unplugged]]''.<ref name="Colonial Cousins2">{{cite news|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004092312750200.htm&date=2004/09/23/&prd=thlf&|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103070536/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2004092312750200.htm&date=2004/09/23/&prd=thlf&|url-status=usurped|archive-date=3 January 2013|title=Colonial Cousins to regale Bangaloreans|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=23 September 2004}}</ref> It won the MTV Indian Viewers' Choice award and Billboard Award for the Best Asian Music Group.<ref name="Colonial Cousins2"/><ref name="Bio">[http://www.indiamusicinfo.com/profiles/indi%20pop/hariharan.html "Artist biography: Hariharan"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302065605/http://www.indiamusicinfo.com/profiles/indi%20pop/hariharan.html |date= 2 March 2012 }}. Indianmusicinfo.com. Retrieved 28 January 2011</ref> They released the albums ''[[The Way We Do It]]'' (1998) and ''[[Aatma (album)|Aatma]]'' (2001) and composed the soundtrack for the Tamil films ''[[Modhi Vilayadu]]''<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/009200907250331.htm |title=Colonial Cousins' debut in Tamil |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=25 July 2009 |url-status=usurped |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090731092252/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/009200907250331.htm |archivedate=31 July 2009 }}</ref> and ''[[Chikku Bukku]]''.

==Discography==
===As composer===

==== Albums ====
* ''Dhuan (Suneeta Rao Album)'' (1991)
* ''[[Bombay Girl]]'' (1994)
* ''[[Colonial Cousins (album)|Colonial Cousins]]'' (1996)
* ''[[Haseena (album)|Haseena]]'' (1998)
* ''[[The Way We Do It]]'' (1998)
* ''[[Pal (album)|Pal]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Aatma (album)|Aatma]]'' (2001)
* ''[[Meri Neend]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Gori (album)|Gori]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Elements (A Band of Boys album)|Elements]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Ye Bhi Woh Bhi]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Once More (Colonial Cousins album)|Once More]]'' (2012)

==== Films ====
*''[[Rockford (film)|Rockford]]'' (1999 - English)
* ''[[Mela (2000 film)|Mela]]'' (2000 - Hindi)
* ''[[Apna Asmaan]]'' (2007 - Hindi)
* ''[[Modhi Vilayadu]]'' (2009 - Tamil)
* ''[[Chikku Bukku]]'' (2010 - Tamil)
* ''[[Poshter Boyz]]'' (2014 - Marathi)
* ''[[Online Binline]]'' (2015 - Marathi)

===As singer===
{| class="wikitable"
!Year
!Film
!Language
!Song
!Composer(s)
!Writer(s)
!Co-artist(s)
|-
|1999
![[Rockford (film)|''Rockford'']]
|English
|"Feels So Good"
|Colonial Cousins
|
|Hariharan
|-
|2000
![[Mela (2000 film)|''Mela'']]
|Hindi
|"Dekho 2000 Zamana Aa Gaya"
|Leslee Lewis
|Dharmesh Darshan
|[[Hariharan (singer)|Hariharan]], [[Aamir Khan]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |2005
!''[[Anniyan]]''
|Tamil
|"Kannum Kannum Nokia"
| rowspan="2" |[[Harris Jayaraj]]
|[[Kabilan (lyricist)|Kabilan]]
|[[Andrea Jeremiah]], [[Vasundhara Das]], [[Ranjith (singer)|Ranjith]]
|-
!''[[Aparichit]]''
|Hindi (dubbed)
|"Gora Gora Aankh"
|[[Mehboob Kotwal]]
|Vasundhara Das
|-
|2006
!''[[Sainikudu]]''
|Telugu
|"Byla Bylamo"
|[[Harris Jayaraj]]
|[[Chandrabose (lyricist)|Chandrabose]]
|[[Anushka Manchanda]], [[Sunitha Sarathy]]
|-
|2008
!''[[King (2008 film)|King]]''
|Telugu
|" King Title Song"
|[[Devi Sri Prasad]]
|[[Ramajogayya Sastry]]
|[[Mamta Mohandas, Devi Sri Prasad (chorus)|Mamta Mohandas, Devi Sri Prasad]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |2009
! rowspan="2" |''[[Modhi Vilayadu]]''
| rowspan="2" |Tamil
|"Vellaikaari"
| rowspan="2" |Colonial Cousins
|[[Vairamuthu]]
|Hariharan
|-
|"Sikki Mukki"
|
|[[Surmukhi Raman]]
|-
|2010
!''[[Darling (2010 film)|Darling]]''
|Telugu
|"Hosahore"
|[[G. V. Prakash Kumar]]
|[[Ananth Sreeram]]
|[[KK (singer)|K.K.]]
|-
|2015
!''[[Online Binline]]''
|Marathi
|"Oho Kai Zhala"
|Leslee Lewis
|
|Hariharan, Shreyash Jadhav
|-
|2019
!''[[Kaappaan]]''
|Tamil
|"Hey Amigo"
|[[Harris Jayaraj]]
|Vairamuthu
|[[Jonita Gandhi]]
|}

==Awards and achievements==
* 1997: MTV Asia Viewer's Choice Award for ''[[Colonial Cousins (album)|Colonial Cousins]]'' in Radio City Hall - New York
* US Billboard Viewer's Choice Award - Las Vegas
* Awarded 'Indian of the Year 2017<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brandsacademyindia.com/blog/indian-year-huge-success/|title=Brands Academy Organized Mega Event "Indian of the Year" - New Delhi|access-date=29 August 2017|archive-date=28 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728165955/http://www.brandsacademyindia.com/blog/indian-year-huge-success/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.leslelewis.com Official Website]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[https://twitter.com/LesleLewis @LesleLewis on Twitter]
*[http://www.facebook.com/SingerLeslieLewis Lesle Lewis (official fan page) on Facebook]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Leslee}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian male pop singers]]
[[Category:Tamil film score composers]]
[[Category:Indian pop composers]]
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Jingle composers]]
[[Category:Indian male film score composers]]

Leslee Lewis - Revision history

VirgieSalter103 at 12:01, 11 April 2026