Profile of Johnny Lee on Famous Like Me

Johnny Lee Ham (born July 3, 1946, in Texas City, Texas) is an American country music singer. His 1980 single, "Lookin' for Love," spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard country singles chart.

Biography

Lee grew up in Alta Loma on a dairy farm. In high school he formed a rock n' roll band, "Johnny Lee and the Roadrunners". After school, Lee enlisted in the United States Navy and served a tour of duty on the USS Chicago, a guided missile cruiser. After his discharge, he played cover tunes in Texas nightclubs and bars through the 1960s.

Lee worked 10 years with Mickey Gilley both on tour and at Gilley's nightclub in Pasadena, Texas. The 1980 hit movie Urban Cowboy was largely shot at Gilley's club. It was the soundtrack from the movie that catapulted Lee to fame. The record spawned several hit singles, one of which was Lee's "Lookin' for Love."

Lee had five songs reach the top of the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart. In addition to "Lookin' For Love," those songs are "One in a Million" (1980); "Bet Your Heart on Me" (1981); "The Yellow Rose" (1984, a duet with Lane Brody and the theme song to the NBC TV-series of the same name); and "You Could Have Heard a Heartbreak" (1984). His other major hits include "Pickin' Up Strangers" and "Prisoner of Hope" (1981); "Cherokee Fiddle," "Sounds Like Love" and "Hey Bartender" (1983); and "Rollin' Lonely" and "Save the Last Chance" (1985).

Lee married Charlene Tilton in 1982 but the marriage only lasted three years. They had a daughter. He has a son from another marriage. Lee and his son live in Branson, Missouri. Lee tried a stage act in Branson, but prefers to remain a touring act. An attempt at a comeback in the late 1980s was short-lived

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