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{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist {{Infobox musical artist
|name = Lisa Lee Dark |name = Lisa Lee Dark
|image = |image =
|background = solo_singer |background = solo_singer
|birth_name = Lee Dark<ref name=boll/> |birth_name = Lee Dark
|alias = |alias =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1981|4|16}} |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1981|4|16}}
|origin = ], ], ] |origin = ], Wales
|genre = ], ], ], ], ], ] |genre = ], ], ], ], ]
|occupation = ], ], ] |occupation = Opera singer, songwriter, voice actress
|instrument = ] |instrument = Vocals
|years_active = 1992&ndash; present |years_active = 1992–present
|label = ]<br><small>(2008 &ndash; present)</small> |label = Angel Guardian Records, VIP international Records
|website = http://officiallisaleedarkblog.blogspot.com |website =
}} }}

'''Lisa Lee Dark''' (born 16 April 1981 in ]), is a ] ] and ]. '''Lisa Lee Dark''' (born '''Lee Dark'''; 16 April 1981) is a Welsh opera singer, songwriter, and voice actress.


==Early life== ==Early life==
Lisa Lee Dark was born Lee Dark<ref name="boll">{{cite news |last=Davies |first=Daniel |date=13 September 2004 |title=Lisa-Lee album launch |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid=14635278&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=lisa-lee-album-launch-name_page.html |accessdate=20 December 2008 |work=The Western Mail |publisher=walesonline.co.uk}}</ref> in the ] area of ] on 16 April 1981.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/930685638/?match=1&terms=%22Lisa%20Lee%20Dark%22 |title=Why I'll be twice as good as the average pop star |first=Maria |last=Williams |publisher=] |date=11 July 1999}}</ref> Her distant relatives include Italian opera singer ].<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Gledhill |first=Ruth |date=2004-11-20 |title=Highs and lows |url=https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/cb108367-ef74-4009-98d1-0be841d39832/?context=1519360&federationidp=M9JDTX59593 |access-date=2024-09-02 |work=The Times}}</ref> She was born with the rare medical condition ], which leads to excessive generation of ] during the early part of foetal life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Mark |date=2018-03-25 |title=I want people to see me as a human being first and foremost |url=https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/f27f8b6c-8462-4de4-8113-fe64193f664a/?context=1519360&federationidp=M9JDTX59593 |access-date=2024-09-02 |work=Wales on Sunday |pages=6–7}}</ref> This meant that she was raised as male because doctors failed to realise that she was biologically female, a fact even she did not discover until she was 19 years old.<ref name="boll" /><ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 – Changing Sex |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/lisaleedark.shtml |accessdate=6 August 2008}}</ref> She was very badly bullied during her school years.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=Claire |date=2000-05-08 |title=Showbiz loves the girl who was a guy |url=https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/de8237e8-0971-4c55-bb3d-ef2cffcde404/?context=1519360&federationidp=M9JDTX59593 |access-date=2024-09-02 |work=The Mirror |pages=18}}</ref> She went to an all-boys comprehensive school where she would regularly get kicked, punched, spat at, and have obscene things screamed at her; even outside school, she would get the same treatment because she was slightly different and did not behave like all the other boys.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Mark |date=2018-03-24 |title=The woman who didn't realise she was female until she was 19 |url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/woman-who-didnt-realise-female-14447283 |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=Wales Online |language=en}}</ref> This left her with ] and ].<ref name=":3" />
Dark was born in Clydach, one of the ] valleys.<ref>(Wales on Sunday newspaper, July 11, 1999)</ref> She is related to ] (1843–1919) and ] (1908–1989) <ref>(Bella magazine, August 21, 2001)</ref> Dark was born with a rare medical condition called ] (CAH).<ref>(Real magazine, September 9, 2003)</ref> This meant that throughout Dark’s childhood she was raised as a boy because doctors failed to realise that she was biologically female.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/lisaleedark.shtml |title = BBC Radio 4 - Changing Sex |accessdate=2008-08-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://archive.thisisherefordshire.co.uk/2000/5/26/66515.html | title = Website will help air rare conditions|accessdate=2008-08-06|date=26 May 2000}}</ref>

The condition called ] (CAH), leads to an excessive outpouring of the male hormone testosterone during the early part of foetal life<ref>(The Times newspaper, November 20, 2004)</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.timesonline/tol/life_and_style/article1069492.ece |title = Highs and lows |accessdate=2008-08-06}}</ref> While the genes are thoroughly xx female, an inherited faulty gene blocks production of an essential enzyme.<ref>(Now magazine, June 14, 2000)</ref> The deficiency leads to upsets in the body’s hormonal balance and causes the adrenal glands to produce low levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.<ref>(The Universe newspaper, May 28, 2000)</ref> In response, the pituitary (the body’s conductor gland) pushes the adrenals into top gear to make more cortisol, because of the enzyme deficiency, they secrete more and more testosterone and in the most severe cases, like Lisa Lee’s, the hormone leads to fusion of the female genitalia and in some an enlarged clitoris, making it quite easy to mistake newborn girls for boys, though ovaries and womb remain intact, making it possible for Lisa Lee to have children of her own.<ref>(The Daily Telegraph newspaper, April 25, 2000)</ref>

Dark only discovered that she was biologically female at the age of 19.<ref>(The Western Mail newspaper, September 13, 2004)</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid=14635278&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=lisa-lee-album-launch-name_page.html |title=Lisa-Lee album launch |date=Sep 13 2004 |author=Daniel Davies | accessdate= 2008-08-06}}</ref> Congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a disorder that affects one in 15,000 births world wide, with varying degrees of masculinisation.<ref>(More magazine, May 12, 2004)</ref>

Dark was very badly bullied during her school years.<ref>(The Mirror newspaper, May 8, 2000)</ref> She went to a tough all boys comprehensive school where she would regularly get kicked, punched, spat at and have obscene things screamed at her, even outside school she would get the same treatment, all because she was slightly different and did not behave like all the other boys.<ref>(Golwg Welsh language magazine, September, 2004)</ref>

Dark’s home life wasn’t much better, her parents had drink and money problems, they told Lisa Lee that she was the least important thing to them and that they wished that she was dead, there was also a lot of violence in the home,<ref>(Life magazine, April, 2008)</ref> so Dark would walk the streets to get away from the troubles, but this made her easy prey for a paedophile ring; the sexual abuse that Dark experienced made her realise that she wasn’t a normal male,<ref>(The Universe newspaper, November 26, 2000)</ref> but growing up all she wanted was to die. Dark believes that this is what pushed her into the entertainment industry.<ref>(The Mind magazine, July,2007)</ref>

==Acting career==
Dark, at the age of ten, first starred in a European advert due to a case of mistaken identity.<ref>(South Wales Guardian newspaper, March 8, 2001)</ref> Her other voice-over acting work has been on low budget European horror movies; Dark has also done voice-over work, by creating 'evil chants', for a few Hollywood movies and the American television serial ].<ref>(The Catholic Herald newspaper, October 29, 2004)</ref> Dark has to date mostly been Uncredited for this work.<ref>(] newspaper, January 22, 2003)</ref>


==Music career== ==Music career==
At age 12 she was discovered while singing in a park in Swansea.<ref name=Doyle2000>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/752631867/?match=1&terms=%22Lisa%20Lee%20Dark%22 |title=Lisa-Lee's refuge in music |first=Christine |last=Doyle |date=25 April 2000 |publisher=] }}</ref> In 2000 she released a compilation CD of ten years of her recordings she called ''The Unknown Story of Lisa-Lee Dark''.<ref name=Doyle2000/> In 2004, Dark released an album entitled Breath of Life.<ref name="boll" /> As of 2009 it had sold 50,000 copies.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |title=Opera star wants to give back to charities |url=https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/134f127f-29c2-4b8f-b4aa-3a7dc4dccec1/?context=1519360&federationidp=M9JDTX59593 |url-status= |access-date=2009-09-29 |work=South Wales Evening Post |pages=16}}</ref> She has released several more since,<ref name=":0" /> including one in French.<ref name=":4" /> She had previously worked on films, backing tracks and voiceovers.<ref name=":2" />


Dark claims an 8–9 octave vocal range.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />
===The beginning===
Dark was first heard singing in her local park by a record producer at the age of six, but due to fear and shyness Dark didn't begin to record until the age of nine (three weeks before her tenth birthday).<ref>(Messenger of Saint Anthony, October, 2005)</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = God and I | url = http://www.messengersaintanthony.com/messaggero/arretrati/ottobre.asp?anno=2005|accessdate= 2008-08-06}}</ref> Originally Dark began recording classical, new age and sacred pieces of music for TV and film soundtracks; in 1992, by complete accident, Dark began to record dance music; Dark, who has an 8-9 octave vocal range, had the ability to mimic other singers.<ref>(Cornish Guardian newspaper, September 23, 2004)</ref>
During the 90's Dark would mimic / copy other dance hits, and these were released on the mid-priced budgeted music market, Dark also achieved minor dance hits on the dance music charts by recording remixes of hit songs and releasing them on white labels.<ref>(News of the world Sunday magazine, December 12, 2004)</ref> This brought Dark her first commercial success, as these recordings sold almost a million copies.<ref>(South Wales Evening post, October 4, 2004)</ref>

===Solo music career===
Dark's early live work consisted of her mimicking / copying well known singers like ], ] and ].<ref>(Now UK magazine, June, 2008)</ref>

In 1998 Dark signed her first solo recording contract, valued at £5 million.<ref>(] newspaper, January 24, 2001)</ref> From 1999 - 2002 Dark released four dance albums; 'The unknown story of Lisa-Lee Dark', 'MM:- The story continues', 'Pray (forever)', and 'Asia'; these albums achieved moderate success shifting 50,000 copies; these albums were released as free albums with a DJ compilation remix album; in 2002 Dark was dropped by her record label, VIP international records, for 'not losing weight'.<ref>(Church of England newspaper, November 19, 2004)</ref>

In 2004 Dark released her first mainstream classical album titled, 'Breath of life'.<ref name=boll>{{cite news|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/tm_objectid=14635278&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=lisa-lee-album-launch-name_page.html|title=Lisa-Lee album launch|last=Davies|first=Daniel|date=Sep 13 2004|work=The Western Mail |publisher=walesonline.co.uk|accessdate=2008-12-20}}</ref> This album is Dark's first attempt into the new age, ambient, classical crossover music market.<ref>(Diva magazine, January, 2005)</ref> Due to problems with management and the record label 'Breath of life' became a huge commercial flop, despite glowing reviews from critics and the public. .<ref>(Music buzz magazine, November, 2005)</ref>

In 2005 Dark decided to train to become an opera singer; due to lack of money, Dark taught herself to sing opera by mimicking the well known Italian opera divas ] and ].<ref>(Gay Life magazine, January, 2009)</ref> In her first opera performances, in 2007, critics said they cannot tell Dark apart from Scotto.<ref>(Inside Opera magazine, December, 2007)</ref>

===The comeback===
2007; Dark records vocals for the ] movie 'Elizabeth', Dark has recorded vocals on several Hollywood movie soundtracks.<ref>(The Opera magazine, October, 2007)</ref> In 2007, Dark began her semi-professional opera career, performing in small to medium sized venues around the UK, her debut opera performance was as Liu in ]’s opera ]; Dark's second opera was the lead in ]’s Sr. Angelica.<ref>(], January, 2008)</ref> 2008, Dark signs a new £2.5 million recording deal and releases her debut opera album, 'Sola, perduta, abbandonatta'; this CD is not a mainstream release as it is only available through specialist sellers and the record companies own website.<ref>(], July 30, 2008)</ref> A limited edition second album, "The Screen behind the mirror", was also released in 2008, free with the debut album, to promote Dark's third opera performance; the lead in ]’s opera ].<ref>(Prima magazine, October, 2009)</ref> Dark's early opera voice / recordings is her mimicking the Italian opera diva ]; in 2009, Dark was sacked from playing the lead in ]’s opera ], for being too fat and not pretty enough.<ref>(South Wales Evening post, September 29, 2009)</ref>


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
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{{Authority control}}
<!--Matadata:see]-->


{{Persondata
|NAME = Dark, Lisa Lee
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
|SHORT DESCRIPTION = Opera singer, Actress
|DATE OF BIRTH = April 16, 1981
|PLACE OF BIRTH = ], ], ]
|DATE OF DEATH =
|PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark, Lisa Lee}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark, Lisa Lee}}
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
]
] ]
] ]
⚫ ]
] ]
⚫ ]
]

Latest revision as of 23:33, 13 September 2024

Lisa Lee Dark
Birth nameLee Dark
Born (1981-04-16) 16 April 1981 (age 43)
OriginSwansea, Wales
GenresOpera, classical crossover, Christian, new-age, dance
Occupation(s)Opera singer, songwriter, voice actress
InstrumentVocals
Years active1992–present
LabelsAngel Guardian Records, VIP international Records
WebsiteBlog
Musical artist

Lisa Lee Dark (born Lee Dark; 16 April 1981) is a Welsh opera singer, songwriter, and voice actress.

Early life

Lisa Lee Dark was born Lee Dark in the Clydach area of Swansea on 16 April 1981. Her distant relatives include Italian opera singer Adelina Patti. She was born with the rare medical condition congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which leads to excessive generation of testosterone during the early part of foetal life. This meant that she was raised as male because doctors failed to realise that she was biologically female, a fact even she did not discover until she was 19 years old. She was very badly bullied during her school years. She went to an all-boys comprehensive school where she would regularly get kicked, punched, spat at, and have obscene things screamed at her; even outside school, she would get the same treatment because she was slightly different and did not behave like all the other boys. This left her with agoraphobia and PTSD.

Music career

At age 12 she was discovered while singing in a park in Swansea. In 2000 she released a compilation CD of ten years of her recordings she called The Unknown Story of Lisa-Lee Dark. In 2004, Dark released an album entitled Breath of Life. As of 2009 it had sold 50,000 copies. She has released several more since, including one in French. She had previously worked on films, backing tracks and voiceovers.

Dark claims an 8–9 octave vocal range.

References

  1. ^ Davies, Daniel (13 September 2004). "Lisa-Lee album launch". The Western Mail. walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
  2. Williams, Maria (11 July 1999). "Why I'll be twice as good as the average pop star". Wales on Sunday.
  3. ^ Gledhill, Ruth (20 November 2004). "Highs and lows". The Times. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  4. ^ Smith, Mark (25 March 2018). "I want people to see me as a human being first and foremost". Wales on Sunday. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  5. ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Changing Sex". Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  6. Collins, Claire (8 May 2000). "Showbiz loves the girl who was a guy". The Mirror. p. 18. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  7. ^ Smith, Mark (24 March 2018). "The woman who didn't realise she was female until she was 19". Wales Online. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  8. ^ Doyle, Christine (25 April 2000). "Lisa-Lee's refuge in music". The Daily Telegraph.
  9. ^ "Opera star wants to give back to charities". South Wales Evening Post. p. 16. Retrieved 29 September 2009.

External links

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