Aaron Lewis (born April 13, 1972) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and founding member of the alternative metal band Staind, with whom he released seven studio albums. He has also enjoyed a successful solo career in country music with his debut EP Town Line, which was released on March 1, 2011 on Stroudavarious Records. Lewis' first full-length solo release, The Road, was released by Blaster Records on November 13, 2012.[1] Lewis released his second studio album Sinner on September 16, 2016.

In 2006, Lewis was ranked at number 49 in the Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists by Hit Parader.[2]

Contents 1 Early life 1.1 Solo career 1.2 Collaborations 2 Incidents and controversies 2.1 2014 Kansas City Rockfest 2.2 2014 World Series performance 3 Personal life 4 Philanthropy 5 Discography 5.1 Studio albums 5.2 Extended plays 5.3 Singles 5.4 Music videos 6 Awards and nominations 7 References 8 External links Early life

Lewis was born in Vermont to hippie parents living in a log cabin. When his parents split up, he moved with his father to Springfield, Massachusetts, where he attended high school.[3]

Solo career

In July 2010, Lewis finished recording a country music EP entitled Town Line that was released March 1, 2011 on Stroudavarious Records. It features seven tracks including three versions of the first single "Country Boy" featuring George Jones, Charlie Daniels, and Chris Young, as well as the songs "Massachusetts", "Vicious Circles", "The Story Never Ends", and a re-recording of "Tangled Up in You" originally from The Illusion of Progress.[4] Lewis said in a July 2011 interview that he was introduced to country music as a child by his grandfather, but his interest was recently rekindled when he toured with fellow rock turned occasional country singer Kid Rock.[5]

Lewis performing at the House of Blues in Cleveland in 2013

Lewis released his first full solo album, The Road, in November 2012. Its debut single, "Endless Summer", has also made the country charts. Lewis wrote every song on the 10 track collection, except for "Granddaddy's Gun" which was penned by Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Bobby Pinson, marking the first time Lewis has recorded outside material for an album.[6] In an interview with Broadway's Electric Barnyard, Lewis said he recorded "Granddaddy's Gun" as both a compliment to a friend, and because he was pressed for time.[7]

Lewis wrote songs for his second solo album whilst touring in support of The Road, often performing the unreleased material in his live sets.[8][9] The album, dubbed Sinner, was mostly recorded in a single 18 hour session, with many tracks done in one take. Aaron's daughter Zoe also provides guest vocals on one song.[10]

Collaborations

Lewis was featured on the song "No Sex" by Limp Bizkit on their album Significant Other. He was also featured on a remix of the song "Crawling" on Linkin Park's first remix album Reanimation (titled as "Krwlng" on the remix album). He contributed vocals to the song "Follow" by Sevendust from Animosity, and to the songs "Bleed" and "Send in the Clowns" by the band Cold from 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage. He's also featured on Jimmie's Chicken Shack's song "Falling Out", the only single off their 2004 album re.present. In December 2010 while promoting his Town Line album Lewis collaborated with Corey Taylor for a one-night-only acoustic duet show covering songs such as Pearl Jam's "Black", Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", and Alice in Chains' "Down in a Hole". Lewis told Broadway's Electric Barnyard that he's open to collaborating with anyone. When asked specifically about Jason Aldean, whom he shouts out in "Endless Summer", Lewis said, "Yeah."[7]

Incidents and controversies 2014 Kansas City Rockfest

At the 2014 Kansas City Rockfest, during the performance of the song "Something to Remind You" from Staind, Aaron Lewis scolded some men for groping a teenage female fan while she was crowd surfing. His rant was met with applause from the audience.[11]

2014 World Series performance

At the 2014 World Series Game 5, Aaron Lewis flubbed the United States' national anthem. Instead of singing "at the twilight's last gleaming," Lewis sang, "were so gallantly streaming," words that come later on. Lewis released a statement of apology, stating, "All I can say is I'm sorry and ask for the Nation's forgiveness. My nerves got the best of me and I am completely torn up about what happened. America is the greatest country in the world. The Star-Spangled Banner means so much to so many, including myself. I hope everyone can understand the intensity of the situation and my true intent of this performance. I hope that the Nation, Major League Baseball and the many fans of our national pastime can forgive me."[12] The incident was particularly embarrassing for Lewis, as three years earlier he publicly criticized singer Christina Aguilera for doing the same thing.[13]

Personal life

Lewis is married to Vanessa Lewis and has three daughters, Zoe Jane, Nyla Rae and Indie Shay. Lewis also has two sisters, Evyette and Rachel, as well as a brother, Jesse.[citation needed] Regarding the commercial success of Staind's albums in the early 2000s, Lewis reflected "A lot of other people made a shit load of money but we're the same as any of you. I have to work to pay my bills."[14]

Lewis is a registered Republican.[15] He is a "constitutional conservative"; he opposes high taxes and supports marijuana legalization. His views were expressed in the song "Country Boy".[16][17] Lewis supported Donald Trump before the United States presidential election of 2016, even though he said he was disappointed with his "bickering and name-calling" that was not exhibiting presidential behavior.[18]

In a five-minute interview with Outdoor Life magazine Lewis said that he has been hunting whitetail deer since he was old enough to keep up in the "good old woods," since probably around age 4 or 5. His preferred method of hunting deer is with a compound or recurve bow, and he occasionally utilizes a muzzleloader.[19]

Philanthropy

On November 4, 2006, Lewis performed at his old high school in Longmeadow, Massachusetts and gave all the proceeds to the music department to fund the department's expenses to buy new equipment and supplies.[20] Lewis' main focus, however, is the non-profit organization It Takes a Community, where he and his wife have started to reopen their daughters' elementary school in Worthington, Massachusetts.[21]

Discography Studio albums List of studio albums, with selected chart positions Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales US[22] USCountry[23] The Road Released: November 13, 2012 Label: Blaster Formats: CD, digital download 30 7 US: 220,000[24] Sinner Released: September 16, 2016 Label: Dot Records Formats: CD, digital download, Vinyl 4 1 US: 146,800[25] State I'm In Released: April 12, 2019 Label: Big Machine Formats: CD, digital download, Vinyl — —