Johnny Lee Middleton is a musician and songwriter best known as the bass player for Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He first came to prominence as a member of Savatage, the Florida metal band he joined in late 1985. "Hall of the Mountain King," on which Johnny Lee received a co-writing credit, saw heavy rotation on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball. The followup record, Gutter Ballet, had similar success. Since 1985, Johnny Lee has been the only member of Savatage to participate in every album and tour.

In 1995, Johnny Lee performed on the Savatage album Dead Winter Dead—the album that featured "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)," an epic instrumental medley of "Carol of the Bells" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" that featured a string orchestra alongside the electric guitars. "Christmas Eve" was an overnight sensation.

Savatage producer Paul O'Neill knew he was on to something big. Johnny Lee and the other members of Savatage returned to the studio in the summer of 1996, this time with a full orchestra and a variety of singers. O’Neill wrote a Christmas story and intertwined it with well-known classical pieces and the Savatage brand of hard-hitting rock and roll. This new project was christened Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and their first album, Christmas Eve and Other Stories—which included a re-release of "Christmas Eve"—was released in the fall of 1996.

Since 1996, Christmas Eve and Other Stories has sold nearly 3 million copies. Its three followups—all featuring Johnny Lee on bass—have sold nearly 4 million more. The annual holiday tour, which began in 1999, consistently sells out venues across the United States and Canada. In 2008 alone, Trans-Siberian Orchestra played live for nearly 1.5 million people.

In early 2008, Johnny Lee began to try his hand at making music on his own. He soon discovered that songwriting "was like opening up another side of my mind that I never knew existed." His first two solo singles, "Tennessee" and "Broken Wings," were released in late 2008 and are available at iTunes and Amazon.com. As of spring 2009, Johnny Lee remains in the studio working on his first full-length CD, as well as Trans-Siberian Orchestra's upcoming Nightcastle.

Stay tuned for more!

Learn more at http://www.johnnyleemiddleton.com.