From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leslie Merritt Hall (born November 15, 1981 in
Ames, Iowa) is an American satirical rap artist and front-woman for the band Leslie
and the Ly's and the operator of what is best described as a
"gem sweater museum".
Leslie first began displaying herself in "strangely glamorous
and unflattering ways" while attending Ames High School in Iowa. During her senior year, she entered the homecoming parade, as
part of a prom queen campaign, donning a sparkling
pink Goodwill gown, a neck
brace, and a tiara (won by
her mother who was crowned Miss Auburn, Nebraska in 1970). Her
publicity stunt made the front page of the local newspaper the
following day. Her campaign was a success, and when springtime
came, she was crowned queen. After graduating from high school,
Hall moved to Boston,
Massachusetts and completed her education at the School of the
Museum of Fine Arts in May 2006. Currently she resides in Ames
and lives with her parents.
Hall began collecting gem sweaters in 2000 and has since amassed
over 400 different sweaters according to her August 2006 interview
with Martin
Sargent. Hall modeled these sweaters on the website
gemsweater.com, garnering significant Internet traffic such that
she was asked to appear on one of the final episodes of Unscrewed with Martin
Sargent. In her 2004 TechTV interview, she stated that "about 65% of
the comments" from the gemsweater.com message boards were related
to a particular outfit of hers that included gold pants. She
decided to form a band, Leslie and the Ly's, with former
classmates, capitalizing on the popularity of her gem-laden
sweaters and gold pants. In 2005 her band released their first
album, Gold Pants.[1]
In 2006 Hall followed up with a second self-released solo
record, Door Man's Daughter, and toured the globe in
support of it. She was also featured on a VH1 special called 40 Greatest Internet
Superstars. Later in 2006 she appeared with fellow Internet
personalities Jay
Maynard, also known as "Tron Guy", and Randy Constan, a Peter Pan impersonator,
to take a stand in the "battle over Internet freedom" in favour of
network
neutrality.[2]
In 2007 she teamed up with Dungeon Majesty to create the video
"Willow Don't Cry". In April 2007 she appeared on MTV's Total Request Live. On
September 27, 2007, Leslie appeared on the Nickelodeon children's show
Yo Gabba
Gabba!, to perform in the "Dancey Dance" segment of an
episode titled "Scary". Leslie appeared again on October 21, 2008
in the season two episode titled "Differences".
Leslie is currently touring in support of her new album,
ceWEBrity. She's also releasing a music video (and single)
called "Zombie Killer" featuring Elvira, Mistress of the
Dark on guest vocals, with cameos by Mark Borchardt & Mike Schank of
American
Movie fame.
She appears in the feature film Hamlet A.D.D., due out in 2009.
Hall has an older brother who goes by the pseudonym "Arecee" who
helps produce some of Leslie's records and does his own hip hop
music.
Leslie has released two new songs since "Cewebrity", therefore
hinting of a new album in 2009. The new songs are "Craft Talk"
(video out now) and "Tight Pants (Body Rolls)". The music video for
"Body Rolls" is in its editing stage and first premiered January
17, 2009 at her show in Ames.
Discography
- Gold Pants - Album (2005)
- Gold Pants - Split 45 (2005)
- Door Man's Daughter - Album (2006)
- ceWEBrity - Album (2008)
- Gold Pants/Door Man's Daughter - Double Album
(2008)
- Zombie Killer - 45 (2008)
- TBA - (2009)
References
- ^ "Leslie & The Ly's: Gold
Pants". cdbaby.com. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/leslielys. Retrieved
2006-08-21.
- ^ "Fighting for Net
Neutrality". wearetheweb.org. http://www.wearetheweb.org/. Retrieved
2006-08-27.
- "Leslie Hall, gemsweater.com", Unscrewed with Martin
Sargent, TechTV.
2004.
- "MTV-U Best Music on Campus", MTV commercial. 2006.
- Sellards, Jason. Beautiful People 2006: Leslie
Hall, Papermag. April 4, 2006.
- Marusa, Danielle. "Do the right bling: Leslie Hall's gem
sweaters are truly outrageous", Bust Magazine. February-March 2006. (scan)
- Riggs, Jonathan. "Beat Dazzler", Instinct
Magazine. January 2006. (scan)
- Leslie Hall contact
information, lesliehall.com
- Chase, Katie Johnston. "Bedazzled! Leslie Hall's
collection of glittery sweaters is bold and bizarre -- just like
the artist herself", The Boston Globe. May 24, 2005.
- Babayan, Siran. "Shine On You Crazy, Gem
Sweater" LA
Weekly. September 13, 2006.
- VH1 Television Show. "40 Greatest Internet
Superstars - #20 Leslie Hall" Vh1. March 2007.
- Hoff, A Ashley. "Leslie Hall & The World
of Internet Camp" The Advocate. March 19, 2007.
- Cohen, Alex. "Taking Over The World One
Sweater At A Time" Npr. March 13, 2008.
External
links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
