{{Short description|Welsh singer}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox musical artist |name = Lisa Lee Dark |image = |background = solo_singer |alias = |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1981|4|16}} |origin = Swansea, Wales |genre = Opera, classical crossover, Christian, new-age, dance |occupation = Opera singer, songwriter, voice actress |instrument = Vocals |years_active = 1992–present |label = Angel Guardian Records, VIP international Records |website = [http://officiallisaleedarkblog.blogspot.com/ Blog] }}
'''Lisa Lee Dark''' is a Welsh opera singer, songwriter, and voice actress.
==Early life== Lisa Lee Dark was born in the Clydach area of Swansea 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=Wales on Sunday |date=11 July 1999}}</ref> Her distant relatives include Italian opera singer Adelina Patti.<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 congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which leads to excessive generation of testosterone 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">{{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><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 agoraphobia and PTSD.<ref name=":3" />
==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=The Daily Telegraph }}</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" />
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/lisaleedark.shtml BBC Radio 4 – Hometruths interview] *[https://www.myspace.com/darklisalee Lisa Lee Dark myspace] *[https://www.twitter.com/LisaLeeDark Lisa Lee Dark's Twitter page] *[https://profiles.google.com/LisaLeeDark/edit?hl=en#LisaLeeDark/about Lisa Lee Dark's official google profile]{{Dead link|date=December 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dark, Lisa Lee}} Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Swansea Category:British intersex women Category:British intersex people Category:Welsh operatic sopranos Category:21st-century Welsh women singers Category:Welsh voice actresses Category:Welsh people of Irish descent Category:Opera crossover singers Category:Intersex actors Category:Intersex musicians