Kay Hanley | |
|---|---|
 Hanley in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | September 11, 1968 Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, folk, pop, acoustic, alternative |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | Zoë Records De Guerre |
Kay Hanley (born September 11, 1968) is an American singer and songwriter. She is best known as the vocalist for the alternative rock band Letters to Cleo.
 | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification .(April 2019) |
Hanley grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, [1] across the street from the Wahlberg family. She attended school at St. Gregory's and Latin Academy. She has been lead singer/songwriter for rock band Letters To Cleo since 1990. The band name was inspired by Hanley's childhood penpal.
In 1996, she co-starred alongside Gary Cherone in Boston Rock Opera's performance of Jesus Christ Superstar as Mary Magdalene.
In 1999, Hanley appeared as herself in the film 10 Things I Hate About You , singing a cover version of Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind" to Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles at their characters' high school prom, in addition to performing original song "Come On" with Letters to Cleo during an earlier scene at a club. Towards the end of the 90s she began performing with her then-husband [2] and fellow Letters To Cleo member Michael Eisenstein outside of the band. Around the same time, she gave birth to their daughter, Zoe Mabel.
In 1999 Hanley began a shift in her music career. She wrote and performed songs for the Kids' WB cartoon series Generation O! along with the rest of Letters to Cleo and provided the singing voice for Rachael Leigh Cook's character Josie in the movie Josie and the Pussycats . In 2002, she released her first solo album, Cherry Marmalade . That same year, she appeared on the Dropkick Murphys/Face to Face split CD, providing guest vocals on the original version of the Dropkick Murphys song "The Dirty Glass".
In 2003, Hanley was approached by Jun Senoue from Sega to co-write and perform on an original song for their upcoming entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, entitled Sonic Heroes . The result was the song "Follow Me."
In 2004, Hanley released a follow-up to Cherry Marmalade, The Babydoll EP. That same year, she and her then-husband Michael Eisenstein had their second child, Henry Aaron, the name given in honor of baseball player Hank Aaron and their love for baseball.
In August 2005, Hanley recorded a cover of Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" for the soundtrack of the Reese Witherspoon film Just Like Heaven . In September 2005, she appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as part of a pre-taped man-on-the-street segment, singing a song about falling in love at Starbucks.
Hanley is popular with fans of the New England Patriots thanks to the team at one point going 8–0 after she sang the pre-game National Anthem at Gillette Stadium. The streak came to an end when the Patriots lost on January 10, 2010, to the Baltimore Ravens. Hanley is also very involved with the Boston-based charity "Hot Stove, Cool Music," both as performer and spokesperson for the semi-annual event, which has raised over 6 million dollars for The Foundation To Be Named Later
She sang the theme song [3] for My Friends Tigger & Pooh , [4] a half-hour Disney Channel TV show that premiered on Playhouse Disney on May 12, 2007, and "We Are Care Bears" from Care Bears: Oopsy Does It! and Care Bears to the Rescue.
Hanley and longtime writing partner Michelle Lewis currently compose all-original songs for animated television shows such as the hit Disney series Doc McStuffins ., [5] Cartoon Network/WB's DC Super Hero Girls , and Harvey Girls Forever and Ada Twist, Scientist on Netflix. Hanley won a 2022 Emmy Award for songwriting on We The People.
She and writing partners Michelle Lewis, Dan Petty, and Charlton Pettus created Kindergarten The Musical. In production at Disney Junior, the show will debut in Fall 2024. Hanley serves as executive producer.
She is co-executive director of Songwriters of North America, an LA-based non-profit which advocates for fair pay and other rights for songwriters. Due to her work with SONA in getting the Music Modernization Act passed into law in October 2018, Hanley was elected Vice Chair of the Mechanical Licensing Collective's Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee in August 2019
On Thanksgiving Day 2007, Hanley sang a song called "Caring Changes The World" in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the Care Bears float.
In 2007–08, Hanley toured as a back-up singer with Miley Cyrus for Hannah Montana concerts and events.
Hanley's latest album, Weaponize, was released May 27, 2008.
Hanley co-wrote "Don't Wanna Be Famous" on the band The Dollyrots' eponymous album.
In 2014, Kay Hanley appeared in the Parks and Recreation season 6 finale, performing her song "Here & Now" at the Pawnee-Eagleton Unity Concert. The character of Ben Wyatt, played by Adam Scott, is seen offstage in his Letters to Cleo t-shirt, blissfully watching the band as Hanley winks at him. Hanley is seen later in the episode entering Tom Haverford's new restaurant, Tom's Bistro.
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, she appeared as lead vocalist in a "distanced" music video, a cover of Donnie Iris's "Ah! Leah!" [6] Later that year, she appeared on Saving for a Custom Van , a tribute album for Adam Schlesinger, with whom she had worked on Josie and the Pussycats, following his death from COVID-19. She performed the Fountains of Wayne song "Radiation Vibe" in his memory. [7]
Hanley married audio engineer Clayton Janes in 2021 in Bentonville, Arkansas.
Oh 2023, Hanley and her fellow Letters to Cleo bandmate Tom Polce wrote the songs for “Subspace Rhapsody,” an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds performed in the style of a broadway musical.
The title of this section indicates projects that both Hanley and Eisenstein have taken an active interest in developing, in terms of playing multiple roles, including production as well as composition and/or instrumentation.
| Year | Artist | Title | Label | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | The Gentlemen | Blondes Prefer the Gentlemen | Sodapop Records | Vocals |
| 2007 | Murder Capitol of the World | St. Jude's Revenge | Dot Rat | Vocals |
| 2008 | Cruiserweight | Big Bold Letters | Doghouse/Siren Songs | Composer, Background Vocals |
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Cherry Marmalade | Zoë Records |
| 2003 | The Paradise - Boston, MA 5/30/03 (live) | Instant Live [8] |
| 2004 | The Babydoll EP | |
| The Paradise - Boston, MA 8/26/04 (live) | ||
| 2006 | Kay Hanley / Scamper split single CD | De Guerre/Scamper |
| 2008 | Weaponize | De Guerre |
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Craft | Sony |
| 1999 | 10 Things I Hate About You | Hollywood Records |
| 2001 | Music from the Motion Picture Josie and the Pussycats | Sony |
| 2003 | Sonic Heroes | Pioneer/Geneon |
| 2005 | Just Like Heaven | Sony |
| Year | Artist | Title | Label | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Mary Karlzen | Yelling at Mary | Atlantic Records | Background vocals |
| 2002 | James Taylor | October Road | Sony | Choir, chorus |
| 2006 | Agnes Chan | Forget Yourself | Bungalo Records | Background vocals |
| Peter Gammons | Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old | Rounder | Vocals | |
| 2008 | Lisa Loeb | Camp Lisa | Furious Rose Productions | Vocal harmony |
| 2009 | Will Dailey | Torrent, Vols. 1 & 2 | BS | Background vocals |
| 2010 | Lindsey Ray | Goodbye from California | LRay | Composer |
| The Posies | Blood/Candy | Rykodisc | Vocals | |
| 2011 | Bowling for Soup | Fishin' for Woos | MRI | Vocals, sounds |
| Will Dailey | Will Dailey & the Rivals | Universal Republic Records | Composer |
| Year | Title | Role | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 10 Things I Hate About You | Herself | Cameo |
| 2000 | Generation O! | Molly O | Voice |
| 2001 | Josie and the Pussycats | Josie McCoy | Singing voice |
| 2007–2008 | My Friends Tigger & Pooh | opening song performer (Season 1) | Performer |
| 2008 | Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert | Herself | Background vocals |
| 2014 | Parks and Recreation | Herself | Cameo |
Tigger is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection The House at Pooh Corner, the sequel to the 1926 book Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne. Like other Pooh characters, Tigger is based on one of Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed toy animals. He appears in the Disney animated versions of Winnie the Pooh and has also appeared in his own film, The Tigger Movie (2000).
Piglet is a fictional character from A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books. Piglet is Winnie‑the‑Pooh's closest friend amongst all the toys and animals featured in the stories. Although he is a "Very Small Animal" of a generally timid disposition, he tries to be brave and on occasion conquers his fears.
The Tigger Movie is a 2000 animated musical comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation with animation production by Walt Disney Animation (Japan), Inc., written and directed by Jun Falkenstein from a story by Eddie Guzelian, and released by Walt Disney Pictures on February 11, 2000. It is the second theatrical Winnie the Pooh film after The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and features Pooh's friend Tigger as the main protagonist searching for his family tree and other Tiggers like himself. The film was the first feature-length theatrical Pooh film that was not a collection of previously released shorts.
Letters to Cleo is an American alternative rock band originating from Boston, Massachusetts, best known for the 1994 single, "Here & Now", from their full-length debut album, Aurora Gory Alice. The band's members are Kay Hanley, Greg McKenna, Michael Eisenstein, Stacy Jones, Scott Riebling, and later, Tom Polce and Joe Klompus.
Aurora Gory Alice is the first studio album by Letters to Cleo. It was released in 1993 on CherryDisc Records and re-released in 1994 on Giant Records. The first single from the album was "I See," which got little exposure. However, the second single, "Here & Now", received much exposure when it was featured on the Melrose Place soundtrack a year later.
Go! is the third studio album by the alternative rock band Letters to Cleo. It was released in 1997 on Revolution Records. It was their first album without their original drummer, Stacy Jones, who was replaced by Tom Polce.
Josie and the Pussycats was a 1970s girl group designed to be the real-life incarnation of the eponymous fictional band in the Archie comic book and Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon series. The group was made up of Cathy Douglas, Patrice Holloway, and Cherie Moor.
Cherry Marmalade is the first solo album by Kay Hanley, released in 2002.
Welcome to Pooh Corner is a live-action/puppet television series that aired on Disney Channel, featuring the characters from the Winnie the Pooh universe portrayed by actors in human-sized puppet suits, except Roo, who was originally a traditional puppet. The animatronic costumes used for the characters were created by Alchemy II, Inc., headed by Ken Forsse who later created Teddy Ruxpin. The show was first aired on April 18, 1983, the day The Disney Channel was launched. Its timeslot for its early run was at 8:30 a.m. Eastern/Pacific Time, making it the third program of The Disney Channel's 16 hour programming day. Reruns of the show aired on The Disney Channel until May 30, 1997. This is the last time Ralph Wright voiced Eeyore until his death in 1983 that Ron Gans took over full time on performing the character
The Book of Pooh is an American children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based on A. A. Milne's works; the other two were the live action Welcome to Pooh Corner and the animated The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh which ran from 1988 to 1991. It premiered on January 22, 2001 and completed its run on July 8, 2003. It was repeated on Playhouse Disney until June 2, 2006. The show is produced by Shadow Projects. Walt Disney Pictures released the first of two films, a direct-to-video spin-off film based on the puppetry television series titled The Book of Pooh: Stories from the Heart in 2001.
Winnie the Pooh is a fictional bear and the main character in Disney's Winnie the Pooh franchise, based on the character Winnie-the-Pooh created by English author A. A. Milne and English artist and book illustrator E. H. Shepard, being one of the most popular characters adapted for film and television by The Walt Disney Company. Disney first received certain licensing rights to the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, characters, and trademarks from Stephen Slesinger, Inc. and the estate of A. A. Milne in 1961.
My Friends Tigger & Pooh is an American computer-animated children's television series on Disney Channel as part of the Playhouse Disney block. It was inspired by A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh. The series was developed by Walt Disney Television Animation and executive producer Brian Hohlfeld.
"Down on the Corner" is a song by the American band Creedence Clearwater Revival. It appeared on their fourth studio album, Willy and the Poor Boys (1969). The song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 20 December 1969. The flip side, "Fortunate Son", reached No. 14 on the United States charts on 22 November 1969, the week before Billboard changed its methodology on double-sided hits.
Michelle Robin Lewis is an American singer-songwriter who has released two solo albums. She has since worked as a songwriter for artists including Cher, Shawn Colvin, Hilary Duff, Kay Hanley and Kelly Osbourne.
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too is a 2009 American direct-to-video animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, based on the hit Playhouse Disney series My Friends Tigger & Pooh. In the film, Darby, Tigger and Pooh make a musical concert for the Hundred Acre Wood.
Music from the Motion Picture Josie and the Pussycats is the soundtrack album to the 2001 film of the same name, starring Rachael Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson, and Tara Reid. It was released on March 27, 2001 by Playtone, in conjunction with Epic, Riverdale Records and Sony Music Soundtrax.
Winnie the Pooh is a media franchise produced by The Walt Disney Company, based on A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard's stories featuring Winnie-the-Pooh. It started in 1966 with the theatrical release of the short Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree.
Disney Junior – Live on Stage! was a live show attraction featuring puppets of characters from Disney Junior's popular television programs, located at three Disney theme parks: Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris, Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort and Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
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