Lee Gaze

Lee Gaze
Born	Lee James Gaze (1975-05-21) 21 May 1975 (age 50)
Origin	Pontypridd, Wales
Genres	Alternative rock alternative metal
Occupation	Guitarist
Years active	1991–present
Member of	No Devotion
Formerly of	Lostprophets

Lee James Gaze (born 21 May 1975) ^[1] is a Welsh guitarist. He founded the alternative rock band Lostprophets with Ian Watkins in 1997, having previously been in a band called Fleshbind with him. Lostprophets released five studio albums, four of which made the top 10 of the UK Albums Chart, including Liberation Transmission which went to number 1 in 2006. After Watkins was sentenced to 29 years' imprisonment in 2013 for multiple sexual offences, Gaze and the other Lostprophets members formed No Devotion with Geoff Rickly.

Early life

Gaze was born in Pontypridd and grew up on a council estate in the Pontypridd village Rhydyfelin. He did not do well at school as he was more interested in playing thrash metal: as he told Kerrang! in 2006, "Before I discovered music, I was a total delinquent, and then Iron Maiden changed my life. I had just been listening to pop before that. A friend of mine got hold of a tape and played to me and we got obsessed." ^[2] He was also a huge fan of Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer. ^[3]

Career

In 1991, Gaze joined Ian Watkins and Mike Lewis's first band called Aftermath. They recorded one demo and performed live a couple of times. In 1995, Gaze and Watkins formed Fleshbind, and recorded a demo named "Discontent". The band recorded two more demos and saw some success in their three-year career, including playing a show supporting Welsh band Feeder at the London Astoria. ^[2]

Tired with the lack of direction, Gaze and Watkins disbanded Fleshbind and formed Lostprophets alongside Mike Chiplin on drums, later recruiting Mike Lewis, Stu Richardson and Jamie Oliver. Gaze was the lead guitarist and one of the band's key songwriters. ^[4] Lostprophets disbanded in October 2013 after Watkins was arrested and later imprisoned for multiple sexual offences. The remaining members later formed a new band, No Devotion, with Geoff Rickly as lead singer. ^{[5] [6]} The band have released two albums, Permanence (2015) and No Oblivion (2022).

After Watkins was murdered in prison in October 2025, Gaze was the first ex-Lostprophets member to make any kind of public statement, thanking a fan on Twitter for their "kind words" after the fan had replied to an earlier thread. ^[7]

Gaze revealed on his Twitter account that he has been currently working on a new project which is a follow up to the 2004 Lostprophets album Start Something with former bassist Stu Richardson and is looking for a new lead vocalist for recording for a potential 2026 release date. ^{[8] [9]}

Personal life

In 2004, Gaze began dating London-based Malaysian former singer Syirin Said, who was a member of now-defunct Malaysian girl group M'Steen. They married in 2008. ^[10] The couple have two sons. ^{[11] [12]} Gaze is straight edge and abstains from alcohol, smoking and recreational drugs. ^[13] He is also a film enthusiast and has a Letterboxd account called Faceofanother. ^[14]

Discography

Main articles: Lostprophets discography and No Devotion § Discography

References

1. "BBC – Lee Gaze". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
2. "BBC – Lee Gaze". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
3. "Lee Gaze of LostProphets at The Roxy on MUSE – YouTube". www.youtube.com. 12 August 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
4. "Interview with Lost Prophets". Outline Magazine. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
5. "Introducing No Devotion: The New Band Featuring Ex-Lostprophets Members + Thursday's Geoff Rickly". Rock Sound. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
6. Lach, Stef (29 July 2014). "Gaze: How could we have known Watkins truth?". Louder.
7. Boisvert, Lauren (13 October 2025). "Former Lostprophets Member Ian Watkins Murdered In Prison, Guitarist Lee Gaze Responds to News". VICE. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
8. Lee, Gaze (23 October 2025). "Mixing some tracks to send to a potential singer". X.
9. Gaze, Lee (9 June 2024). "Started work on a project".
10. "12 Famous People You Didn't Know Had Malaysian Connections". Robert Chaen. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
11. Gaze, Lee [@lee_gaze]; (11 June 2022). "A week ago we were in Amsterdam. Hadn't been in years and was the first time for the boys" – via Instagram.
12. Hallam, Katy; Duff, Seamus (12 October 2025). "What happened to Lostprophets stars? Lives of the band betrayed by Ian Watkins". Birmingham Live.
13. "Frequently Asked Questions". DragonNinjaDotCom. 13 September 2009. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012.
14. "Faceofanother's profile". letterboxd.com. 13 October 2025.