Lennon

Lennon, a committed devotee of heavy metal, attracted widespread media attention ahead of issuing her first album, 5:30 Saturday Morning, whose title marks the exact hour she completed its material. To deliver her intensely personal outbursts to predominantly male audiences, she has supported enduring acts including Monster Magnet, the Cult, and Alice Cooper. Although she concentrates on vocals, the young performer also handles guitar and keyboards. Songwriting entered her life at age seven, when household listening featured Frank Sinatra, Barry Manilow, and Aerosmith. At fifteen she took her initial stage slot in a modest Hendersonville, Tennessee, venue and remained there for three hours. Apart from Ani DiFranco, her preferences lean toward the aggressive, masculine intensity of Korn and Nine Inch Nails, a direction already audible on that debut. Rejecting a high-profile production treatment of the record, she instead entrusted mixing to her manager and guitarist, the same pair who had handled her demo. The resulting tracks stay direct and autobiographical: “Couldn't Breathe” captures the stifling atmosphere of small-town life, “Trying to Make Me” skewers marketing executives who demanded cosmetic reinvention, and “Thank You” mourns the loss of her mother, the person who had urged her onstage. On the subject of her celebrated last name, she dislikes the Beatles yet admires George Harrison. Career Suicide appeared in 2003, followed by Damaged Goods in 2006.