Leather Leone

Catherine Anne Leone, known professionally as Leather Leone, is an American heavy metal vocalist, best known for fronting the groups Rude Girl and Chastain in the 1980s. She released one solo album, Shock Waves, in 1989, before taking a twenty-year break from the music scene. In 2011 she began performing again in The Sledge/Leather Project, which released a debut heavy metal album, Imagine Me Alive, in 2012.

Career

Rude Girl Leather Leone started singing in the early 1980s. She joined with drummer Sandy Sledge to start the all-female metal band Rude Girl in San Francisco, California. Leone handled vocals. The group began headlining metal shows in the San Francisco area, and were on stages with groups like Exodus and Megadeth. The band was asked to sign a seven-year record deal with Columbia Records, with producer Sandy Pearlman of Black Sabbath, but the band split before they recorded their first album. Rude Girl would morph into Malibu Barbi. Leather Leone guest sang on a released highly collectible "Rude Girls" 2-song 12" EP in 1987.

Chastain Leone soon became lead vocalist of the band Chastain. The group was put together in 1984 by Mike Varney, president of Shrapnel Records for a David T. Chastain solo album. Varney had noticed the shred guitar ability of Chastain, member of the Cincinnati-based band CJSS and, at the same time, he wanted to create an output for the talent of young singer Leather Leone, formerly with the San Francisco band Rude Girl. She recorded five albums with him over six years, and the group at different points contained members from Alice Cooper, Cannibal Corpse, and King Diamond. We Are the Chosen was released on SPV/Steamhammer in 2022.

Discography

Malibu Barbi Rude Girls EP (1987)

Chastain Mystery of Illusion (1985) Ruler of the Wasteland (1986) The 7th of Never (1987) The Voice of the Cult (1988) For Those Who Dare (1990) The Reign of Leather (2010) Surrender to No One (2013) We Bleed Metal (2015) "We Bleed Metal 17" (2017) "1319" (2019)

Leather Shock Waves (1989) Leather II (2018) We Are the Chosen (2022)

Sledge/Leather Imagine Me Alive (2012)