Next, we have the outgoing Alto of SWV, Lelee. Lelee was born in the "Boogie Down" Bronx and, along with her five sisters and one brother, was raised by her mother Margaret Lyons. Times were often hard for Lelee and her family, but singing was a way out of the turmoil.

At the age of fifteen, Lelee became pregnant and gave birth to her first child, Margaret (named after her mother). After Margaret was born, Lelee found that some of her family members were less than thrilled with her being a young, single mother. "After I had my first child, I had some family telling me I wasn't going to be nothing, that I was going to have all these kids and be on welfare.", says Lelee in the October 1997 issue of Vibe Magazine. Soon after, at the age of seventeen, Lelee gave birth to a son, Khiry. It was during this time that the phenomenon known as SWV took shape.

With her love for singing, and sparse support from her family as motivation, Lelee's desires to put together a group were fueled. Lelee was initially responsible for putting SWV together, but success did not come easily.

After a short while as a Gospel group, and a few unsuccessful tries with other big record labels, SWV landed a deal with RCA records.

Lelee originally recorded lead vocals for two of the fifteen tracks on SWV's debut album, "It's About Time"; however, Lelee was uncomfortable with the results, and chose to not have them released.

Once "It's About Time"'s run was over (six million records later), SWV went on a lengthy three year hiatus, during which Lelee lost someone very dear to her. Her mother, Margaret, died of cancer, and left Lelee and her siblings devastated. But, as mentioned earlier, Lelee is very outgoing, she's a fighter.

1996 saw the release of SWV's sophomore album, "New Beginning", for which Lelee supplied lead vocals for two songs. After this CD and its subsequent singles had sold over four million copies, she and her band members had to "Release Some Tension".

Lelee has spoken at several schools, in an effort to send a positive message to today's youth. Among the issues dearest to Lelee is teen pregnancy. In the January 1997 issue of Word Up!, Lelee had this to say: "It was very hard for me raising two kids and trying to have a singing career. I just want my sisters to understand that it's all right to say no, because too often saying yes can get you into a lot of trouble." Words from the wise.