Lee is a successful solo competitor, having won a significant number of major prizes, including both Highland Society of London Gold Medals (Argyllshire Gathering in 2001 and Northern Meeting in 1981,)[1] the former winner's Clasp at the Northern Meeting (1994), the Canadian Gold Medal (2002), and was the first North American piper to win the Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championship (2003).

[2] He was born on 6 December 1957 in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, and moved to Surrey in British Columbia at the age of 2.

[3] Lee holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting from the University of British Columbia.

[3] He and his brother Terry, the former pipe major of the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, received the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada in 1999 at a ceremony in Quebec City, Quebec.

[5] He and his wife Christine have three sons, Andrew, Colin, and John, who also play with Simon Fraser University.