Leeway was born to an Irish mother and Nigerian father, and from the age of two, was fostered by an English family in Dartford, Kent.

Playing bongos and congas, he appeared on Thompson Twins debut studio album A Product Of... (Participation) (1981).

Leeway can still be seen in the film singing one of his original songs, "Mother Dearest", in the nightclub scene; the recording is not on the soundtrack album.

The experience with Slaves of New York seemed to stall Leeway's career as an actor permanently, but he continued to work in sound design for films as well as commercials for Nike and Pepsi.

He was on the staff at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute (HMI) in Tarzana, Los Angeles, and was also a certified trainer in neuro-linguistic programming.