Born in Purley, London as Martin Barnes, he spent five years of his early life in Australia.

Before making it big in Brotherhood of Man, Lee had already released a solo single by this time, a song called "Cry José", but it failed to gain much interest.

[3] In the early 1970s Lee came to the attention of songwriter and publisher Tony Hiller, while he was working as lead singer with the Johnny Howard Band.

The group, that originally consisted of John Goodison and Sue and Sunny and had scored a hit in 1970 with United We Stand, had recently disbanded and Hiller was keen to put a new line-up together.

[6] The group continued this run of success over the next three years with two more UK No.1 hits "Angelo" and "Figaro" – both co-written by Lee.

Soon after she joined the Brotherhood of Man in late 1973, Sandra Stevens began a relationship with Lee, and they were living together by the time of their Eurovision win in 1976.