Joseph Lee Hooker
West Grove, Pennsylvania, United States | SELF
Music
Press
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Discography
Hello World
Say Yes to Life
God Calling
Mighty God of Medjugorje
Apostles of the Last Days
Millenium Celebration
Singing the Rosary
Photos
Bio
Lead singer/songwriter Joseph Hooker has turned his family into a modern-day, upbeat version of the Von Trapps. At the age of 11 Hooker first performed live on the "big stage" on New Jersey's famous "Steel Pier" as part of Tony Grant's "Stars of Tomorrow", where he met the Supremes, Gene Krupa, and was taught how to move on stage by Rudy Pompelli, the saxophonist for Bill Haley's comets. He devoted his teenage and early adult years to singing, songwriting, recording and performing, recording numerous 24 track recordings of my own original songs. He was the only solo artist to perform at the First International Pop Festival held in Marisol, Puerto Rico Easter Weekend, 1972. Hooker performed as the second act of the day following John McGlaughlin and the Mahu Vishnu Orchestra. John was very complimentary of Hooker's performance, but just weeks later, he was almost killed in a motor cycle accident from which he recuperated for over two years. In later life, Hooker performed at the Monterrey Pop Festival in Monterrey, CA in 1990 performing original melodies, and also sang harmony to "You Are So Beautiful" with Billy Preston. He also performed one of his songs, "We Love the Sixers" at the World Championship Fiesta at Vet Stadium in Philadelphia in the early 1980's, the first artist ever to perform at Vet Stadium. Hooker later performed at World Youth Day 1994 in Denver, CO and traveled around the country for several years performing live at Christian youth conferences and churches. Another of his songs, "Photo of the Century" was performed twice (once on newscasts) for current Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, who later wrote him a note saying that he "loved the song". ("Photo of the Century" was a contest sponsored by Kodak and the City of Philadelphia in 1999 which sought out 100 people nationwide born on the 4th of July -- one of Hooker's sons, Benjamin, was born on July 4, 1997, and as part of his application, the family submitted the song which won Ben a spot in the photo.) He currently has two songs for which music videos have been professionally produced, which appear regularly on EWTN (Worldwide Catholic Cable Network), and since losing his 4 year old son, Luke John, to liver cancer in 1997, Hooker has dedicated himself almost full time to songwriting with either a spiritual or a patriotic theme. His song "The Miracle Song" dedicated to Luke John earned him an honorable mention in the John Lennon Songwriter's Contest.
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