Introduction

Johnny Lee Middleton III was born 05.07.1963 in St. Petersburg, FL. His first instrument was a trumpet, that he played in the school orchestra as a child. Johnny: " I was a king on the first day at school - I was wearing the most colorful shirt of them all..." ( see picture ) As a teenager, he loved to perform breathtaking stunts on his skateboard in the halfpipe. But soon he found out that playing the trumpet was't really what he'd like to do for the rest of his life.

He switched to playing bass guitar, and the first band he played in professionally was the glam-band
Lefty.
On stage, he used to wear hotpants and make-up and his hair was bleached and backcombed.
He was discovered by Steve Wacholz, who was impressed by his style of playing. Steve tipped Jon Oliva, who thought to himself, when he saw Johnny in this outfit: "Great tip, Steve...!". Nevertheless, Jon was also impressed by Johnny's energetic performance onstage.

In the first instance, Johnny turned down Savatage's offer of joining them, because he could make more money playing with "Lefty". But eventually, he decided to join the band anyway:

Johnny: " Somehow I was fed up with this bar-band-shit, even though it was a good living, getting through the week with $ 250, even if it meant we had to work each night for it. At the time I was only 20, 21 years old. The guys from my band would have loved to have lynched me, when I stepped out. Four weeks later I could't have cared less. I was in London with Savatage - and had a fuckin' great time !" Pretty-boy bassists together: Lemmy and Johnny >>

In his spare time, Johnny loves to go fishing. And he probably also enjoys cooking, considering the following excerpt from a magazine featuring Johnny's recipe...try it :

Galloping Gourmet!  

Johnny's "Magic Blackened Redfish"

First of all, you can use this with any type of fish that doesn't flake apart when you fry it.

Take a cast-iron skillet and get it searing hot. Put a splash of olive oil in the bottom so it doesn't stick. Then take half a stick of of real butter, depending on the amount of fillets you have and put it in the microwave and melt it down.

Take you fillets, which should be skinless and boneless. Dip 'em in the butter and take your magic blackened seasoning, which you can find in most groceries stores.

After the skillet is searing hot, sprinkle one side of the fish with the seasoning and throw it down on the skillet. As its searing and smoking up your house--which it will do, so I recommend you do this ourdoors--let it cook on each side for two minutes. Once it starts to flake a little bit, you'll know its done. It's very good, very tasty, and very healthy.

Johnny Lee's other hobbies are surfing and watching the home games of the NHL team of Tampa Bay Lightning. Johnny and his ex-wife Michelle also used to take care of the Savatage 'Legion' fanclub.

Besides all that, Johnny has a second job.He owns a business that installs and modernizes air conditioning systems in Florida.

"Hall Of The Mountain King" is probably his favorite Sava tune. What is his least favorite song to play? The one he is absolutely sick of?

Johnny: That's a darn good question… Let me think… Uhm, give me a minute… "Sirens."

For more info,read the interview with Johnny from the Dutch Savatage fanclub !