Wendy Lee Aka Stormy

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

She thinks it was her kindergarten teacher who first called her Stormy. She remembers her teacher asking her if she had a nickname and Wendy Lee, at that point in her short life, had no nickname, so her teacher suggested Stormy. 

Wendy would have been just about one year old when the song “Windy” with stormy eyes recorded by The Association came on the music scene. Wendy’s teacher thus nicknamed her Stormy. 

The name caught on with the rest of the children, and she remembers it being kind of fun to have a nickname from a popular song of that time. 

Wendy aka Stormy tries to make people smile as she meets them, just as the lyrics of “Windy” suggest. Wendy aka Stormy deviates from her nickname in that she is a bit shy, and rather than sneaking around, she comes in unannounced when she is not on stage. But on stage, Stormy takes over and Wendy, the shy one, takes a back seat.

With a burst of musical energy much like a storm combined with a kinetic energy to match her singing, Wendy Lee grabs an audience’s attention. Her alto voice along with the band bring out smiles and dancing and the combined energies and talents seem to lift away the worries of an audience.  

Singing was something Wendy said she had done only in her private world for the first half of her life. Thirty was her magical year; she went out to B-Jiggers in Galveston with a few girlfriends. One of her friends informed the band of Wendy’s dormant talent which led to Wendy being called onto the stage to sing one of her personal favorites, “We are Family.”

“I was terrified. I didn’t even know how to hold a microphone. I thought I did horribly, but as I left the stage the lead singer looked at me and said, ‘You can really sing,’” said Wendy. 

Wendy’s voice captured the attention of Art Lopez, whose young band, Mambo Jazz Kings (MJK), needed a female vocalist. It was a chance encounter on an evening that Wendy had risked it all and gone on stage to sing, Lopez was impressed with her voice and asked her to sing once with the band and then asked her to join the band. 

Wendy was soon singing with MJK and Stormy was reborn with an adult enthusiasm that she was eager to embrace. 

“Art asked me if I had a stage name and I didn’t have one, so he gave me Stormy,” explained Wendy of the night she joined the band. 

“She came on with an extreme zealousness that helped launch the band forward,” said Lopez. “The band had the missing link we needed with a female vocalist. She gave the band a boost with her spunk and powerful voice, it was like a dream come true for her and our band.” 

Though the band has thrived and grown with Wendy’s talent, she feels she has grown because of the band.

“I appreciate the musicianship and working with people who are very talented, I’ve been very lucky because I got to sing with a lot of professional singers who taught me a lot including showmanship and entertaining an audience,” said Wendy.

Through the years, Wendy pursued her career in human resources and sang with a few other bands, but then one day she and Lopez ran into each other just as the band was looking to boost their vocal section, and once again Stormy was back on stage with the Mambo Jazz Kings. 

She plans to continue singing with MJK as long as she can, and as long as there is an MJK, Lopez plans to keep her in the band.  

In March, Wendy Lee aka Stormy turns 60, and as she looks back on her life, she is very pleased that she overcame her shyness and took a step to living the life of her dreams. 

“You have to look through that fear and take the chance. If I hadn’t taken that chance, I would have regretted not having this life of meeting people and engaging with an audience through music,” said Wendy.