Bernard St. Clair Lee (April 24, 1944 – March 8, 2011) was an American rhythm and blues vocalist with the band The Hues Corporation, which had a top ten record on the R&B and pop music charts called "Rock the Boat". The single went to number one in 1974 and sold over two million copies. Background Early life Lee was born Bernard St. Clair Lee in San Francisco, California. It has often been erroneously stated that his full birth name was Bernard St. Clair Lee Calhoun Henderson, but he asserts in an interview that, while his ancestry included Calhouns and Hendersons, neither of these were ever part of his official name. When he was born, someone at the hospital mistakenly wrote "St. Clair" instead of his originally intended name, Sinclair. When he was a young man, he found out that the American Indian side of his family were Blackfoot that had migrated down from Canada to Oklahoma. It was this discovery that led him to decide to wear his trademark headband. He attended Santa Monica College. Personal life In the late 1960s he was a surfer and was friends with Wally Holmes, a trumpeter, songwriter and surfer residing in Los Angeles who would later be instrumental in his music career. He and his wife Arlene had one son. He also had two step-children. He lived in Lake Elsinore, California. Career Late 1960s to late 1970s Prior to the formation of the Hues Corporation, he was the lead singer of a group called Brothers and Sisters which was formed by Wally Holmes in 1968. Brothers and Sisters were a group with two male and two female singers. Holmes hoped to book them into Las Vegas clubs with an eight-member backing group. The group had the wrong combination of singers and broke up. A trio was formed and it was named the Children of Howard Hughes which was renamed as The Hues Corporation. The Hues Corporation was formed in 1969, in Santa Monica and began playing frequently in Palm Springs and Las Vegas. In Vegas, Lee worked at Circus Circus. During this time, he worked on the same stages with Frank Sinatra, Milton Berle, Nancy Sinatra and Glen Campbell. When the band secured a record deal, Lee started to record and tour with the band regularly. Before their first big hit, they also contributed to the soundtrack of the blaxploitation film Blacula.