Jesse Lee was raised in Los Altos, California.[2] Inspired by country music at an early age, she began performing in state festivals by age eleven before her family moved to Florida, eventually serving as an opening act for Ronnie Milsap, Willie Nelson and Clay Walker.[2] By age 14, she had made her first trip to Nashville, Tennessee to collaborate with hit songwriters, as well as record demos. She attended Belmont University's music business program after graduating from high school,[5] meanwhile performing at local songwriters' clubs. She co-wrote and sang the duet "Me Again" on Uncle Kracker's album Happy Hour and wrote the title track to Kristy Lee Cook's debut album Why Wait.
Jesse was living in Nashville at the time but traveled back to Jacksonville, Florida, where Lee was singing at a fair and was discovered by someone who sent her music to the president of Atlantic Records, who upon hearing her demo, flew her to New York and offered her a record deal.[5] Her debut album is produced by Paul Worley, Mark Bright and Nathan Chapman, and it includes her debut single "It's a Girl Thing", which debuted at No. 59 on the U.S. country charts dated for June 6, 2009. The song was also made into a music video, which has aired on CMT.[6]
"It's a Girl Thing" received a favorable review from Matt Bjorke of Roughstock, who said that the song (which she co-wrote with Victoria Banks and Rachel Proctor) had a mainstream sound but showcased Lee's vocals.[7] Karlie Justus of Engine 145 gave it a thumbs-down rating, saying that the song was cliché and stereotyped, although she also described Lee's vocal performance favorably.[8]
In 2016, Lee celebrated her first #1 song, Kelsea Ballerini's "Peter Pan".[4] In 2016, Jesse penned one of the 13 songs on Keith Urban's album RIPCORD, "That Could Still Be Us".
In January 2018, Jesse Lee had her second consecutive #1 song with Brett Young, "Like I Loved You." It was a 3-week Billboard number one which she co-wrote with Brett Young.
In 2022, Dean Brody recorded "You Got the Wrong Guy", which was co-written by Lee.[9]
