Early career (1969–1981) In 1969, Fields released his first single on the Bedford label, "Bewildered" b/w "Tell Her I Love Her". He recorded "Gonna Make Love" on London Records in 1973. That same year, Fields released the popular single, "Let's Talk It Over" b/w "She's a Love Maker". Fields released "Everybody Gonna Give Their Thing Away to Somebody (Sometime)" b/w "East Coast Rapper," on SoundPlus in 1975. Most of the second half of the 1970s Fields spent cutting singles for Angle 3 Records, including "The Bull Is Coming" b/w "Funky Screw". In 1979 he released a full-length album with Angle 3 called ''Let's Talk It Over''. In the 1980s, disco became increasingly popular, at the expense of soul. Venues that had previously booked Fields now booked DJs instead.
Sharon Jones, who was signed to Desco also at that time, sang backup for Fields on an early single. They toured in France and recorded the songs "
Jealousy", "
Everybody", "
I'm a Good Man", and "
I Want You". In 2011 he followed up with the album titled
Treacherous. After releasing
Faithful Man in 2012 with Truth and Soul, the singer toured globally. He then released two albums
Emma Jean in 2014 and
Special Night in 2017 (on Big Crown Records by former Truth and Soul co-founder
Leon Michels). In 2022, Fields released
Sentimental Fool, his full-length debut for
Daptone Records. In 2023, Daptone released Fields' single "Waiting on the Sidelines". In 2025, Fields was listed among the special guests for Alabama Shakes' 2025 reunion tour.
In popular culture Fields' songs have frequently been sampled by R&B and hip hop artists such as
J. Cole,
Slum Village,
Travie McCoy and
Travis Scott sampled the track "All I Need" from the album
Emma Jean on his song "
Antidote". He has lent his vocals, writing skills and been the featured artist on albums of such artists like
El Michels Affair,
Kraak & Smaak,
Bliss n Eso and
Wax Tailor. Fields' music can be found on various movies, TV shows and video games. In 2008 he performed "You Don't Know What You Mean (To a Love Like Me)" for the soundtrack of the movie
Soul Men. Fields's track "Honey Dove" was featured during
Law & Order: Special Victims Units thirteenth season in 2011 (Episode 10, "Spiraling Down"). The track "Honey Dove" was featured in Season 6 of
American Dad in 2011 (Episode 12, "You Debt Your Life"). The song "Wish You Were Here" featured in the second season of the legal drama
Suits in 2012 (Episode 8, "Rewind"). In 2014, Fields provided additional vocals for the
James Brown biographical movie,
Get On Up. The song "Ladies" was played in the movie
Magic Mike XXL in 2015. In 2016, the song "Could Have Been" was featured on the TV series
Atlanta, he was featured as the musical guest on
CBS This Morning, and the song "I'll Be Around" was on the soundtrack of the movie
Keeping Up with the Joneses. Fields' recordings were referenced in several episodes of the 2023 American
Arnold Schwarzenegger television series,
FUBAR. A feature documentary about Fields,
Lee Fields: Faithful Man, directed by Jessamyn Ansary and Joyce Mishaan, screened at DOC NYC. The film was set for TVOD release in February 2024. ==Personal life==