Rock Musician. A guitarist, he was the co-founder and lead vocalist of the early 1970s hard rock ensemble Mountain. They scored a Top 30 hit with the single "Mississippi Queen" (1970). Born Leslie Weinstein to a Jewish family, he was raised in Hackensack, New Jersey. After seeing Elvis Presley perform on "The Ed Sullivan Show" Leslie became enthralled with rock music and learned to play the guitar. After high school graduation, he formed the Long Island garage band The Vagrants who experienced minor success with the singles "I Can't Make a Friend" (1965) and a cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" (1967). After West departed, he joined forces with bass player Felix Pappalardi to form Mountain. The group performed at the historic Woodstock Concert in 1969 and the following year (1970), they released their debut album "Climbing!" which contained the hit "Mississippi Queen" which reached to number 21 on the American Pop Charts in the spring of 1970. West performed and recorded as a solo artist simultaneously and released his debut album ironically titled "Mountain" in 1969. Following the release of the albums "Nantucket Sleighride" (1971) and "Flowers of Evil" (1971) as a member of Mountain, West went on to form the trio West, Bruce and Laing with Jack Bruce formerly of Cream and former Mountain drummer Corky Laing. They recorded two solo albums. Additionally during this period, he contributed musically with The Who on their album "Who's Next" (1971). West reformed Mountain for a brief period in 1974 which resulted in the recording of the album "Avalanche" (1974) and two years later, he recorded the solo album "The Leslie West Band" (1976). Over the next three decades, West would sporadically perform and record with Mountain. Additional albums include "Go For Your Life" (1985), "Man's World" (1996), "Mystic Fire" (2002) and "Masters of War" (2007). In addition to his music career, West had acting roles in the films "Family Honor" (1973) and "The Money Pit" (1986). He will also be remembered for his association with Howard Stern and appeared numerous times on his radio program during the 1980s and 1990s. West who struggled with weight issues throughout his life had a portion of his left leg amputated due to diabetes in 2011.