LEN
Band Info
Learn More about LEN
LEN originally began as a pop/dance group in 1991 when Marc "The Burger Pimp" Costanzo teamed up with his older sister, Sharon, in hometown Toronto, Ontario. The group's name, LEN, originates from the name of a Japanese exchange student--Ieru Ren--who was the bassist in the Costanzos' high school garage band in Waterloo. Due to his difficulty in pronouncing the letter R, his bandmates jokingly nicknamed him "Len." When Ieru returned to Japan upon the termination of his exchange program, the band unanimously decided to change its name to LEN as a tribute. The band's first two releases, Superstar (1994) & Get Your Legs Broke (1996) showcased a pop-punk style different from the rest of their work.
In the mid-90s, the Costanzos added three additional band members, D Rock, DJ Moves, and Planet Pea (also known as "Drunkness Monster"). At this point, LEN started to gravitate toward a hip-hop sound, using samples and old-school hip-hop beats. The group attracted the attention of the record industry with its growing discography and self-produced music videos, eventually signing with the Work Group label. It wasn't until LEN released its break-out pop single, "Steal My Sunshine," (1999) that the group reached international stardom. Despite being featured on the Go soundtrack with the likes of No Doubt, Natalie Imbruglia & Fatboy Slim, it was LEN's track that broke the Billboard Top 100.
"Steal My Sunshine" accumulated over 1,200 chart points over the span of 42 weeks, spending 36 out of its 42 weeks in the Top 20. It was also in the Top 10 for 19 weeks, the Top 5 for 12 weeks, and the Top 3 for 7 weeks. At the 1999 MuchMusic Video Awards, LEN won "Best Video," "Best Pop Video" & "Favorite Canadian Video" for "Steal My Sunshine." Although this was LEN's only song to gain international acclaim, lead singer Marc Costanzo says that "we had 30 songs like ["Sunshine"] lying around, and that was one we just picked out of a bunch."
LEN has since toured and released 2005 album The Diary of the Madmen.