Lee James Capallero was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the late 1960s, under the name Lee Ving, he joined Sweet Stavin Chain Blues Band in Philadelphia, playing with Michael Brecker and Eugene Busnar; they played shows with B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Cream among others. Later, Ving moved to New York and formed the band Daybreak. In the mid-1970s, he moved to Los Angeles and in 1977 formed Fear.

Ving and his band Fear appeared in the 1981 rotoscope animated film American Pop, directed by Ralph Bakshi, lead singer Ving acted under the name Lee James Jude.

Ving played a lead role ("Missoula") in Penelope Spheeris' 1987 film Dudes. As part of Fear he was featured in Spheeris' 1980 documentary on punk The Decline of Western Civilization. Furthermore, he played the strip club owner in Flashdance (1983), Mr. Boddy in Clue (1985), a murderer in Nightmares_(1983_film), and a small role in Streets of Fire (1984), among other roles in film and television. In 1983 he self-deprecatingly played the over-the-top punk singer named 'Piggy' in the rock-and-roll comedy Get Crazy. In the Who's the Boss episode titled "Walk on the Mild Side", he played Jake Maguire. He also appeared in an episode of the short-lived Three's Company spin-off Three's a Crowd as a Criminal in a police lineup.

Ving has also sung for the band MD.45, which also featured Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Jimmy DeGrasso of Suicidal Tendencies. However, the 2004 re-release/remastered record replaced his vocals with Dave Mustaine's. Ving has also sung country music in the outlaw country genre with the band Range War. Prior to Fear, Ving played in a six piece blues act named Easy Love.