Steve Conte (pronounced /ˈkoʊnt/) is a member and the lead singer of the band The Contes along with his brother John Conte. He is also the lead singer of Crown Jewels, and is the current lead guitarist of the New York Dolls. In his youth, Steve was the lead guitarist and backing singer in the band Waddi And The Waddettes. Conte first became known to the music industry through his band Company of Wolves (Mercury Records) in the early 1990s. Steve has done studio and/or live work with artists like Peter Wolf, Willy DeVille, Maceo Parker, Billy Squier, Suzi Quatro, Jill Jones, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, Phoebe Snow, David Johansen & The Harry Smiths, Chuck Berry, Willie Nile and many others. Conte occasionally plays guitar with Eric Burdon & The Animals.
He has also worked with composer Yoko Kanno and lyricist Tim Jensen in music for several anime series. Steve Conte sang the opening theme, Stray, to the Studio BONES' anime series Wolf's Rain as well as the tracks Heaven's Not Enough and Could You Bite the Hand? on both of the anime's soundtracks. Conte can also be heard in some episodes of Cowboy Bebop, most notably for the song Call Me Call Me, as well as Words That We Couldn't Say, No Reply, and the CD version of Rain, sung by Mai Yamane in the series. More recently, he sang the ending theme to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG; Living Inside the Shell alongside with Shanti Snyder. He also performed on the duet "The Garden of Everything" with Japanese singer Maaya Sakamoto on her RahXephon-related single "Tune the Rainbow".
He most recently provided the vocals for the video game Sonic and the Secret Rings closing credits song titled Worth a Chance, and the game's main theme Seven Rings In Hand. Songs which did not make the final soundtrack of the game include Midget In A Rocket and Lute To A Cow.
Currently, Conte is planning another tour, during 2009, as evidenced by a poster he left on the MySpace website for Deborah Harry (lead singer of the band Blondie).