Cricketoria: Brett Lee's Family Pictures

Lee is the second of three sons born to Bob, a metallurgist and Helen (née Buxton), a piano teacher. He has two brothers, the elder being former Australian all rounder and New South Wales Blues captain Shane Lee. His younger brother Grant played cricket for New South Wales at the under-19 level, and is now an accountant. Lee attended Balarang Public School and Oak Flats High School, which later named its cricket ground in his honour. His nickname 'Bing' refers to 'Bing Lee', after a chain of electronics stores in New South Wales.

The brothers enjoyed soccer, basketball and skiing and were encouraged to play the piano by their mother (Grant is a qualified pianist). At sixteen years of age, Lee began playing first grade cricket for Campbelltown, where he managed to claim the wickets of a few New South Wales cricketers. He later joined Mosman, where at one point, he shared the new ball with Shoaib Akhtar.Lee launched his own fashion label 'BL', in 2001. Lee married Elizabeth Kemp in June 2006. They have a son named Preston Charles, born 16 November 2006. However, after two years of marriage, on 21 August 2008, Lee confirmed his separation from Kemp. They divorced in 2009.

At the time of the split, media speculation cited Kemp was having an affair with a rugby player in Brisbane; however, this was later disputed, with extended periods of loneliness due to Lee's off-season commitments keeping him away from Kemp and his young son Preston given as the reason for the marriage breakdown. Lee is part of the rock band Six & Out. The band is made up of his brother Shane and former New South Wales cricketers Brad McNamara, Gavin Robertson and Richard Chee Quee. Lee plays the bass guitar or acoustic guitar for the band.

During the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy in India, Lee recorded a duet with India's music diva Asha Bhosle called You're the One For Me. The song reached a peak position of number two on the Indian and South African charts. In 2008, he filmed scenes for his first Bollywood movie Victory. He once hosted a short-lived TV program called "Personal Best".