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Jools Holland
Biography
Depending on who you talk to, the irrepressible Jools Holland is best known as a blisteringly energetic piano-pounding performer of boogie-woogie, jazz, and R&B; or as the keyboard-wizard sideman to one of the great new wave pop bands of the '70s and '80s; or as one of the U.K.'s most popular television presenters. And while any one of these accomplishments would be enough for most people, Jools Holland has managed to be all those things in his remarkable showbiz career -- a career that's seen him work with almost everybody who was anybody on the U.K. or U.S. music scene from the late '70s onward.

Julian Miles Holland was born on January 24, 1958, in London. Even as a young boy, he showed a flair for the piano, learning the rudiments of boogie-woogie piano from an uncle at the age of eight. And though never possessed of a classic singing voice, young Jools quickly learned to adapt his somewhat reedy, nasal tone into an enthusiastic cockney-ish singing style that complemented his rollicking, joyous piano playing perfectly. By his teens, he was playing for pay in clubs and pubs in South London and in London's East End. Then in 1974, while still only 16, Holland became the keyboardist for the original lineup of Squeeze, which released their first record in 1977 (the EP Packet of Three), and their first full-length album the following year.
Selected Discography