Jools Holland Tickets

Jools Holland
Julian Miles Jools Holland (born 24 January 1958), OBE, DL, is an English pianist, bandleader and television presenter. His work has involved him with most of the biggest names in the rock music industry.

Born in Blackheath, London, Holland was a founding member of the band Squeeze which formed in March 1974. Holland played the keyboard with the group. In 1980, Holland left to forge a solo career, until the band produced its third album.

Holland had begun issuing solo records in 1978; his first EP was called Boogie Woogie '78. He continued his solo career through the early 1980s, releasing an album and several singles between 1981 and 1984. He branched out into TV, co-presenting the Newcastle-based TV music show The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland achieved disrepute by using the phrase groovy fuckers on live TV causing the show to be lifted for 3 performances, and was fired as a result - although he did capitalise on this by starring in a sitcom called The Groovy Fellers with Rowland Rivron.

In 1985, Squeeze unexpectedly re-grouped although it had continued producing music in Holland's absence since 1982. Holland was once again the keyboard player for the band through 1990. At that point, he once again departed Squeeze forever on amicable terms to resume his solo career as both a musician and a TV host.

In 1987, Holland formed The Jools Holland Big Band which consisted of himself and Gilson Lavis from Squeeze. This gradually became his 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. Between 1988 and 1990 he performed and co-hosted along with David Sanborn during the two seasons of the acclaimed music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.

Holland is a fan of the cult 1960s TV series The Prisoner owning some of the costumes and props from the series and occasionally appears wearing the trademark brown-with-white-pipe blazer featured in the series. Holland has had his studio built to his own design, heavily inspired by Portmeirion: the setting for The Prisoner.

Jools plays a sit-in session called Uncertain Smile. Since 1992 he has presented the eclectic music programme Later with Jools Holland, plus an annual New Year's Eve Hootenanny, and has shaken off his bad boy image to become a respected musician. In 1996 Holland signed a record deal with Warners.

In 1993 Jools Holland demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terrence Alexander and Hugh Laurie. Much of it was shot on location in Portmeirion, with archive footage of Patrick McGoohan, and featuring musical numbers from Siouxsie & the Banshees, Magnum and XTC. Holland himself also performed a number towards the end of the programme with the appearance of the late Stanley Unwin.

He was also one of the interviewers for The Beatles Anthology TV project. Although he wasn't meant to be seen or heard during the program, yet his presence on many occasions is detectable. Later Holland appeared in the 1997 film SpiceWorld as a musical director.

He received an OBE in 2003 in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, for services to the British music industry as a television presenter and musician. He is also a published author and appears regularly on television shows besides his own and contributes to radio shows. In 2004, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. In January 2005 Jools and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami relief concert in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

In September 2006 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent. But his successful journeys kept on embarking most notably when in December 2006; Jools appeared at Capital Gold Legends Live, a series of up-close-and-personal gigs hosted by the national radio station Capital Gold.

Holland is also a Hammond organ player, and was seen demonstrating his skills to Jo Brand in the BBC documentary series Play It Again. He is celebrated for his charity work and will always be in the hearts of the people for his contributions not only towards the field of music and singing rather in TV show presentation and charitable works for the welfare of the humanity and love for his people.