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Jools Holland Biography

• Jools Holland, OBE was born Julian Miles Holland on January 24, 1958 in Blackheath, South East London.
• At the age of eight, he could play the piano fluently by ear, and by the time he reached his early teens he was proficient and confident enough to be appearing regularly in many of the pubs in South East London and the East End Docks.
• At the age of 15, Jools was introduced to Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford; together they formed Squeeze, and shortly afterwards they were joined by Gilson Lavis (who had already played with, among others, BB King, Chuck Berry, and Max Wall) - who still drums with Jools.
• Up The Junction and Cool For Cats made Squeeze's success meteoric and their popularity rapidly extended to America, where their stadium tour included performances at Madison Square Garden.
• In 1987, Jools formed The Jools Holland Big Band - comprising himself and Gilson Lavis. This has gradually metamorphosed into the current 18-piece Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, which consists of one pianist, one drummer, two female vocals, one guitar, one bass guitar, two tenor saxophones, two alto saxophones, one baritone saxophone, three trumpets, and four trombones.
• Jools and the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra now plays an average of 100 live shows each year, touring the UK and Europe to audiences in excess of 500,000.
• As well as the formidable live performances, Jools has maintained a prolific recording career since signing to Warners in 1996 and has sold millions of albums.
• A big fan of the cult 1960's show The Prisoner, Jools' inspiration for Helicon Mountain - the studio complex he designed and built - was Portmeirion, the setting for the TV series. Jools demonstrated his love of the series and starred in a spoof documentary, The Laughing Prisoner, with Stephen Fry, Terrence Alexander and Hugh Laurie, in 1993.
• Jools' career as a television presenter has run parallel to his musical career. He started in the early 1980s when he interviewed The Police for a documentary that was made while they were recording at George Martin's Montserrat studio. Jools then auditioned to become co-presenter (with Paula Yates) of The Tube, which was granted almost immediate cult status and discovered a whole new generation of musicians and comedians between 1981 and 1986. Jools also managed to secure a rare interview with Miles Davis, which was broadcast on 14th November 1986.
• In two subsequent documentaries - Walking to New Orleans in 1985 and Mr Roadrunner in 1991 - Jools unearthed some of the roots of American music, which led him to talk to (and play with) many of his heroes, including Fats Domino, Dr. John, and Lee Dorsey.
• In 1988, Jools wrote a six-part series with Roland Rivron, The Groovy Fellas, about a Martian visiting Earth.
• Between 1988 and 1990, Jools performed and co-hosted (with David Sanborn) during the two seasons of an acclaimed music performance programme, Sunday Night, on NBC.
• After presenting two series of Juke Box Jury in 1989 and then 26 shows of The Happening in 1990, Jools was asked in 1992 to host a new music programme for BBC2, which combined his talent and experience as a musician with his skills as an interviewer.
• Later...with Jools Holland has re-awakened the innovative spirit of The Tube, and the 33rd series will air in 2008, along with Jools' New Years Eve show, the exuberant Hootenanny, which celebrates its 16th anniversary.
• Other television programmes include: Name That Tune; Don't Forget Your Toothbrush; Beat Route; Jools Meets The Saint; and, in 2002, Jools' History Of The Piano. Jools also conducted the interviews for the definitive Beatles Anthology, and the Rolling Stones Biography.
• He appeared in the 1997 film Spice World as a 'Musical Director'.
• Jools' achievements were formally recognized in June 2003, when he was awarded the OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
• The 2004 UK tour kicked off with a star-studded concert at the historic Royal Albert Hall, donating all proceeds to the Teenage Cancer Trust. Later that year, he collaborated with Tom Jones on an album of traditional R&B music. The album, which was recorded at Jools' Helicon Mountain studio with Laurie Latham, entered the UK Album Charts at Number 5.
• In January 2005, Jools and his band performed with Eric Clapton as the headline act of the Tsunami Relief Concert in Cardiff.
• Jools married Christabel McEwen in August 2005 and, the following month, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for Kent.
• November 2006 saw the release of Jools' latest album, Moving Out To The Country, a collection of country songs with various guest artists.
• The following month, Jools appeared at Capital Gold Legends Live, a series of up-close-and-personal gigs hosted by the London radio station.
• Jools was featured in the January 2007 issue of MOJO, which revealed his Top 10 Favourite Boogie Woogie Albums.
• In March 2007, Jools played two very special charity concerts, at Wells Cathedral and Rochester Cathedral, to raise funds for the upkeep of cathedrals throughout the British Isles and highlight the beauty of these historic buildings and the music within them.
• At the heart of these charity concerts was a new setting of the Mass, composed by Jools and commissioned by the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The new Mass was performed exclusively in the two cathedrals; it will eventually be released on CD, and incorporate elements from both performances.
• Jools' long-awaited autobiography, Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts, finally hit the shelves on October 4, 2007 (published by Michael Joseph Ltd).
• Finally, to cap off an eventful year, Best of Friends was released featuring all the favourites from the Friends album series including a DVD of the making of the albums, plus videos.
• 2008 has kicked off in similarly busy style. Jools is currently working with Eddi Reader on the soundtrack to the forthcoming movie, Me and Orson Welles, starring Claire Danes (Romeo & Juliet) and directed by Richard Linklater (School of Rock, Dazed & Confused, A Scanner Darkly). As well as this, the recording of the 31st series of Later...with Jools Holland celebrated the 200th episode of the show and this will be followed in the spring by a unique new Later format, when the show will be broadcast live. All the while Jools continues to dazzle audiences with his live performances with the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra touring all over the world, including upcoming shows as far and wide as Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, France, Holland and Belgium. Yet, he still manages to captivate the nation each week with his long-running show on Radio 2.