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Jools Holland has parlayed his considerable skill as a boogie-woogie pianist into superstardom as a television host, a gig so popular in his British homeland he was awarded an OBE. It was an unlikely journey for a keyboardist who first came to fame as a founding member of Squeeze, one of the leading New Wave bands of the 1970s and 1980s. Holland left Squeeze just prior to their greatest commercial success, winding up co-presenting The Tube with Paula Yates. Holland would later return to Squeeze for a spell, forming his jump blues outfit the Jools Holland Big Band along the way, but television turned out to be his calling. In 1992, he launched Later…With Jools Holland, a live music program that became a British institution in the ensuing decades, staying on the air into the 2020s. While Later remained on the air, Holland continued recording and touring with the Jools Holland Big Band, also embarking on such side projects as duet albums with Jose Felicano, Marc Almond and Rod Stewart.

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, who released their first record in 1977 (the EP Packet of Three), and their first full-length album the following year. Almost immediately, the band vaulted into the upper reaches of the U.K. charts with the new wave hits "Take Me I'm Yours" and "Bang Bang" (both 1978), both of which were penned by Squeeze leaders Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook.

That same year, Holland released his solo debut, a 7" five-song EP called Boogie Woogie '78, which showcased his penchant for boogie-woogie, R&B, and jazz far more effectively than any of Squeeze's much more pop-oriented recordings. However, Holland stayed with Squeeze through 1980, playing keyboards on a series of classic Difford- and Tilbrook-composed hit singles, including "Cool for Cats," "Up the Junction," "Another Nail in My Heart," and "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" (in which he laid down a memorable piano solo). Holland's occasional contributions as a composer/frontman for Squeeze were limited exclusively to B-sides or album tracks.

Finally, in 1980 Holland announced that he was leaving Squeeze on amicable terms for a full-time solo career. He emerged in 1981 as leader of Jools Holland & His Millionaires, a guitar-less sextet that included Jools on "lead vocals, keys and good ideas," as well as Pino Palladino (bass), Martin T. Deegan (drums), Mike Paice (sax), and the Fabulous Wealthy Tarts (Kim Lesley and Maz Roberts) on backing vocals. Their lone self-titled album, however, was a flop, despite production by Glyn Johns (the Rolling Stones, the Eagles, the Who, etc.) and lyrical help from Squeeze's Chris Difford. Soon after the album's release, the Millionaires disbanded, although Jools would continue to work with all of them individually throughout the rest of his solo career.

For the next few years, Holland then busied himself musically with session work for the likes of the The, and with a couple of U.K. solo singles that were eventually collected as part of the excellent U.S.-only release Jools Holland Meets Rock-a-Boogie Billy (1984). Perhaps more importantly, though, around this time Holland also secured a job as host of the seminal British music series The Tube, which presented both established stars and cutting-edge musical acts every week. A critical and popular success from the word go, The Tube made the effervescent, enthusiastic South Londoner a household name in Great Britain, and introduced a lot of great music to the rest of the world.

Then, unexpectedly, Squeeze stalwarts Difford and Tilbrook decided to re-form their band in 1985, and asked Holland to return. (Squeeze had continued for two years after Holland's departure before packing it in at the end of 1982.) Holland accepted, and by the end of 1985, a new Squeeze record called Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti was in the shops, featuring the keyboards of "Julian Holland" (as he then billed himself). For the next five years, TV personality Holland was again largely a sideman on Squeeze's records, although his piano was unquestionably a vital component in the poppy, vaguely Beatlesque mid-'80s Squeeze sound. It was during this phase of their career that Squeeze had their biggest U.S. success, the Top 20 "Hourglass," and Holland got to play Madison Square Garden with his bandmates. His musical success in the U.S. was also at least partly responsible for helping Holland to land a gig as the co-host of NBC's Night Music, a live-in-the-studio jazz, blues, and pop music program that had a strong cult following for the few years it was on the air. It later became the blueprint for such popular music shows as Sessions at West 54th.

However, by 1990, Holland was still only being given the occasional album track in which to showcase his prodigious talents, so he once again left Squeeze on amicable terms to resume his solo career. That year, he reclaimed the first name "Jools" and released World of His Own, which mixed up his boogie-woogie with more contemporary sounds and featured contributions from all of his Squeeze bandmates, as well as all of the ex-Millionaires and his celebrity pal Sting. In 1991, the more overtly swing/R&B-themed The Full Complement followed. These albums sold respectably, but generated no hit singles: from this point on, Holland increasingly became (in the U.K. at least) a television personality who also happened to make records, rather than a recording star who also happened to be on television. And while his recording career could hardly be called stagnant, his television career really took off starting in 1992, when he began hosting Later with Jools Holland. This long-running late-night music show featured a dazzling array of musical talent (absolutely everyone from Tori Amos to David Bowie to Rickie Lee Jones to B.B. King to the Verve showed up at one point or another), and it was required viewing for any Brit with even the vaguest pretensions toward musical hipness.

Perhaps to keep from spreading himself too thin, for the next little while Holland (as a musician) released albums that concentrated solely on his keyboard playing. These included The A to Z Geographer's Guide to the Piano (1992) and Solo Piano (1994). Also, Holland compiled three CDs that traced the history of different styles of piano playing: Boogie Woogie Piano, Ragtime Piano, and Solo Piano (all 1995). He also continued to work diligently as a session musician throughout the '90s, appearing on dozens of recordings by artists such as Dr. John, Eddi Reader, Marcella Detroit, and others.

By the mid-'90s, however, Holland's fame as a television presenter (and his consequent list of celebrity contacts), coupled with his well-earned reputation for top-notch musicianship, meant that he had the clout to tour with (and record big-budget albums with) a full-scale '40s-style big band. Increasingly as the years went by, these albums would also feature big-name guest vocalists. They ran the gamut from swing to boogie-woogie to jump blues to jazz, were credited to Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, and included Live Performance (1994), Sex & Jazz & Rock & Roll (1996), and Lift the Lid (1997), on which Sam Brown is the featured vocalist on several numbers. In 1998, a Best of Jools Holland compilation appeared, with selections from all of his '90s albums.

Not slowing down at all as one century led into another (he was still touring constantly throughout the U.K., performing an average of two big-band shows a week as well as hosting Later), Jools then released Sunset Over London in 1999, which featured guest turns by Jamiroquai and actor Robbie Coltrane, followed by Hop the Wag in 2000. In 2001, the U.S.-based Valley label issued a compilation of tracks from all of Jools' various big-band swing albums called, not unreasonably, The Swing Album; it was his first stateside release in over a decade.

Later that same year, Holland led his big band through an all-star album that featured contributions from Steve Winwood, Paul Weller, Sting, Dr. John, Mark Knopfler, and many, many others. Called Small World Big Band in the U.K. and Jools Holland's Big Band Rhythm & Blues in the U.S., the record quickly gained attention for containing the last-ever song and performance from George Harrison, who died shortly after the album's U.K. release. In the U.S., the record came out in early 2002 to generally positive reviews, although the focus of most of the initial critical attention was on Harrison, not Holland. Ignoring the splash the record made in the U.S., for the rest of the year Jools continued to tour in his native U.K. while making frequent radio and television appearances.

The new millennium found Holland issuing at least one significant album each year and continuing his collaborative projects with the Small World Big Band. Small World Big Band, Vol. 2: More Friends was released in 2002, followed by Small World Big Band Friends, Vol. 3: Jack o the Green in 2003. In 2004, Holland collaborated with the legendary Tom Jones (on Tom Jones & Jools Holland) but quickly returned to the "everyone's welcome" big band with two albums in 2005, Beatroute and Swinging the Blues Dancing the Ska. For 2006, Holland tackled classic country with his big band and issued Moving Out to the Country, which featured an eclectic mix of artists, from Mark Knopfler to Marc Almond. Best of Friends hit shelves in 2007 and was followed by yet another collaboration (this time with British soul singer Ruby Turner), 2008's The Informer. That same year, a hits anthology was issued (The Collection).

Over the next few years, Holland remained a staple of British music thanks to his BBC show and he continued to record regularly. He had a new album called Rockinghorse in 2010; two years later, the star-studded Golden Age of Song appeared just in time for the Christmas season. In 2014, Holland released Sirens of Song, an album of collaborations with a different female singer featured on every track, which included Kylie Minogue, Amy Winehouse, Joss Stone, and Eartha Kitt, to name just a few. Also featured on this release was the Jamaican soul singer Ruby Turner, who had been a part of the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra since its origins in the early '90s. They came together once again in 2015 for Jools & Ruby, a joint effort that also celebrated the 20th anniversary of Jools Holland on Warner Music. Holland returned in 2016 with a project that explored his long relationship with the piano. The aptly titled Piano featured eight original compositions and ten pieces by composers he admired. The collection also included a contribution from Brian Eno, who provided backing vocals for the final track. Holland continued his track record of collaborative albums; in 2017 he teamed up with Jose Feliciano for As You See Me Now, and in 2018 Marc Almond (with whom he had toured on-and-off for several years) on A Lovely Life to Live.

Holland released another star-studded collaborative album called Pianola. Piano & Friends in 2022. Among his guests this time were Trombone Shorty, David Gilmour, Dhani Harrison, Tom Jones, and David Sanborn. Two years later, he teamed up with Rod Stewart on Swing Fever, a collection of jump blues and boogie woogie recorded live in the studio with Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. ~ Rudyard Kennedy & J. Scott McClintock

One of the most prominent Latin-born performers of the pop era, Puerto Rican guitarist, singer, and composer José Feliciano found mainstream success in the late 1960s with his appealing mix of flamenco guitar, bolero, folk, and easy listening pop music. Already a success in Latin America, Feliciano scored a major American hit with his 1968 cover of the Doors' "Light My Fire," before inciting controversy with his jazzy rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" during the World Series in October of that year. His 1970 Christmas pop classic "Feliz Navidad" went on to become one of the most ubiquitous songs in the holiday canon. Throughout the '70s and '80s, he remained a popular touring and recording artist, releasing a variety of Spanish- and English-language albums, guesting on albums by major artists like John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, and Bill Withers, and composing for television shows like Chico and the Man and Kung Fu. Feliciano's success extended into the next century as he continued to explore a variety of musical styles, earning a pair of Grammy Awards for his 2008 album Señor Bachata and recording a high-profile collaboration with Jools Holland on the 2017 jazz and R&B set, As You See Me Now. In the seventh decade of his career, he was still in demand, releasing a pair of albums in 2022, Right Here Waiting and Love & Christmas.

Feliciano was born September 10, 1945, in Lares, Puerto Rico; the victim of congenital glaucoma, he was left permanently blind at birth. Five years later, he and his family moved to New York City's Spanish Harlem area; there Feliciano began learning the accordion, later taking up the guitar and making his first public appearance at the Bronx's El Teatro Puerto Rico at the age of nine. While in high school he became a fixture of the Greenwich Village coffeehouse circuit, eventually quitting school in 1962 in order to accept a permanent gig in Detroit; a contract with RCA followed a performance at New York's Gerde's Folk City, and within two years, he appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival. After bowing with the 1964 novelty single "Everybody Do the Click," he issued his flamenco-flavored debut LP The Voice and Guitar of Jose Feliciano, trailed early the next year by The Fantastic Feliciano.

Unhappy with the direction of his music following the release of 1966's A Bag Full of Soul, Feliciano returned to his roots, releasing three consecutive Spanish-language LPs -- Sombras...Una Voz, Una Guitarra, Mas Exitos de Jose Feliciano, and Sentimiento, La Voz y La Guitarra -- on RCA International, scoring on the Latin pop charts with the singles "La Copa Rota" and "Amor Gitana." With 1968's Feliciano!, he scored a breakthrough hit with a soulful reading of the Doors' "Light My Fire" that launched him into the mainstream pop stratosphere; a smash cover of Tommy Tucker's R&B chestnut "Hi Heel Sneakers" solidified his success, and soon Feliciano found himself performing the national anthem during the 1968 World Series in Detroit. His idiosyncratic Latin jazz performance of the song proved highly controversial, and despite the outcry of traditionalists and nationalists, his status as an emerging counterculture hero was secured, with a single of his rendition also becoming a hit.

In 1969, Feliciano recorded three LPs -- Souled, Alive Alive-O!, and 10 to 23 -- and won a Grammy for Best New Artist, though it was his self-titled 1970 Christmas album that yielded his most enduring original song. "Feliz Navidad," his Latin pop holiday hit, went on to become a perennial Christmas staple for decades to come and has been widely covered by other artists. Throughout the remainder of the '70s, Feliciano remained an active performer, touring annually and issuing a number of LPs in both English and Spanish, including 1973's Steve Cropper-produced Compartments; he also appeared on the Joni Mitchell hit "Free Man in Paris," and guested on a number of television series including Kung Fu and McMillan and Wife. He also wrote the theme song for the sitcom Chico and the Man, which edged into the Top 100 singles chart in 1974.

In 1980, Feliciano was the first performer signed to the new Latin division of Motown, making his label debut with an eponymous effort the following year. His recorded output tapered off during the course of the decade, although he occasionally resurfaced with LPs including 1987's Tu Inmenso Amor and 1989's I'm Never Gonna Change. A school in East Harlem was renamed the Jose Feliciano Performing Arts School in his honor. In 1996, he also appeared briefly in the hit film Fargo and in 2000 received the Grammy Legend Award. A handful of Spanish-language albums appeared in the early part of the decade and in 2006, Feliciano returned with the instrumental Six-String Lady album, kicking off a prolific run that saw a steady stream of releases well into the 2010s. His highest-profile project during this period was a 2017 duet album with Jools Holland called As You See Me Now. Heading into the next decade, Feliciano reunited with longtime producer Rick Jarrard for 2020's Behind This Guitar, his first album to be recorded in Nashville. The album shared its title with a documentary about Feliciano, which began playing the film festival circuit in 2020. In 2022, Feliciano received the Legend Award at the Billboard Latin Music Awards; he was the first artist to receive the honor. It was a busy year that saw two releases from the veteran artist. Right Here Waiting was a set of classic tunes that included new recordings of "Light My Fire" and the theme from Chico and the Man. Later in the year, he issued Love & Christmas, a seven-song EP that included a pair of holiday songs ("Viva La Navidad" and "Little Drummer Boy") as well as a Latin-flavored cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and a Spanish-language version of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature." ~ Jason Ankeny