THE MUSIC MAN

Jools Holland, OBE, on his music, being a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent and why he loves Rochester

- Holly Louise Eells

Jools Holland, OBE DL, is a musical legend and wellloved TV host who doesn’t need an introduction.

The founding member of new-wave band Squeeze makes his talent look simple. Despite the countless accolades, impressive achievements and his status as one of the most popular pianists and bandleaders in the UK, Jools is astonishingly humble.

“I do think to myself sometimes I just can’t quite believe all the people I have met,” he says. “People I have learnt from, admired or been up close to, I have been so fortunate and blessed; I really mean that.”

Born Julian Miles Holland in January 1958 in Blackheath, he grew up in Greenwich but had relatives in Gravesend and friends and family in Canterbury too, so Kent was familiar territory from a young age.

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 pubs in south-east London and the East End Docks.

As the music maestro says: “A piano is sort of a friend in the living room; you hit it and you are never quite sure what noise is going to come out. Ever since I was a small child, this is what I have done on my grandma’s piano in her front room.”

This spring he is once again on the road with The Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, who will be taking their popular annual tour around the UK.