He is a drummer born Stephen Jeffrey Holley in London, England to a musical family where his mother was a singer and his father led a swing band.
He started to study and play the drums when he was five and by the time he was eleven he had formed his own group, The Formula. He had thought about entering the Royal College of Music but pursued his musical career instead by moving to Holland and performing and recording with G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars.
He formed Vapour Trails which was a band of session musicians that were signed by Warner Brothers. They backed Kiki Dee and he was asked by Elton John to work with him on his new single and the album A Single Man. He became friends with Denny Laine and while attending one of his parties he met Paul McCartney who heard him playing drums there. He was asked to a proper audition in London and at the same time he was asked to join Wings he was also asked to join Elton John on a permanent basis. He opted to become a member of Paul McCartney & Wings and stayed with them for around three years. After the group disbanded he decided to move to America and worked with many performers that included the debut by Julian Lennon and three years in the Joe Cocker Band.
In later years he became involved in music production and he often works with Pilot Recording Studios. Through his career he has performed with artists that include Chuck Berry, Ian McDonald, Ian Hunter, Junior Brown and Kate Moffatt and in the 1990s he was a part of a benefit concert for orphaned children from Bosnia-Herzegovina that was named Lilies in the Field. In 2001 he performed at the White House benefit for the 2001 Special Olympics and here he would back people such as Stevie Wonder, Sheryl Crow, B.B. King and Jon Bon Jovi. At a tribute to John Lennon he played the drums to accompany Billy Preston, Sean Lennon, Nelly Furtado, Dave Stewart and Kevin Spacey among others. In 2005 he toured with the artist Dar Williams and in the 2010s toured with Ian Hunter.
In his solo career he has released the album The Reluctant Dog.
Paul McCartney & Wings recordings
Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)(Paul McCartney)
Here is drumming with the Fab Faux in a performance of “Jet”…
Sources:
- http://www.steveholley.com/
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0391421/
- http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=115037734
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Holley
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/963024-Steve-Holley-2?filter_anv=0&type=Credits
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/steve-holley-mn0000044112/credits