The BEST episodes of Later... with Jools Holland
Every episode of Later... with Jools Holland ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Later... with Jools Holland!
Jools brings together hot, legendary and undiscovered artists for live studio performances, interviews and musical magic.
#1 - Robert Plant, Arcade Fire, Mavis Staples, Mona, Adele
Season 37 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/19/2010
Joining Jools in the studio for the tenth and final live show of this series is the legendary Robert Plant, who performs tracks from his recent Band Of Joy album. Arcade Fire are also in the studio with a couple of tunes from their chart-topping The Suburbs set. Soul and gospel legend Mavis Staples showcases tracks from her Jeff Tweedy-produced album You Are Not Alone. From Nashville Tennessee and making their TV debut are Mona, who describe their high-octane rock and roll as the sound of chainsaws dancing, and Adele will be making a welcome return to the studio to preview a track from her second album due in early 2011.
#3 - Dave Grohl, Lady Blackbird, Jungle
Season 59 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/9/2021
Jools invites rock legend and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl to share some of his favourite tales of life as a rock star upon the release of his memoir The Storyteller, as well as reminiscing about his experiences on the show and choosing his favourite artists from the Later... archive, which include a delightful musical mix of k.d. lang, Radiohead and Portuguese fado singer Mariza. Performing at Jools's studios is LA-based singer Marley Munroe aka Lady Blackbird. Her hauntingly beautiful voice has taken flight on the global jazz scene with the release of her debut album Black Acid Soul, which she recorded in the legendary Studio B (Prince's room) at Sunset Sound studios. She will be joined by her three-piece band to perform the raw and pining torch song It's Not That Easy. We also welcome the return of British group Jungle, performing for the show from the newly renovated Alexandra Palace Theatre in north London. They recently released their LP Loving in Stereo, described as 'a dynamic disco record for the post social distancing age, with a dancefloor-igniting celebration of all the things that make music irresistibly fun'.
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - Damon Albarn, Emeli Sande, LoneLady
Season 59 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/2/2021
Damon Albarn performs a song from his new solo album The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows, and Emeli Sandé chats about her music and how it marks an era of creative freedom. Making her debut on the show is Julie Campbell, aka Lonelady, filmed at Brunswick Mill in her hometown of Manchester.
Watch Now:Amazon#5 - Ellie Goulding, Biig Piig
Season 55 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/5/2020
With three platinum selling albums under her belt, Ellie Goulding chats online to Jools ahead of the release of her fourth this summer, which arrives 10 years after her debut record and first top 10 single Starry Eyed. The pair discuss the artists that have influenced her musical journey, illustrated by classic performances from the regular show's extensive archive. This edition also debuts Biig Piig, a musician who grew up between Ireland and Spain, and is now based in London. Recorded at home, she brings a taste of her sound with new single Switch, showcasing her unique brand of minimal pop.
Watch Now:Amazon#6 - Christine & the Queens, Laura Marling
Season 55 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/15/2020
The music programme returns with a lockdown twist. Each week, Jools chats to a guest via videolink, beginning with Christine & the Queens, who talks about her musical journey as well as her influences, with a selection of her favourite Later performances pulled out of the archive. New music will also continue to feature throughout the series, and in this first edition Laura Marling plays a track from her seventh album Song for Our Daughter, which she released earlier than originally planned in light of the current pandemic.
Watch Now:Amazon#8 - Muse, Laurel, Jon Cleary, John Grant, Easy Life, Hamzaa
Season 53 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/6/2018
Joining Jools on the second show of this series are Devon stadium rockers Muse, who return to the show three years after their global chart-topping album Drones, with songs from their upcoming release Simulation Theory, an LA-recorded science fiction based affair featuring production from Rich Costey and Timbaland. Making her TV debut on the show is Southampton-born, now London-based Laurel, who first caught attention with a series of chamber-pop EPs and mixtapes recorded solely in her bedroom. She performs a couple of tracks from her recently released full-length debut Dogviolet. Also on the show is New Orleans-based R&B and funk musician Jon Cleary, who was born not far from the Maidstone studios in neighbouring Cranbrook, and has worked with legends such as Dr John, BB King and Bonnie Raitt. He plays a couple of selections from his new Dyna-mite album. Making a welcome return to the studio is Michigan-born, now Iceland-based singer John Grant, who performs tracks from his upcoming fourth album Love Is Magic. Completing the line-up are two debut performances - Leicester's self-proclaimed 'best band ever' Easy Life, who all met at school two years ago and have since made waves with what the NME call 'the middle ground of hip-hop, indie and slacker-rock', and 19-year-old Londoner R&B soul singer Hamzaa, whose voice has been described as 'an intoxicating blend of old-soul sapience with a sensual edge'.
Watch Now:Amazon
#9 - Christine & The Queens, Kamasi Washington, St Vincent and Daniel Blumberg
Season 52 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/9/2018
Stepping back into the spotlight in Jools's cercle de reves is the queen of fancy footwork and French pop powerhouse Heloise Letissier, aka Christine & The Queens, to perform her new single Girlfriend, an 80s-inspired funk jam from her much-anticipated second album. Making his debut on the show is jazz saxophonist and band leader Kamasi Washington, who has played with the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Herbie Hancock and whose thrilling melodic take on funk, hip-hop and even movie soundtracks with an early 70s vibe is the talk of the town. Kamasi previews tracks from his upcoming double album Heaven & Earth. Grammy Award-winning Texan multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, follows up the piano-led preview of her fifth studio album Masseduction by strapping on her guitar, summoning her band and rocking out on the title track and Slow Disco. And make way for a double debut of Daniels this week as we welcome Canadian Grammy nominated R&B soul singer Daniel Caesar with his debut album Freudian, featuring Californian singer HER, who joins him for their track Best Part, and British singer-songwriter Daniel Blumberg, a veteran of Cajun Dance Party and Yuck, whose combination of melodic songwriting in an improvised setting has grown out of sessions in East London's Cafe Oto, and who performs at the piano accompanied by violin and double bass on a couple of songs from his acclaimed debut album Minus.
#10 - Bjork, The Breeders, Les Amazones D'Afrique, Deva Mahal and Hailey Tuck
Season 52 - Episode 3 - Aired 5/26/2018
Jools welcomes Bjork to his circle of dreams for her first TV appearance in eight years, with a line-up including seven flautists to perform songs from her ninth studio album, Utopia, whose blissed-out soundscapes find the Icelandic queen bouncing back from the heartbroken tones of her last album. Enter The Breeders, lead by sisters Kim and Kelley Deal, the band that Kim first formed back in 1989 as an offshoot from her full-time band The Pixies. The Breeders recently released their fifth album of splintered American indie, All Nerve. Les Amazones D'Afrique are something of a female supergroup from west Africa, signed to Peter Gabriel's Real World, and features three lead singers - Rokia Kone, Awa Sangho and Mamani Keita - in their touring party. Here, they perform songs from their acclaimed Republique Amazone debut. Introducing Deva Mahal, daughter of Taj, who has just released her debut album on Motema, featuring some neo-soul in the vein of British soul queens Adele and Amy Winehouse. Also introducing Parisian-based American neo-jazz chanteuse Hailey Tuck, whose debut album Junk combines her charming and intimate delivery with a contemporary songbook that draws on Leonard Cohen, Ray Davies and Pulp.
#11 - Manic Street Preachers, Boy Azooga, Gwenno and Ben Howard
Season 52 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/20/2018
Approaching their 30th anniversary are Manic Street Preachers, who come to the show with numbers from their new album Resistance is Futile. This new set sees them hark back to two of their most iconic albums, Everything Must Go and Generation Terrorists, for an ever vital and passionate collection. Also adding to the Welsh flavour of proceedings is the TV debut of Cardiff four piece Boy Azooga, led by Davey Newington, whose influences include Black Sabbath and William Onyeabor. They showcase songs from their upcoming 1, 2 Kung Fu album. Also from Cardiff and making her TV debut is singer-songwriter Gwenno, who sits on the descriptive scale as a cross between Jane Birkin and Boards of Canada. Her new album Le Kov sees her singing in Cornish, which she was inspired to record due to a decision by the British government to cut funding towards the Cornish language in 2016. Another debutante comes in the form of Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist of Haitian descent Melissa Laveaux, whose music has been described as a mix of roots, folk, and blues using her signature percussive finger-style guitar and soulful vocal stylings. New Hampshire singer-songwriter Ray Lamontagne, whose bluesin' folk/soul blend tenor has seen him compared to both Otis Redding and The Band, performs a number from his brand new, seventh album Part of the Light. Devon-based chart-topping singer-songwriter Ben Howard completes the bill, with selections from his first album in four years, Noonday Dream, which was recorded in both England and France.
#12 - Snow Patrol, Tower of Power, Jade Bird, Bettye LaVette and Plan B
Season 52 - Episode 1 - Aired 5/13/2018
Jools Holland and his magic fingers unite a unique cast in a single room for one night only, new and older artists playing completely live! Who'd have thought it? Seven years after their last album and 20 years on from their debut, the anthemic Snow Patrol are back in business with songs from their seventh studio album Wildness, that finds frontman and songwriter Gary Lightbody wrestling with the light and the dark with edge, drama and that familiar melodic flair. Step forward south London's Shame, hot after a national tour which is surely pushing them towards becoming the most exciting British guitar band since the emergence of Arctic Monkeys and they perform songs from their debut album Songs of Praise, released in January, including the rabble rousing One Rizla. No one sounds quite like veteran Detroit-raised soul singer Bettye Lavette - she made her debut as a 16-year-old in the early 60s. She performs a Bob Dylan song from her album of Dylan covers Things Have Changed, accompanied by Jools. Plan B or Ben Drew performs songs from his fourth album since his debut back in 2006, Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose, that mixes soul and ragga influences in a vital stew. Now in their 50th year on the road, step forward the Bay Area's mighty Tower of Power, who finally make their BBC TV debut with their soul-funk brass attack mixing 70s classics and songs from a new album, Soul Side of Town. Introducing teenage British singer-songwriter Jade Bird from Hexham, Northumberland, who captured hearts and minds at music industry festival SXSW earlier this year and makes her TV debut performing solo. Performing totally live in the circle of dreams for one night only, Jools brings the magic.
#14 - The Strokes, Staff Benda Bilili, Wild Beasts, Seasick Steve, The Burns Unit, Charlie Haden Quartet West
Season 38 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/20/2011
Joining Jools for the seventh show of this series are The Strokes, who make a long-awaited return to the show to play tracks from their latest album Angles, and Staff Benda Bilili, based around a core of disabled musicians who used to rehearse in a zoo, and who have recently been the subject of a film - Benda Bilili! - which appeared at Cannes to critical acclaim. We also hear from The Burns Unit, an eight-piece Scottish-Canadian collective whose members include award-winning folk singer Karine Polwart, alt-folk royalty King Creosote and indie queen Emma Pollock; Seasick Steve, performing songs from his latest album You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks, forming a hobo power trio alongside drummer Dan Magnusson and bassist John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin and Them Crooked Vultures fame; and Charlie Haden Quartet West, in which the legendary double bassist teams up with wife Ruth Cameron to perform music from his Sophisticated Ladies album.
Watch Now:Amazon#15 - Nile Rodgers and Chic, Nakhane, Gaz Coombes, Goat Girl and Chas & Dave
Season 52 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/16/2018
Joining Jools on the last show of the series and finally making their debut on the show are funk and disco legends Nile Rodgers and Chic, who are joined by contemporary British artists such as Cosha, aka Bonzai, and producer and songwriter Mura Masa. Denver-based old-school soul combo Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats come to the show with a song or two from their second album Tearing at the Seams, which sees them revisit their take on the golden years of Stax, complete with vibrant and integral horns, a steadily funky rhythm section and a bearded vocalist who takes it to the bridge every time. Making his UK TV debut is native South African Nakhane, where he is already an LGBTQ trailblazer with a startling voice. Now based in east London, he has recently released his second album You Will Not Die, which features songs full of strutting glam and electro flourishes. Former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes makes his solo debut on the show with songs from his very well reviewed third solo album World's Strongest Man, which is his reflection on what it means to be a strong man in 2018. London four-piece, signed to Rough Trade, Goat Girl perform tracks from their self-assured debut, which sees them rage against modern Britain from public transport to mental health. Finally, and completing the line-up are London legends Chas & Dave with a track from their first album in 30 years to feature new songs from the much loved cockney duo, A Little Bit of Us.
#16 - FFS, Alabama Shakes, The Lone Bellow, Tobias Jesso Jr., The Unthanks, Shaun Escoffery
Season 46 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/5/2015
Joining Jools are FFS, a collaboration between Scots art-poppers Franz Ferdinand and legendary Los Angeles new-wave duo Sparks, who first talked about joining forces around the time of Franz's debut in 2004 - but it's taken until now for them to record an album together. Returning to the show following their 2012 debut are US band Alabama Shakes, who have just released their second and well-received album Sound & Color, which sees them take more of deep-soul route, channelling the likes of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. Southern-born, Brooklyn-based indie-country trio the Lone Bellow will be in the studio to perform a couple of tracks from their second album Then Came The Morning. Canadian singer-songwriter Tobias Jesso Jr will be making his UK TV debut on this week's show, with tunes from his acclaimed debut album Goon, which sees him tapping into the songwriting lineage of Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman. Northumberland chamber folk group The Unthanks perform tracks from Mount the Air, their first studio album in four years. Completing the line-up is English soul and R&B singer Shaun Escoffery, making his Later debut with tracks from In the Red Room.
#18 - Episode 3
Season 63 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/28/2023
Jools welcomes to the show Mike Skinner with his musical project The Streets, electronic artist Romy, and singer-songwriters Cat Power, Allison Russell and BC Camplight.
#25 - Gregory Porter, Field Music, Son Little, Mumford & Sons (w/ Baaba Maal, The Very Best & Beatenberg), Christeen & The Queens, Sam Lee
Season 48 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/29/2016
US jazz singer songwriter Gregory Porter, who following his debut on the show back in 2011 has gone on to achieve critical and commercial success with his Liquid Spirit LP going Top 10 in the UK, which also won him a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal. He returns to the show to perform tracks from his follow-up Take Me To The Alley. Back in September 2015 in a recording studio in London, Mumford & Sons joined up with acclaimed Senegalese musician Baaba Maal and London/Malawi duo The Very Best to record together for a South African release. They followed it up earlier this year with six shows together across South Africa and they will all be reuniting in Maidstone to perform on the show. Making her UK TV debut is Nantes-born Héloïse Letissier, aka Christine and The Queens. Moving to London after finishing her studies in 2010, Letissier found herself drawn to the performing arts underworld of Soho, where she met the drag queens of Madame JoJo's, who inadvertently helped birth her musical project. She has grown to become a huge mainstream star in her native France, and is known for her energetic and visually arresting live shows, which see her interact with four male dancers and a shadowy four-piece band. She - and they - will be showing off her dance-art-pop sound and style on the show. From Sunderland and making their Later… debut are Field Music, who are essentially brothers David and Peter Brewis. Over their 11-year history, they have released six albums, and were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2012. They will be playing a couple of tracks from their most recent LP, Commontime, which saw them crack the UK Top 40 for the first time, along with garnering a raft of glowing reviews.
Watch Now:Amazon