Commander of rhythm, goddess of groove and one of most individual performers of her time, Holly Madge is one drummer that’s hard to forget. From setting up her first drum kit in a barn in Devon aged 10, to receiving a first class honours in Music at Southampton University, she lived solely through her music, passionately honing her skills in big bands, jazz trios, Brazilian batterias and hip hop groups – anything that offered up a new challenge.

Now fully established in the UK and far beyond, Holly can be found balancing creative projects with high profile events and session work – from performing with the likes of Cee Lo Green, Robyn and Duran Duran to feeding her insatiable appetite for sending an audience wild as “Her Madgesty” – performing killer club percussion sets from Mayfair to Mumbai to Mexico. She’s also acquiring quite a stack of credits on adverts, campaigns and digital initiatives for the likes of Lexus, Nike and Absolut.

Holly’s energy is electric, her talent exceptional and her performances as individual as the crowds she plays to. As Jamie Cullum said “there really aren’t many drummers like her”

THE LION KING (2019) SOUNDTRACK– PERCUSSION

LIMBO AT SPIEGELTENT GEELONG – DRUMS

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE FALLOUT SOUNDTRACK – PERCUSSION

FRANK TURNER’S “NO MAN’S LAND” – DRUMS

CHAKA KHAN ‘LIKE SUGAR’ GRAHAM NORTON 2019

IDRIS ELBA IBZIA RESIDENCY, SUMMER 2018

GOLD COAST COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2018

HANS ZIMMER LIVE WORLD TOUR 2017

FEATURED IN RHYTHM MAGAZINE’S ‘HIT CROWD’ 2018

NAIROBI JAZZ FESTIVAL WITH BRITISH COUNCIL & EAST AFRICA ARTS

JOCKEY ‘PLAY’ ADVERT

DRUMMER BODY DOUBLING – HELENA CHRISTENSEN DURAN DURAN’S ‘GIRL PANIC’

Holly realised, aged 10, that drums had a deep-rooted effect on people like no other instrument. She set up her first drum kit in a barn in Devon (UK) and with the help of supportive parents, extraordinary teachers, deaf neighbours and a habit of saying yes to every new challenge, she picked up her first class honours degree in music at Southampton University and headed to London where she cut her teeth at the forefront of the popular music scene.

Holly’s signature style is a rare blend: her heritage in big band jazz, funk and fusion has gifted her a focused listening ear; a love of 60s and 70s rock and soul has kept her playing uncluttered and with something to say; and the addition of latin percussion in recent years has deepened her understanding of groove and interaction, creating a unique style with musicality, simplicity and groove as its cornerstones.

Holly is not your average professional drummer. She is just as at home deep in a sweaty progressive house set in Ibiza performing with Idris Elba as she is delivering the iconic percussion lines of Hans Zimmer’s film scores in the world’s arenas. Variety keeps Holly’s inquisitive mind fresh and her style eclectic, from creating a duet with a contortionist at the Singapore Grand Prix to performing live drum and bass at Glastonbury with The Telegraph’s top ten festival highlights The Correspondents or performing with two contemporary dancers for Nike’s new product range.

Holly has recently ventured into session work, recording those iconic opening-sequence bongos in Lorne Balfe’s Mission Impossible – Fallout, percussion for Hans Zimmer’s The Lion King sound track, drums for folk rock singer Frank Turner’s album “No Man’s Land” and new practise material for the UK’s most prestigious exam board ABRSM. She travelled to Kenya in 2018 with the British Council & East Africa Arts to perform with Kenyan and Ugandan musicians at the Nairobi Jazz festival and took a solo trip to Cuba to deepen her understanding of the country’s treasured percussive heritage. She is always open to new projects as well as consulting and featuring in films and selected ad campaigns so feel free to get in touch