Lucy Woodward

BIO

Lucy Woodward sings as if she has lived every note — unapologetically bold, endlessly curious, and unmistakably her own. Her voice carries the grit of experience and the grace of mastery, shifting from a smoldering whisper to a full-throttle cry in a heartbeat. She is the sound of a life steeped in music — a soul that has spent decades traveling through sound, spirit, and self.

Her journey has never been solitary. Fronting her powerhouse quartet, The Rocketeers — Jelle Roozenburg (guitar), Niek de Bruijn (drums), and Udo Pannekeet (bass) — Woodward has ignited stages across Europe, from the Istanbul Jazz Festival to Blue Note Milan to Ronnie Scott’s in London. With the 2024 release of Lucy Woodward & The Rocketeers (GroundUP Music), a bold “extension” of the quartet featuring an 18-piece international jazz orchestra with musicians from the Netherlands, Italy, Latvia, and Ghana, she once again proves that reinvention is her native language. The project bursts with energy — lush, cinematic arrangements wrapped around her voice, where high-voltage groove meets honesty and grace.
The Rocketeers’ onstage chemistry flowed seamlessly into the studio, where the album took shape. Now, Woodward embarks on her ninth record, ROAM (GroundUP Music, spring 2026) — an all-original project — exploring what it means to keep moving, creatively, geographically, and emotionally, while living with open arms.

Born in London and raised in New York by her mother, Woodward spent summers in the Netherlands with her father, a transatlantic upbringing that deeply shaped her eclectic musical identity. At sixteen, she entered the Manhattan School of Music, but left a year later to follow her own path — waiting tables on Bleecker Street, singing in local bands, and sharpening her craft through countless studio sessions.
Those early experiences led to chart-topping success, film soundtracks, and eight genre-spanning albums tracing her evolution as a fearless, ever-moving artist. She has released music on Atlantic Records — earning two BMI Music Awards for Top 40 hits — as well as on Verve with legendary producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Paul McCartney), and on GroundUP Music with producers Michael League (Snarky Puppy) and Henry Hey (Rudder, Forq).
Woodward has collaborated extensively with Snarky Puppy in the studio and on tour, including a 2019 performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall alongside guitarist Charlie Hunter, with whom she has released two albums and toured internationally. She also joined Pink Martini as a temporary substitute for China Forbes, mastering their multilingual repertoire — in Croatian, Turkish, Spanish, French, and Japanese — with just five days’ notice, debuting at the Montreal Jazz Festival before performing across major North American jazz festivals. She has appeared with many of Europe’s leading big bands, including the WDR, Danish Radio, Frankfurt Radio, and Croatian Radio Orchestras.

Her collaborators form a constellation of musical greats, including Rod Stewart, Céline Dion, Barbra Streisand, Chaka Khan, and Carole King. Her voice has also been featured on film soundtracks such as The Blind Side, What a Girl Wants, Last Vegas, Music & Lyrics, and Ice Princess, which included her version of the Björk/Betty Hutton classic “It’s Oh So Quiet.”

“Lucy’s exceptional vocal talents shine in the blend with the colorful and imaginative orchestral writing…A pleasure that grows with each listen, not to be missed. Album of the week.”
– ALL ABOUT JAZZ (Lucy & The Rocketeers)

 

“the new album by Lucy Woodward is pure creative magic! Full of thought provoking well crafted songs, beautiful and refreshing.”
– SIR ROD STEWART CBE

 

“Lucy is a deep, soulful vocalist who is as versatile and virtuosic as she is passionate.”
– MICHAEL LEAGUE (bandleader of Snarky Puppy)

 

”Let Lucy loose…she can blaze…bullseye!”
– Jazzism

 

“Piercing thoughts and soaring vocals…”
– THE MAIL ON SUNDAY (Daily Mail UK)