The legendary American artist and musician Lonnie Holley explores improvisation in a cosmic, Afrofuturistic, and jazzy sound universe with elements of soul, spiritual music, gospel, African rhythms, and electronics. He is currently promoting his sixth album, “Oh Me Oh My” (Jagjaguwar, 2023), which features collaborations with Moor Mother, Michael Stipe (REM), Bon Iver, and Rokia Koné. In May, Lonnie Holley will perform a rare concert in Denmark.

Lonnie Holley is a legendary and unique figure in the international art and music scene. Born into a harsh life in Birmingham, Alabama in 1950, he experienced child labor and grew up in various foster homes. Holley’s early life struggles manifested alongside an indomitable curiosity in improvised creativity. Since 1979, he has channeled this creativity into painting, performance, filmmaking, and sculpture, often based on scraps and found objects from African American traditions. In Holley’s music, improvisation is also central, but in a cosmic, Afrofuturistic, meditative, and jazzy sound universe with elements of soul, spiritual music, gospel, African rhythms, and electronics.

The messages in Lonnie Holley’s musical and artistic practice are unequivocal. They revolve around overcoming adversity and immense pain, how we develop and maintain a love for our fellow humans, and – most importantly – how we take care of the only planet we have. Holley has never conveyed these messages as clearly, precisely, and inspiring as he does on his latest and sixth album, “Oh Me Oh My” (Jagjaguwar, 2023). The album consists of 11 painfully moving songs, which also exude immense hope. “Oh Me Oh My” is produced by Jacknife Lee and features collaborations with Bon Iver, Michael Stipe (REM), Moor Mother, Sharon Van Etten, and Rokia Koné.

Lonnie Holley is a recognized artist, appointed as a USA Artist Fellow in 2022. His works are represented by galleries such as Blum & Poe Gallery (Los Angeles) and Edel Assanti Gallery (London). They can be found in major museum collections worldwide – at The Museums of Fine Arts, San Francisco, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Smithsonian American Art Museum, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and many others. He is permanently exhibited at the UN and has been exhibited in the Rose Garden of the White House. Holley’s directorial debut, the short film “I Snuck Off the Slave Ship,” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. We are exceedingly proud to present Lonnie Holley as he performs his first concert in Copenhagen at ALICE.

Said of Lonnie Holley
“Lonnie Holley is the closest thing America has to a prophet”

ALICE at Stairway
While the concert hall at Nørre Allé 7 is undergoing renovation, ALICE is located at the music venue Stairway in Vanløse throughout 2023.