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Johannesburg – Award-winning artist, Holly Rey, has been making waves in the SA music scene for a while now, getting fans hooked on tracks like Deeper and You.
The singer, who recently performed at the 2020 Sun Met, gave Channel24 the chance to get to know her a little better.
From her start in music to her greatest achievements, we spent some time learning more about the woman behind the catchy tunes.
Her love of music started when she was a child
Holly explains how her uncle first introduced her to music. "One of my uncles is a self-taught musician who plays flamenco guitar, and he is quite an accomplished percussionist. He lived in the Natal midlands when I was a toddler, and we would drive up to spend the weekend with him. He practised a minimum of two hours a day, seven days a week and I fell in love with the guitar."
The singer says she later took guitar lessons and also played the drums for a while.
"I was always surrounded by music. My oldest uncle was a writer and reviewed music for a number of publications. Our extended family home was always full of people, musicians and music," she adds.
She's shattering glass ceilings
Holly counts winning the Record of the Year at the 2019 Sama's as one of her greatest achievements thus far. But it's about more than just the award. "It's not the award that means so much to me; it's the fact that I was the first woman in twenty years to win the award after Brenda Fassie."
She says this time around she's rooting for DJ Zinhle to take the trophy "because we need to keep this winning streak going, we can't let it be another 20 years before another woman wins."
She's all about supporting women in music
Holly counts DJ Zinhle, Miriam Makeba, Brenda Fassie, Sho Madjozi, Lizzo, Beyoncé, Macy Gray as some of her idols. An all-female power list – we love it!
She's a family woman
When she gets the time to unwind, Holly says she loves spending time with her family. She also loves exploring Africa. "I like to invest my hard-earned money into the African Tourism Industry by travelling in my own continent."
