Pianist/vocalist Nicky Holland was born in Hertfordshire and began studying piano at a young age; while attending the Royal Academy of Music, she grew inspired by the music of Carole King and Steely Dan. After graduating, Holland continued her studies at the City University in London, and with classmates Virginia Astley and Kate St. John she formed the Ravishing Beauties in 1981. The trio had the chance to play all sorts of rock & roll and punk clubs as well as classical arenas around London, rubbing shoulders with Julian Cope and the Teardrop Explodes, and later supporting them on their national tours.
Holland later worked as a lounge vocalist and piano player four nights a week, constantly expanding her repertoire while performing cocktail music, blues, classical music and her own songs. She escaped from the lounge with Fun Boy Three, and played piano and arranged the group's version of George Gershwin's "Summertime," which coasted up the charts in England. Holland was soon tapped as the musical director for Fun Boy Three (she appears on keyboards and piano in a couple of the YouTube clips that are on last.fm) , signing on to tour Europe and the U.S. after recording Waiting, an album produced by David Byrne.
In 1983, Holland began writing her first scores for TV and film, and sang and played keyboards in a new group called the Escape, which supported Tears for Fears on their British tour in 1983. Around this time she was also busy as an arranger for Echo and the Bunnymen, Strawberry Switchblade, Modern English and others. After the Escape broke up, she was offered the opportunity to go on a worldwide, three-month tour with Tears for Fears; the tour lasted much longer, however, and she continued working with the group through 1987. Holland co-wrote five of the nine songs on the group's Seeds of Love album, including "Advice for the young at heart" and "Rhythm of Life," which later became a hit for Oleta Adams.
After relocating to New York in 1988, she met Ryuichi Sakamoto and toured Japan and the U.S. with his band in 1990. Holland signed to Epic Associated in the fall of 1990, and spent the next year writing, recording and mixing her self-titled debut album, released in 1991. She also wrote songs for Cyndi Lauper, Lloyd Cole, Tina Turner, Oleta Adams, Celine Dion, Kathy Sledge and Lisa Taylor, among others. Nicky also worked on several movie scores, including John Hughes "The Great Outdoors" and "She's Having a Baby".