The British blues guitarist Toby Lee, described as “out of this world” by Jools Holland, today announces his signing to Fontana Records as his first single with the label, ‘Work You Out’, is released.
Born to play, Toby Lee is part of a lineage of British blues guitarists that stretches from John Mayall to Eric Clapton; from Keith Richards to Slash. Listen to Lee play, and it becomes obvious why.
Obsessed from a young age, Lee can’t remember not holding a guitar. By the age of 10, his video tribute to B.B. King had gone viral, which led to a personal invitation from B.B. King’s daughters to perform at the legendary B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale Street, Memphis.
Since then, Toby has toured extensively, sharing the stage with his musical heroes such as Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton, Slash and Joe Bonamassa, as well as with his own band.
Hard to believe this was a boy who was bullied at school. But when Lee played the guitar, everything made sense.
“Perhaps it helps explain why my emotional channelling is through the guitar. I can say whatever I need to say through it.” – Toby Lee
More recently, Jools Holland invited Lee to play on his annual Hootenanny on BBC Two, which was followed by a Glastonbury performance. In 2025 alone Toby played 150 shows – 66 of these as Jools Holland’s special guest and the rest with his trio of great players. Other UK festivals included Isle of Wight, Love Supreme, Cornbury, Cropredy and many more. This year he performs at countless European Festivals across Holland, Switzerland, Estonia, Italy, Hungary, Romania and Norway.
President of Fontana, Tom Lewis, says, “As an expression of raw, explosive musical humanity, the guitar solo is unbeatable – and there are few better exponents than Toby Lee. His talent is extraordinary. His playing is thrilling and it’s all feel. He was born to play the blues. One could argue that the global rock’n’roll scene was built on the backs of the great British-born blues guitarists. Toby is part of that lineage.”