The Tiger Lillies Band

The Tiger Lillies are an extraordinary three-piece band with a large cult following in London.

They are fronted by singer Martyn Jacques with a voice of heartbreaking beauty, who had trained as a falsetto opera singer while living above a brothel in Soho for seven years.

He is accompanied by drummer Adrian Huge, whose appearance has been described by David Byrne as “James Joyce on drums”, and double bass player Adrian Stout. Jacques plays accordion and sings savage and passionate songs about prostitutes, drug addicts and losers, his voice soaring and growling like that of  a possessed man.

Ken Campbell has described him as "the criminal castrati". With eyes characteristically closed during his performances, Jacques makes quite an impression with his Dickensian style of dress, long pigtail, bowler hat, corrosive lyrics and an astonishing voice. He sings about life at the edge contemporary British society with the voice of an angel.