Hooks was born in Houston, Texas, United States. He found early musical inspiration from the recordings of fellow Texans Albert Collins, Billy Gibbons and Stevie Ray Vaughan. In the late 1980s, Hooks played in the bars of Houston, before being asked to play in Lavelle White's backing band.[1] He played on her national tours in 1996,[3] before forming his own band and going solo the following year.[1] In 1997, Hooks recorded his debut album, Hooked Up, at SugarHill Recording Studios in Houston.[4] AllMusic noted that Hooked Up contained "a collection of gritty, rock-tinged electric blues numbers that didn't stray far outside the conventions that his aforementioned guitar heroes had brought into an international spotlight."[1]
The exposure the recording gave Hooks led to a European record executive, Ed van Zyl, offering Hooks a recording contract with the Dutch-based record label Provogue Records. The resulting self-titled album was made under the tutelage of record producer Ben Elliott. Jay Hooks was recorded by the trio of Hooks (guitars, vocals), Marie Del Prete (bass) and Joe Frenchwood (drums).[5] It was released in late 2000.[1] His Texas rock sound was well received by the critics.[6] At the time Hooks was quoted as saying "... I just plug it in and turn it all up, that's what I do..." In 2001, Hooks toured across Europe.[7]
Jerry Gaskill played the drums on Hooks next release, the Red Line album (2002), which was also released by Provogue.[8] Red Line mostly contained songs written by Hooks, apart from his cover of Jimi Hendrix's track, "Freedom".[9] In 2003, Hooks played live on the German television show, Rockpalast.[10]
Hooks performed at the Continental Club in Austin, Texas early in 2015.[11] In April that year, he appeared at the House of Blues in Houston.[12]
