School of Rock Franklin alumni and AllStar Lily J. is making her own beat in the music industry, taking home Modern Drummer's 2025 Readers Poll Up and Coming Drummer award.
A popular feature of Modern Drummer, the Readers Poll features drum categories like Rock, Metal, Hip-Hop, Hall of Fame, Pop, Studio, R&B/Funk, Streaming/Social Media, and many more. Readers from around the world vote for the nominees, with the winners receiving the most fan votes. In the Up and Coming category, Lily was up against other notable young drummers Payton Taylor, Jordi Radnoti, Xavier Ware, and Ben Sharp.
Lily expressed her excitement on winning the 2025 Up & Coming Drummer award, saying, "...this truly means the world to me. I've been reading Modern drummer since I was nine, so I've dreamt of this my whole life".
At the age of ten, Lily was the youngest member ever accepted into the audition-based House Band at School of Rock Franklin. She was also a member of the School of Rock AllStars, the highest level of achievement for School of Rock students. Each summer, the AllStars tour brings top students from schools around the world together for a nationwide tour across the United States. With AllStars, Lily performed at notable venues like Lollapalooza Music Festival and the Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Now as the drummer for pop phenomenon Conan Gray, Lily is making bringing the beats to stages worldwide, including the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2025, where they performed Vodka Cranberry, the second hit single from Conan's fourth studio album, Wishbone. Watch their electric performance and catch Conan Gray on tour with Lily rocking on the drums.
