Inspired by a home life filled with music, Rodney Holmes took up the drums in the 4th grade, being inspired by drummer like Max Roach, Art Blakey, Kenny Clark, Tony Williams, Billy Cobham, Steve Gadd, and John Bonham. By the time Rodney reached high school, he had already decided he wanted to become a professional musician.

Soon after graduating high school, Holmes' talent caught the attention of keyboardist, composer and musical visionary, Clyde Criner. Criner, a professor at LIU, took Rodney under his wing and put together a group. They recorded two albums before Cryner's unfortunate passing, Behind the Sun and The Color of Dark.

After his stint with Criner, Holmes played with Jean Paul Bourelly, Victor Bailey, Special EFX, Zawinul Syndicate and The Hermanators. Rodney then received an invitation to join the Santana Band for the 1993 tour. After the Santana tour, Rodney began working with The Brecker Brothers for the next 2 years. This included performing on their 1994 Grammy winning album, Out of the Loop. Holmes also went on to perform/record with Steps Ahead, Wayne Shorter, Larry and Julian Coryell, Victor Bailey, Leni Stern, and David Gilmore. Rodney then rejoined Santana from 1997-2000, taking home multi-Grammy Awards for his work on Santana's Supernatural album including the hit single "Smooth".

Rodney recently stunned the audience with his performance at the 2005 Modern Drummer Festival. Rodney Holmes is using the Vater 5A and 5B (both wood tip), Wire Retractable Brush, Poly-Flex Brush, Splashstick Lite and misc. mallet models.