The Solid Gold Sound of the UCLA Bruin Marching Band represents the university at major athletic and extracurricular events.

During the fall marching season, this 250-member band performs at the Rose Bowl for UCLA Bruin home football games.

The UCLA Varsity Band appears at basketball games and other athletic contests in Pauley Pavilion.

In 2018, the Bruin Marching Band was featured on the Muse album "Simulation Theory" performing the Super Deluxe version of the song "Pressure."

Band appearances at athletic events are funded primarily by student registration fees, a direct allocation from the Chancellor's Office and donations to the Solid Gold Sound Club.

The exception to the drum corps marching style is the traditional pregame "run-on" where the band rapidly high-steps onto the field into the block letter U-C-L-A formation.

In 1925, at the Vermont Avenue campus, the UCLA Marching Band originated as a 50-piece ROTC unit under the direction of W. G. Powell.

In 1935, under the direction of Leroy Allen, the group became an integral part of campus life, providing music at rallies and games.

F. (Freeman) Kelly James became the director of the marching band, a position he would hold until suffering a stroke at the UCLA-Cal football game in 1980.

The band had a similar marching style, including the distinctive arm swinging, but also having the high "chair" step.

The uniform pants were school colors blue and black trim, and imitation bearskin (or tall busby) hats.

[3] In 1961, the band made a European Tour which included performances in Denmark, France, Austria, Germany, England and Switzerland.

Musician and recording executive Herb Alpert gave $30 million to UCLA in November 2007, the single largest individual gift to music higher education in the western United States.

It was adapted from their showtune "Strike Up the Band", and was presented to UCLA at an All-University Sing held in Royce Hall during Fall 1936.

The entire UCLA Bruin Marching Band travels to the San Francisco Bay area each fall for either the Stanford or Cal game.

In 2006, the entire UCLA Bruin Marching Band traveled to South Bend, Indiana, for a game at the University of Notre Dame.

A small group of these students performed at various sports venues during the games, including those for Cycling, Gymnastics, Archery, Modern Pentathlon and Tennis.

Because of the number of movies premiered in nearby Westwood and Hollywood, the UCLA Band has been invited periodically to be part of the festivities.

The movie was directed by David Silverman, who was a sousaphone player with the UCLA Bruin Marching Band in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

National and regional broadcasts of UCLA athletic contests have included audio and video of the band in the stands or performing on the field.

[26] featuring the UCLA Bruin Marching Band on the Super Deluxe version of the song "Pressure".

The Bruin Marching Band made a brief appearance in Maren Morris' video for her hit song "Girl".

Hunt (Co-Director of Bands) 1947-51 – Patton McNaughton (Co-Director of Bands, Director of Bands 1949-51) 1951-52 – Robert Fleury (Director of Bands) 1952-72 – Clarence Sawhill (Director of Bands) 1955-81 – Kelly James (Assistant Director of Bands, Co-Director of Bands 1975-81) 1972-74 – Robert Winslow (Director of Bands, Conductor of the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band) 1981-82 – Gerald Anderson (Acting Director of the Bruin Marching Band) 1982-2020 – Gordon Henderson (Director of the Bruin Marching Band 1982-2019, Director of Bands 2011-2020) 2019-2022 - Kevin McKeown 2023-present - Ken Fisher Chronological List of Drum Majors 1929 – John Vaughn, Lewis Lowe 1933 – Clark Lewis 1934 – Clark Lewis 1935 – Clark Lewis 1936 – Clark Lewis 1937 – Ed Peatross 1938 – Ed Peatross, Jimmy Casebier 1939 – Jimmy Casebier 1941 – Howard McKaughn 1942 – Howard McKaughn 1946 – Gordon Wheatley 1947 – Gordon Wheatley 1948 – Gordon Wheatley 1949 – Gil Robbins 1950 – Gil Robbins 1951 – Richard Jones 1952 – Richard Jones 1953 – Richard Jones 1954 – Richard Jones, Donald McCampbell 1955 – Donald McCampbell 1956 – Andrew Feeley 1957 – Andrew Feeley 1958 – Kim Strutt 1959 – Kim Strutt 1960 – Kim Strutt 1961 – Sam Stella 1962 – Sam Stella 1963 – Sam Stella 1964 – Sam Stella 1965 – Sam Stella 1966 – William Knopf 1967 – William Knopf 1968 – William Knopf 1969 – William Knopf 1970 – William Knopf 1971 – Bland Batey 1972 – David Carver 1973 – David Carver 1974 – Doug Jaso 1975 – Kim Burdick 1976 – Kim Burdick 1977 – Kim Burdick 1978 – Kim Burdick 1979 – Bob Lazzarini 1980 – Bob Lazzarini 1981 – Randy Hage 1982 – Frank Silva (except USC Game due to injury), Michael O’Gara (USC Game only) 1983 – Michael O’Gara 1984 – Michael O’Gara, Tom Taylor, Marty Eschoff 1985 – Michael O’Gara 1986 – Michael O’Gara 1987 – Tim Close, Mel Freitas 1988 – Tim Close, Mel Freitas 1989 – Tim Close, Mel Freitas 1990 – Tim Close, Mel Freitas, Andrew Faye 1991 – Tim Close, Jeff Shimamoto 1992 – Jeff Trapp, Jeff Shimamoto 1993 – Jeff Trapp, Jeff Shimamoto 1994 – Jeff Trapp, Bryan Kreft, Kevin McKeown 1995 – Adrian Rivas, Bryan Kreft, Kevin McKeown 1996 – Michael Jewett, Adrian Rivas, Kevin McKeown 1997 – Michael Jewett, Adrian Rivas, Kevin McKeown 1998 – Michael Jewett, Jason Lewis, Pat Lynch 1999 – John Leitch, Jason Lewis, Pat Lynch 2000 – John Leitch, RJ Victoria, Pat Lynch 2001 – John Leitch, Paul Miller, Jay Dillon 2002 – Michael Froeberg, Laura Montoya, Jay Dillon 2003 – Michael Froeberg, Laura Montoya 2004 – Dan Thomson, Reesa Jones, Greg Bowser 2005 – Dan Thomson, Reesa Jones 2006 – Dan Thomson, Sean Garnreiter 2007 – Sean Garnreiter, Kent Heberer, Keith Kupper 2008 – Kent Heberer, Keith Kupper, David Cho, Andrew Ge 2009 – Kent Heberer, Keith Kupper, David Cho, Andrew Ge 2010 – David Cho, Jacob Ferrin, Justin Grant, Jessica Schlosser 2011 – Kim Bowen, Jacob Ferrin, Justin Grant, Jessica Schlosser 2012 – Emily Barton, Stephen Hufford 2013 – Emily Barton, Adam Fletcher, Charlie Hall, Matt Visk 2014 – Adam Fletcher, Charlie Hall, Matt Visk 2015 – Adam Fletcher, Mark Cunningham, Tony Rescigno, Christian Youngers 2016 – Mark Cunningham, Noah Ashman, Zach Freeman 2017 – Noah Ashman, Jacob Hambalek, Lily Krol 2018 – Emma Boone, James Eichenbaum, Matt Espinoza, Jacob Hambalek 2019 – Emma Boone, James Eichenbaum, Matt Espinoza