Will Champion

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Will Champion
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Will Champion

Will Champion (born William Champion, 31 July 1978) is the drummer of the band Coldplay.

Champion was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England where his father, Timothy Champion, is professor of archaeology at the University of Southampton. Having two teacher parents led him to be musically inclined. As a youth, his musical influences included Tom Waits and traditional Irish folk music. He grew up playing guitar, but also had experience on the piano, bass, and tin whistle. Before joining Coldplay, he performed in a band called Fat Hamster.

He attended the Cantell secondary school in Basset Southampton and The Royal Hospital School, Suffolk before studying anthropology at University College London, where he met his future bandmates and formed Coldplay, despite having no experience on the drums. The multi-instrumentalist picked up the drums quickly and earned fulltime duties on the band. According to lead singer Chris Martin, "Will is like a human jukebox, he's more a guitarist than a drummer. Me and Will used to sit on the stairs at our halls of residence and he'd know more songs than anyone. You name it, he'd play it."

In Autumn 2004, Champion and Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman guested on a-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen's first solo album, Past Perfect Future Tense.

Champion was the first Coldplay member to marry: He married Marianne Dark, a teacher, in 2003. Their first child, a girl called Ava, was born on April 14th, 2006.

Champion is a fan of Southampton F.C. and he is a season ticket holder at the South Coast team.


References

  • Roach, Martin (2003). Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9810-8.


Chris Martin | Guy Berryman | Jonny Buckland | Will Champion
Phil Harvey | Brian Eno | Ken Nelson
Discography
EPs: Safety EP | Brothers & Sisters EP | The Blue Room EP | Norwegian Live EP
Albums: Parachutes | A Rush of Blood to the Head | X&Y | Viva la Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Live albums: Live 2003
Compilations: The Singles 1999-2006
Unofficial collections: A Rush Of B-Sides To Your Head | Castles | After After Before
Singles: Ode to Deodorant | Brothers & Sisters | Shiver | Yellow | Trouble | Don't Panic | In My Place | The Scientist | Clocks | God Put a Smile upon Your Face | Speed of Sound | Fix You | Talk | The Hardest Part | What If | Violet Hill
Tours: A Rush Of Blood To The Head Tour | Twisted Logic Tour | Latin America Tour 2007 | Viva La Vida Tour
Other Stuff
Songs | Videography | Concert Reviews | Coldplay Chronology | Collaborations