Dave Rowntree

At 59 years old, Dave Rowntree has this physical status:

David Alexander De Horne Rowntree (born 8 May 1964) is an English singer, sociologist, advocate, and animator.

He is the drummer for the rock band Blur.

He is a councillor in Norfolk County Council, representing the Labour Party.

Early life

Rowntree was born in Colchester, Essex, to musical parents Susan, a violinist, and John, a sound engineer at the BBC. Sara is his older sister. During the week, he attended the Gilberd School in Colchester and the Landermere Music School in Thorpe-le-Soken, where he studied percussion. In the Colchester Silver Band, a brass band, he performed percussion with his father. He completed a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Computer Science at Thames Polytechnic and began his career as a computer programmer for Colchester Borough Council after leaving school.

Personal life

Rowntree married Paola, a Canadian woman, in 1994. In the early 2000s, they divorced. In 2007, he was dating Michelle de Vries.

Rowntree was a heavy drinker in the early 1990s. He stopped drinking alcohol in 1993 after a particularly boozy night with members of Siouxsie and the Banshees. However, many years later, he relapsed on cocaine. Rowntree was seen mocking and physically intimidating Nardwuar throughout the interview, during a public appearance in 2003. Rowntree has apologised multiple times for his behavior, saying that "the day after a cocaine binge, I'd often fly into a ferocious rage" and that this was the case on that day. He had stopped using opioids by 2007 and was "as active in the recovery community." He has a clip of the interview on his phone to see if he's ever worried about relapsed drug use.

He is now a trustee on the board of Release, a charity that advocates for evidence-based drug policies based on principles of public health.

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Music career

Rowntree used to be in bands with Graham Coxon as they were growing up in Colchester. He knew Coxon's father, who taught jazz at Landermere. Rowntree was introduced by Coxon to Damon Albarn, who was forming a band around Goldsmith's University of London in 1989. Rowntree was asked to join and left his position to London and went to London. With Alex James' return and two name changes, the band decided on Blur and were signed to Food Records, which was released via EMI. Food Records and Blur were included in EMI later that year and were absorbed into EMI.

Rowntree's lifelong fascination with space led him to participate in the Beagle 2 Mars mission in 1998. The European Space Agency (ESA) had announced its first planetary mission, the Mars Express, in the previous year. Prof. Colin Pillinger of the Open University suggested that it have a lander dedicated to looking for life and conducting scientific research.

After going on a behind the scenes tour at Houston's NASA space center, Rowntree and fellow band member Alex James (musician) became involved. They were shocked by how many of the people they encountered were British and wondered why they had to go to America to do space study and work in the industry. When they returned to the United Kingdom, they discovered Beagle 2 while looking for UK space projects and promising to fund it. The total cost of the lander project was estimated at £25 million and did not have widespread coverage at the time, and did not have widespread coverage.

Rowntree and James joined the Beagle 2 team in 1998 to help with PR. They helped spread the word about the initiative on Facebook. Damien Hirst, a veteran of the arts, and financial backers all showed their love. The UK government and ESA have agreed to help finance the initiative after years of lobbying. In June 2003, the Mars Express mission, which was carrying Beagle 2, was launched. It was announced by Blur that the lander's arrival on Mars was announced, as well as one of Hirst's signature spot paintings for the calibration of Beagle 2's cameras. The Beagle 2 lost contact with the Earth but the UK Space Agency detected them on Mars' surface ten years later, in images taken by a NASA orbiter.

“We get the first music on Mars in the same way that Damien Hirst created the first artwork on Mars,” Rowntree says.

Rowntree debuted on Sunday nights as a host for Global Radio's alternative rock radio station XFM (now Radio X).

On his first show, he performed songs by John Lennon, Elbow, and The Polyphonic Spree, as well as conversations with his studio buddy, "researcher George" on 'nerdy' topics such as Mars.

Rowntree appeared in the video for Slaves' recently released single, "Chokehold," as a drummer auditioning for a spot in the band on July 31, 2018.

"Researcher George" is the host of Rowntree's podcast show on Spotify. The first series is six episodes long, beginning with an episode of Dave's 'go to' music for turbulent times that were first introduced in November 2022.

Dave Rowntree's first solo album, which will be released in 2022, will be released in November 2021. "I used to spend hours on my radio as a kid, dreaming of returning to all the destinations whose exotic stations I heard," Rowntree said in a tweet. "I've attempted to make an album like this," the musician, stopping each song to tell a tale about a turning point in my life, then repeating the dial and moving on."

On July 5, 2022, his first solo album, "London Bridge," was released.

Legal and political career

When Blur went on hiatus in 2006, Rowntree trained to become a solicitor. He worked with Kingsley Napley, a law firm based in Farringdon, central London, in the criminal division.

In July 2017, Greenwich University was named Honorary Doctor of Laws, as Honorary Doctor of Laws.

Rowntree has been a vocal activist and promoter of the Labour Party since becoming a member of London's West End branch, and he has been the head of the West End branch. He unsuccessfully contested Marylebone High Street's safe Conservative seat on Westminster City Council in April 2007. He fought the Labour-controlled seat of Church Street in July 2008, the country's first Labour majority since its inception in the 1960s, but a change from Labour to the Conservatives of 14.1% meant that he was again defeated, as the Conservatives gained the seat.

Mark Field, a Conservative MP, was chosen by the Cities of London and Westminster Constituency Labour Party in February 2008 to stand against Conservative MP Mark Field at the 2010 General Election in February 2008. At that time, he was disqualified. Rowntree was nominated as Labour candidate for Norwich South in 2011. Clive Lewis, a writer and former soldier who went on to be elected as MP, lost to him.

He was elected county councillor for Norwich's university division in the Norfolk County Council election on May 4, 2017. He resigned from the 2021 election. In a tweet on his website, he said, "It has been a pleasure and a privilege to represent the residents of University Ward," and "I've made friendships here that will last a lifetime." I'm hoping that when this is all over, I will get back to it in some way."

Rowntree is a vocal opponent of the death penalty and patron of Amicus, a non-profit group that provides legal representation to people in the United States on the death row.

Rowntree was one of 200 public figures in August 2014 who had signed a letter opposing Scottish independence in The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to the referendum in September.

Rowntree has lobbied against the prosecution of internet music filesharers. He is a member of the Open Rights Group, a UK-based digital rights NGO. When asked on Blur's website how he felt about their single "Out of Time" being leaked on the internet prior to its unveiling, he replied, "I'd rather it go."

Rowntree is the founding chairman of the Featured Artists Alliance. In May 2016, he arranged a "Star Boot Sale" to raise funds for mobile health clinics to assist Syrian refugees and host Jordanians in need. Hot Chip, Mel C., KT Tunstall, and Badly Drawn Boy were among the stalls on display, as auctioneer for limited lots such as Kylie Minogue's handbag.

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