Will Champion
Will Champion was born in Southampton, England, United Kingdom on July 31st, 1978 and is the Drummer. At the age of 45, Will Champion biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, songs, and networth are available.
At 45 years old, Will Champion has this physical status:
Champion was the fourth and last member to join the band in 1998. He explained that Martin, Buckland and Berryman came to his house because a roommate had a drum kit and was a good drummer, but he did not turned up, "so I just said I would give it a go". They recorded the session and he was eventually invited to the ensemble in spite of basically not having prior experience. In 1999, he was temporarily sacked from the group by Martin over heated discussions regarding his abilities as a drummer: "Three days later, the rest of us were feeling miserable, [...] we asked him to come back. They made me have lots of vodka and cranberry juice in remembrance of what a nasty piece of work I was being". The incident became an inspiration for "Trouble", which was written as an apology to him.
In Coldplay, Champion is often regarded as the rationality of the band, with Martin saying "When I think of him, I think of something heavy and granite-like. Like the base of a statue. Without that, the thing topples". While answering questions from fans, other members added that he "does have a very sensible head on his shoulders and when it comes to making decisions he is really good at putting valid points across and keeping everyone focused. He frequently has the casting vote and his decision can sometimes override the consensus". They often praise his multi-instrumentalism as well, describing him as a "human jukebox". Although Buckland and Berryman have taken part in backing vocals, Champion remained the most prominent. During the Viva la Vida Tour, he performed an acoustic version of the song "Death Will Never Conquer", which was later included on LeftRightLeftRightLeft (2009). His lead vocals can also be heard on "The Goldrush", a B-side for "Life in Technicolor II". Meanwhile, his rendition of "In My Place" from the A Head Full of Dreams Tour was released on Live in Buenos Aires (2018).
Champion guested on a-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen's debut album, Past Perfect Future Tense (2004), along with Berryman. He also made a cameo appearance as one of the Red Wedding musicians on the "Rains of Castamere" episode from Game of Thrones, which aired on 2 June 2013. In the following year, he contributed to Brian Eno and Karl Hyde's collaborative album Someday World (2014) by playing electronic drums. In November 2017, he visited the University of Southampton to talk with music students about his experience in the industry, composing, studio recording, live performances and managing stardom. Along with Buckland, he assisted in Jodie Whittaker's "Yellow" cover recording for BBC's Children in Need album in October 2019. He is a supporter of DrumathonLIVE as well, the virtual charity event is focused on raising money for children's mental health through a 250-hour livestream, featuring numerous drummers from around the world.
Champion's first drum kit was a Yamaha 9000. Since A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002), however, he uses a custom maple set with a 22"x16" bass drum, 13"x9" rack tom, 16"x15" floor tom, various snare drums and Zildjian cymbals (20" K Heavy ride, brilliant finish; 18" A Custom Medium crash [x2] and 14" K Custom Dark hi-hats). The drumheads are Remo coated ambassadors and he plays with Pro-Mark's hickory wood 5A drum sticks. Champion also owns a Yamaha hardware, a Roc-N-Soc drum throne, two electronic drum pads and one electronic percussion pad. Noted for an energetic drumming style, he was not confident to play loud or heavy at first, which became part his performance: "That is my trademark – Wait, keep waiting" and "at the last moment possible come in and steal the limelight at the end".
When questioned on which Coldplay songs he thinks are his technical or "feel-wise" best, Champion commented being most proud of tracks where everything is boiled down to the essentials, citing "Viva la Vida" as an example: "It's just a kick drum, a bell and a little bit of timpani here and there, but it's so simple [...] We tried so many different things with that, four-beats, rock beats, everything – but nothing worked. It was a case of you've got to strip absolutely everything away to its very, very bare minimum. There are so many intricacies on the violins, the melodies and everything, I just felt it have to be simple with no frills, just support the song". He named Ginger Baker (Cream), John Bonham (Led Zeppelin) and Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) as some of his favourite drummers as well, receiving compliments from the latter in return.