Matthew Bellamy

Matthew Bellamy
Matt Bellamy performing in California in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Matthew James Bellamy
Born	9 June 1978 (1978-06-09) (age 33) Cambridge, England
Genres	Alternative rock, new prog, space rock, progressive rock, symphonic rock, progressive metal, classical
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, synth guitar, piano, organ, mandolin, harmonium, keytar, mellotron, CS1
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Warner Bros., Mushroom, East West, Helium 3, Taste
Associated acts	Muse
Website	muse.mu
Notable instruments
Various guitars custom made by Hugh Manson

Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, pianist, and main songwriter of the alternative rock band Muse.

Early life

Bellamy's father, George, was rhythm guitarist in the 1960s pop group The Tornados, who were the first British band to have a United States number one song, with "Telstar".^[1] "Knights of Cydonia", a single from Muse's fourth album Black Holes and Revelations, is often cited as a tribute to that song, with its space rock sound and accompanying video depicting a cowboy's quest through a human landscape. Bellamy's mother, Marilyn, was born in Belfast, and moved to England in the 1970s. On her first day in England she met George, who was at the time working as a taxi driver in London. They later moved to Cambridge, where Matthew's older brother Paul was born, followed a couple of years later by Matthew himself. Bellamy started playing the piano at age 6 and guitar when he was 14.

In the mid-1980s, the family moved to Teignmouth, Devon. After the divorce of Bellamy's parents, he moved in with his grandmother, who pushed him towards learning to play the guitar at the age of fourteen.

Muse

Main article: Muse

Bellamy performing at Lollapalooza, 2007

Muse formed in Teignmouth, Devon in 1994 under the name of Rocket Baby Dolls. Still using the name Rocket Baby Dolls, they won the school's "Battle of the Bands" which led them to take the band seriously and so they decided to change their name to a more "professional" one; Muse. The band consisted and still consists of Matthew Bellamy, Christopher Wolstenholme (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Dominic Howard (drums and percussion). Muse met at Teignmouth Community College where Bellamy had been in a number of bands previously including Carnage Mayhem and Gothic Plague with drummer Dominic Howard. When members of Gothic Plague left because of other interests, Bellamy and Howard asked Wolstenholme to join. Muse however struggled to establish themselves during their early years, but have since gone on to enjoy worldwide success. Muse blend alternative, hard rock, progressive rock, classical music and electronica and are well known for their energetic and visually dazzling live performances.^[2] On 16–17 June 2007 Muse became the first band to sell out the newly built Wembley Stadium in London.^[3] Muse have released five studio albums, Showbiz (1999), Origin of Symmetry (2001), Absolution (2003), Black Holes and Revelations (2006) and The Resistance (2009). Muse have also released one live album, HAARP (2008) and two compilation albums. The first, Random 1-8 was only released in Japan and is a collection of B-sides from the Showbiz period. The second compilation Hullabaloo (2002) consisted of two discs and was designed to accompany the Hullabaloo DVD. The first disc contains a collection of B-sides recorded between March 1999 and October 2001. The second disc features 11 live songs recorded on 28–29 October 2001 at 'le Zenith' in Paris. Bellamy also makes an appearance as a playable character in Guitar Hero 5, which features the song "Plug In Baby", from Origin of Symmetry.^[4]

Rankings in critics' lists and opinion polls

Bellamy performing live at the Virgin Festival in Toronto using the Manson guitar; Bomber Manson.

Bellamy was ranked #19 on Gigwise's list of The 50 Greatest Guitarists Ever.^[5] Total Guitar readers voted Bellamy #29 on a list of the Top 100 Guitarists of All Time. Bellamy's riff from "Plug In Baby" was #13 in Total Guitar's poll of the Top 100 Riffs of All Time.^[6]

In April 2005, Kerrang! magazine ranked him #28 in their "50 Sexiest People In Rock" poll. Cosmopolitan also chose him as the sexiest rocker of 2003 and 2004. NME Magazine voted him the 14th Greatest Rock 'n' roll Hero of all time, ahead of John Lennon and Bob Dylan. Bellamy also won the Sexiest Male Award at the 2007 NME Awards,^[7] He won again in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Bellamy, however, declared himself "too short to be sexy" (he is 5' 7"), and said the award should have gone to Dom Howard, Muse's drummer.

On 26 September 2008, the University of Plymouth awarded the members of Muse an honourary doctorate degree in arts for their work in the field of music.^[8]

In the January 2010 edition of Total Guitar, Bellamy was named "Guitarist of the Decade" and was proclaimed to be "the Hendrix of his generation".^[9] In the Guinness Book of World Records 2010, Bellamy is credited as holding the world record for most guitars smashed on a tour. His record, 140, was set during the Absolution Tour. In April 2010, Bellamy was named the eighth best front man of all time by the readers of Q.^[10] In December 2010, readers of MusicRadar voted Bellamy the 9th Greatest Lead Singer of all time.^[11]

Musical equipment

Bellamy uses custom guitars designed by himself and Hugh Manson made in Exeter, Devon. He currently has a number of Manson guitars, as well as instruments by other manufacturers including a Fender 'Aloha' Stratocaster, a Gibson Les Paul DC Lite, a Gibson SG, Jackson Randy Rhoads (custom, only used once live and then thrown into the crowd. Its current whereabouts is unknown),^{[citation needed]} a Parker Fly, a Peavey EVH Wolfgang, a Jay Turser JT-res Resonator in the video for Plug in Baby and finally a Yamaha Pacifica. Bellamy's famous Manson shape has been compared to a Yamaha Pacifica, a Fender Telecaster, a Schecter and a Godin Triumph. Bellamy stated that he loved the classic guitar that Jimi Hendrix used.

Custom Hugh Manson instruments

The first and most famous is his silver Manson (named Delorean). Bellamy came up with the basic concept for this guitar and Hugh Manson helped him realize it. It has a built-in Z.Vex Fuzz Factory which gives Bellamy his distinctive sound and the ability to manipulate the pedals oscillation sounds without bending down. In addition, it has an MXR Phase 90 phaser, a Roland midi pickup (which is now no longer used) and uses Bare Knuckle and Kent Armstrong pickups. All of his other Mansons follow this same basic design (apart from Bellamy's 7-string which was not originally built for him but for a local jazz guitarist) with some just having different pickups and finishes, as with his mirrored Manson and the rejected "Rust Relic". Bellamy's black Manson has a MIDI strip that controls a DigiTech Whammy IV, when it is connected, a Z.Vex Wah Probe and a number of other built in effects. Manson guitars have also made a guitar for Bellamy called the "Keytarcaster", it is a guitar with strings but no pickups and a two octave keyboard built into the body of the guitar. It is used live during "Undisclosed Desires".

For the 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations, he bought a new guitar, the "Black Kaoss Manson". The guitar features two Bare Knuckle Humbuckers, a Fernandes Sustainer System on the neck and an X/Y MIDI Controller pad which connects to a Korg Kaoss Pad. He also bought the M1D1 (which he later destroyed), which is similar to the Black Kaoss Manson but has a Bare Knuckle Nail Bomb humbucker in the bridge position and a Fernandes Sustainer System (FSK-101 model, which is the humbucker version of the latter one) on the neck. He is also known to use an Ibanez Destroyer on stage (Hullabaloo). Bellamy uses Diezel amp heads, along with Marshall Mode Four cabinets, Soldano Cabinets and Line 6 digital effects. In September 2009, Bellamy has mentioned the extensive use of Dickinson amplifiers on their album The Resistance.^[12] Most of Bellamy's rack effects are made with Line 6 modules. On 14 April 2009, Manson Guitars announced on their website that they had brought out a line of Matthew Bellamy signature guitars, based on the Seattle, Glitterati and Delorean models. They all have the option of MIDI touch pads. The DeLorean model has the option of and inbuilt Fuzz Factory and MXR Phase 90.

Political views

Many of his songs display revolutionary views as well as a dislike of political corruption. "Assassin" and "Uprising" are two notable songs with obvious revolutionary sentiments. In an interview with Q Magazine, Bellamy stated that he is a libertarian.^[13] In 2006 Bellamy said that he believed the 9/11 attacks were an "inside job".^[14] However, in 2009 he told Rolling Stone that he did not believe this: "There is loads of stuff on the Internet suggesting 9/11 was an inside job. But that is not my belief.”^[15]

On 17 September 2009 Bellamy discussed being politically influenced by reading "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins. He explains the book helped inspire the song "Uprising" and expressed his views that he feels lobbyists have undue influence on politicians as well as the political system. He states that "when people become powerful they often have a disregard for public opinion."^[16]

Other appearances

Bellamy also co-wrote the end credits for the 2009 film The International. He wrote the song "Soaked", which appears on Adam Lambert's début album, For Your Entertainment. Bellamy appears as a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero 5, along with the song "Plug In Baby".

Personal life

Bellamy began dating actress Kate Hudson in spring 2010.^[17] It was announced in January 2011 that she was pregnant with their child.^[18] On 27 April 2011 Hudson announced that she and Bellamy had become engaged the prior week.^[19] The couple's son named Bingham 'Bing' Hawn Bellamy^[20] was born on 9 July 2011.^[21]

References

1. ^ Revelation on stage| Music | This is London
2. ^ "Muse play supermassive free show". NME News. NME.COM. 2006-06-26. http://www.nme.com/news/streets/23467. Retrieved 2008-01-27. 
3. ^ Dan Martin (2007-06-16). "Muse play Wembley Stadium mega gig". NME (NME) 
4. ^ MuseLive UK Exclusive: Bellamy Features in GH5
5. ^ http://www.gigwise.com/photos/40852/32/The-50-Greatest-Guitarists-Ever
6. ^ Top 20 Guitar Riffs Of All Time
7. ^ Kate Rocks NME Awards – Sky Showbiz
8. ^ "University honour for rock stars Muse". The Herald. 2008-09-26. http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/EXCLUSIVE-University-honour-rock-stars-Muse/article-356162-detail/article.html. Retrieved 2009-06-08. 
9. ^ http://www.muselive.com/index.php?m=single&id=5779
10. ^ "Q 286 – Featuring The 100 Greatest Frontmen". http://covers.q4music.com/Item.aspx?pageNo=6151&year=2010. 
11. ^ The 30 Greatest Lead Singers of All Time Music Radar Retrieved December 21, 2010
12. ^ Muse messageboard Retrieved 2010-11-21
13. ^ Matt Bellamy MUSE Interview in Q Magazine ‘Artists Of The Century’ Edition Retrieved 2010-11-21
14. ^ "CMU Daily - on the inside". College Music Update. 13 October 2006. http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/daily/061013.html. 
15. ^ MUSE Matt Bellamy Rolling Stone Interview October 15th, 2009 issue
16. ^ Interview with Matthew Bellamy 17.09.2009 Nimble.ie
17. ^ "Bellamy Confirms Hudson Romance Rumours 3 July 2010". Contactmusic.com. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/bellamy-confirms-hudson-romance-rumours_1151246. Retrieved 2010-07-12. 
18. ^ "Actress Kate Hudson pregnant with second child by British Rocker 12 January 2011". NationalPost.com. http://arts.nationalpost.com/2011/01/12/actress-kate-hudson-pregnant-with-second-child-by-british-rocker/. Retrieved 2011-01-15. 
19. ^ "Kate Hudson Is Engaged". People.com. 27 Apr 2011. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20460812,00.html. 
20. ^ "Muse's Matt Bellamy and Kate Hudson name newborn son Bingham". NME.COM. 14 July 2011. http://www.nme.com/news/muse/58030. Retrieved 14 July 2011. 
21. ^ "Kate Hudson, Matthew Bellamy Welcome a Son". People. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.

External links

• Media related to Matt Bellamy at Wikimedia Commons

Persondata
Name	Bellamy, Matthew
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	9 June 1978
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death