Will Champion

Infobox musical artist

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Name = Will Champion
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Background = solo_singer
Born = Birth date and age|1978|7|31|df=y
Southampton, England
Died =
Instrument = drums, vocals, Piano, Guitar
Genre = Alternative rock
Occupation = Drummer, Musician
Years_active =
Label = Parlophone, Capitol
Associated_acts = Coldplay
URL =
Notable_instruments =

William "Will" Champion (born 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 Bassett, Southampton and The Royal Hospital School, Holbrook, 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 28 April 2006. On 7 May 2008, Marianne gave birth to fraternal twins Juno and Rex.

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

Equipment

Cymbals (From drummer's left):
* Zildjian 14" A Custom Hi-hat
* Zildjian 18" A Custom Crash
* Zildjian 22" K Custom Ride
* Zildjian 19" A Custom Crash As seen on "Live from Austin City Limits":
* Zildjian 14" K Custom Hi-hat
* Zildjian 18" A Custom Crash
* Zildjian 22" K Custom Heavy Ride
* Zildjian 19" K Custom Dark Crash

Drums:
* Yamaha 24" Bass Drum
* Yamaha 16" Floor Tom
* Yamaha 12" Rack Tom
* Yamaha Maple Absolute 14" Snare
* 2 x Brady 14" Snare

References

* [http://www.pleasureunit.com/coldplay/band.php?category=will]
*Roach, Martin (2003). "Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy". Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9810-8.

External links

* [http://www.coldplay.com Official Coldplay site]
* [http://www.wikicoldplay.com Coldplay Wiki]