Chris Wolstenholme

Chris Wolstenholme grew up in the English town of Rotherham before moving to Teignmouth, Devon, where he played drums for a post-punk band. He met Matt Bellamy and Dominic Howard from another band while both bands rehearsed in the same building. Bellamy and Howard convinced Wolstenholme to take up bass and start a new band with them, initially called Rocket Baby Dolls. The band was renamed Muse in 1994.[2]

The members of Muse played in separate school bands during their stay at Teignmouth Community College in the early 1990s. Guitarist Matt Bellamy successfully auditioned for drummer Dominic Howard's band, Carnage Mayhem, becoming its singer and songwriter. They asked Wolstenholme, at that time the drummer for another band, to join as bassist; he agreed and took up bass lessons.[3][4]

Wolstenholme featured on bass for Moriaty's 2015 single "Bones".[5] He contributed to Rick Parfitt's posthumous solo album Over and Out, which was due to be released in March 2018.[6][7]

Wolstenholme's basslines are a central motif of many Muse songs; the band combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones.[8] Both Bellamy and Wolstenholme use touch-screen controllers, often built into their instruments, to control synthesisers and effects including a Korg Kaoss pad or Digitech Whammy pedal.[9]

Wolstenholme mostly plays fingerstyle. According to producer Rich Costey, who has worked with Muse on several occasions, "His finger strength is staggering ... He hits the strings really goddam hard. It sounds that way because that's the way he plays."[10]

Wolstenholme wrote and sang lead vocals on two Muse songs, "Liquid State" and "Save Me", from their sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012).[11]

Wolstenholme married his girlfriend, Kelly, on 23 December 2003.[12] They have six children.[13] In April 2010, Chris and Kelly moved to Foxrock, County Dublin, Ireland.[14] In 2012, they moved to London while Muse recorded.

After Wolstenholme and Kelly divorced, Wolstenholme married Caris Ball on 1 December 2018, the day before his 40th birthday.[15] The couple have one child together, a daughter named Mabel Aurora Ball Wolstenholme, born in March 2020.

Wolstenholme is a supporter of Rotherham United, his hometown football team. He holds an honorary doctorate of arts from the University of Plymouth.[16]

Wolstenholme has struggled with alcoholism.[17] In a 2011 interview, he said he would drink so much he would vomit blood, but did not grasp the severity of his situation.[18] His bandmates had tried to broach the subject of his drinking several times without success.[19] Wolstenholme eventually realised that drinking would kill him, as it had his father.[20] His bandmates did not notice his problem for several years; according to Bellamy, "He's such a good musician that his motor skills or something just aren't affected. So he would come in and play brilliantly and then we wouldn't see him for a bit. We'd have a great gig and he'd go off to his room so we wouldn't really know what was going on."[18] Wolstenholme's alcoholism did not affect his playing until the recording of Muse's fifth album The Resistance (2009),[21] at which point he went into rehab.[18] His experiences inspired the lyrics of "Liquid State" and "Save Me", from Muse's sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012).[11]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Wolstenholme.

• MUSE: Bassist Chris Wolstenholme. Bass Musician Magazine, 8 January 2009