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Chris Wolstenholme
Wolstenholme performing with Muse in 2018
Wolstenholme performing with Muse in 2018
Background information
Birth nameChristopher Tony Wolstenholme
Born (1978-12-02) 2 December 1978 (age 45)
Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instruments
  • Bass guitar
  • vocals
Years active1991–present
Member of
Spouses
Kelly Wolstenholme
​
​
(m. 2003, divorced)​
Caris Ball
​
(m. 2018)​
Websitemuse.mu

Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band Muse. He combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones, a motif of many Muse songs. He sang lead on two songs he wrote from Muse's sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012), and in 2024 launched a solo project, Chromes.

Early life

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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 the guitarist Matt Bellamy and the drummer 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.[1]

The members of Muse played in separate school bands during their stay at Teignmouth Community College in the early 1990s. Bellamy successfully auditioned for Howard's band, Carnage Mayhem, becoming the singer and songwriter. They asked Wolstenholme, at that time the drummer for the band Fixed Penalty, to join as the bassist; he agreed and took up bass lessons.[2][3]

Musicianship

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Wolstenholme's basslines are a central motif of many Muse songs.[4] Rather than simply playing root notes, Wolstenholme's basslines often perform a lead role, such as in the 2003 song "Hysteria".[5] He combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones. Like Bellamy, Wolstenholme uses touch-screen controllers built into his instruments to control synthesisers and effects including Kaoss Pads and Digitech Whammy pedals.[6]

Wolstenholme mostly plays with his fingers, rather than a plectrum, as he prefers the sound for most songs.[5] According to the producer Rich Costey, who has worked with Muse on several occasions, "His finger strength is staggering ... He hits the strings really goddamn hard. It sounds that way because that's the way he plays."[7] Wolstenholme wrote and sang lead vocals on two Muse songs, "Liquid State" and "Save Me", from their sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012).[8]

Wolstenholme played bass on Moriaty's 2015 single "Bones".[9] He also contributed to Rick Parfitt's posthumous solo album Over and Out (2018).[10][11] In August 2024, Wolstenholme announced a solo project, Chromes, and released the singles "Imaginary World" and "The Good Life".[12]

Personal life

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Wolstenholme married his girlfriend, Kelly, on 23 December 2003.[13] They have six children.[14] In April 2010, the family moved to Foxrock, County Dublin, Ireland.[15] After Wolstenholme and Kelly divorced, Wolstenholme married Caris Ball on 1 December 2018, the day before his 40th birthday.[16] The couple have a daughter[17] and a son, as well as Ball's two previous daughters, giving Wolstenholme ten children in total.[18] Wolstenholme is a supporter of Rotherham United, his hometown football team.[19][20] He holds an honorary doctorate of arts from the University of Plymouth.[21]

Wolstenholme has struggled with alcoholism.[22] In a 2011 interview, he said he would drink so much he would vomit blood, but did not grasp the severity of his situation.[23] 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."[23] His bandmates broached the subject of his drinking several times without success.[24]

During 2008, Wolstenholme began having panic attacks triggered by his drinking.[14] He eventually realised that drinking would kill him, as it had his father.[8] His alcoholism did not affect his playing until the recording of Muse's fifth album, The Resistance (2009), at which point he went into rehab.[23] He wrote two songs about his experience, "Liquid State" and "Save Me", on Muse's sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012).[8] In 2012, Wolstenholme said: "I threw myself into music in a way I hadn't done for 10 years. It sounds corny but it was the only thing that made me feel peaceful."[14]

References

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  1. ^ "Bass Players To Know: Chris Wolstenholme". No Treble. 24 June 2016.
  2. ^ Buckley, Peter (17 November 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-105-4.
  3. ^ International who's who in popular music, Volume 4 p.37. Routledge, 2002
  4. ^ BassPlayer.com, Electric & Acoustic Bass Gear, Lessons, News, Video, Tabs and Chords -. "Too Much Is Never Enough: Muse's Chris Wolstenholme Reinvents Art-Rock Bass For The 21st Century". Retrieved 19 February 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Beller, Bryan (8 January 2020). "Too much is never enough: Muse's Chris Wolstenholme reinvents art-rock bass for the 21st century". Guitar World. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Muse Gear Guide – Matt Bellamy's FX Pedals". Dolphin Music. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  7. ^ Touzeau, Jeff. "An Evening With Rich Costey". Electronic Musician. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Levine, Nick (26 July 2012). "Muse's Chris Wolstenholme on alcohol battle: 'I had to stop or die'". NME.
  9. ^ Belton, Emily (27 January 2015). "Moriaty – Bones (Single Review) | Pure M Magazine". Pure M Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  10. ^ Nerssessian, Joe (2 March 2018). "Muse's Chris Wolstenholme in his own words: a personal essay about Rick Parfitt". Independent.ie. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  11. ^ "Status Quo – The Official Site – Rick Parfitt". www.statusquo.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  12. ^ Lavis-Quinlin, Jennifer (14 August 2024). "Review: Muse's Chris Wolstenholme debuts fantastic new project Chromes with 'The Good Life' & 'Imaginary World' double single". The AU Review. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  13. ^ Ava Joe Wolstenholme [@AvaWolstenholme] (23 December 2015). "Happy wedding anniversary @Missmunniepenny @CTWolstenholme #relationshipgoals" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 24 December 2015 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ a b c Lynskey, Dorian (29 September 2012). "Muse: 'We like pushing it as far as we can'". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  15. ^ Carroll, Rory; McGreevy, Ronan (11 July 2010). "Eminem to close Oxegen 2010". The Irish Times.
  16. ^ Beaumont, Mark (10 November 2018). "Muse frontman Matt Bellamy interview: 'There's a time-lag with fans, where five years later they get it'". The Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  17. ^ ctwolstenholme78 (23 March 2020). "Mabel Aurora Ball Wolstenholme 03.03.2020". Instagram. Retrieved 31 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ ctwolstenholme78 (14 November 2021). "Duke Buddy Ball Wolstenholme joined the squad on 29/10/21 ! When 9 became…10 ❤️". Instagram. Retrieved 31 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Chris Wolstenholme - A Millers 'MUSE'ings".
  20. ^ "Chris Wolstenholme from Muse: Football interview". YouTube.
  21. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: University honour for rock stars Muse". This Is Plymouth. 26 September 2008. Archived from the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  22. ^ "Newspaper Large Muse Feature from The Times – Muse Messageboard". Board.muse.mu. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  23. ^ a b c McAlpine, Fraser. "Muse's Chris Wolstenholme: 'I was a secret alcoholic'". BBC America. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  24. ^ "Muse's Dom Howard: 'We gave Chris Wolstenholme an ultimatum to quit drinking'". NME. 30 September 2012.
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