Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Early life

Chris Wolstenholme grew up in the English town of

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

before moving to

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at the ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, where he played drums for a

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band. He met Matt Bellamy and

Dominic Howard Dominic James Howard (born 7 December 1977) is an English musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Muse. Early life Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with hi ...

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

in 1994. The members of Muse played in separate school bands during their stay at

Teignmouth Community College Teignmouth Community School is coeducational primary and secondary school located over two sites in Teignmouth in the English county of Devon. History Primary department The primary department of the school is located on Mill Lane in Teignmo ...

in the early 1990s. Guitarist Bellamy successfully auditioned for drummer Howard's band, Carnage Mayhem, becoming its singer and songwriter. They asked Wolstenholme, at that time the drummer for "Fixed Penalty", to join as bassist; he agreed and took up bass lessons.

Other work

Wolstenholme featured on bass for Moriaty's 2015 single "Bones". He also contributed to

Rick Parfitt Richard John Parfitt, (12 October 1948 24 December 2016) was an English musician, best known as a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist with rock band Status Quo. Parfitt began his career in the early 1960s, playing in pubs and holiday cam ...

's posthumous solo album '' Over and Out'', which was released in March 2018.

Musicianship

Wolstenholme's

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

s are a central motif of many Muse songs; the band combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven

fuzz bass Fuzz bass is a style of playing the electric bass or modifying its signal that produces a buzzy, distorted, overdriven sound, as the name implies. Overdriving a bass signal significantly changes the timbre, adds higher overtones (harmonics) ...

tones. Like Bellamy, Wolstenholme uses touch-screen controllers built into a few of his instruments to control synthesisers and effects including Kaoss Pads or Digitech Whammy pedals. Wolstenholme mostly plays fingerstyle. According to producer

Rich Costey Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

, 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." Wolstenholme wrote and sang lead vocals on two Muse songs, "Liquid State" and "Save Me", from their sixth album, ''

The 2nd Law ''The 2nd Law'' is the sixth studio album by English rock band Muse, first released on 28 September 2012 through Warner Bros. Records and the band's own Helium-3 imprint. Recording of the album took place in studios between London and Los Ange ...

'' (2012).

Personal life

Wolstenholme married his girlfriend, Kelly, on 23 December 2003. They have six children. In April 2010, Chris and Kelly moved to Foxrock,

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. 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. The couple have two children, a daughter and a son, as well as Ball's daughters Tabitha and Indiana, giving Wolstenholme ten children in total. Wolstenholme is a supporter of Rotherham United, his hometown football team. He holds an honorary doctorate of arts from the University of Plymouth. Wolstenholme has struggled with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

. In a 2011 interview, he said he would drink so much he would vomit blood, but did not grasp the severity of his situation. His bandmates had tried to broach the subject of his drinking several times without success. Wolstenholme eventually realised that drinking would kill him, as it had his father. 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." Wolstenholme's alcoholism did not affect his playing until the recording of Muse's fifth album '' The Resistance'' (2009), at which point he went into

rehab Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to: Health * Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished * Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...

. His experiences inspired the lyrics of "Liquid State" and "Save Me", from Muse's sixth album, ''

'' (2012).

References

External links

MUSE: Bassist Chris Wolstenholme
''Bass Musician Magazine'', 8 January 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolstenholme, Christopher 1978 births Living people Muse (band) members English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists 21st-century English musicians Progressive metal bass guitarists People from Rotherham People from Teignmouth Musicians from Devon 21st-century bass guitarists