Mark Vincent Collins (born 14 August 1965 in

Barton-upon-Irwell Barton upon Irwell (also known as Barton-on-Irwell or Barton) is a suburb of the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 12,462 in 2014. History Barton Old Hall, a brick-built house degraded to a farmhouse, was the se ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist of the British

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band The Charlatans. Married in summer 2022 to holly O’Connor, Irish woman from Tipperary.

Career

Collins attended school with future Oasis guitarist

Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs Paul Benjamin Arthurs (born 23 June 1965), known professionally as Bonehead, is an English musician. He is best known as the rhythm guitarist, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the rock band Oasis. Early life Paul Benjamin Arthurs was ...

. He began his music career in 1986 as guitarist with The Waltones,

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. After the recording of their second album in 1990, drummer Alex Fyans left the group and the band relaunched themselves as Candlestick Park. The band split up a year later. Collins joined The Charlatans in 1991 after Jon Baker's departure. "I just went down there thinking the Charlatans wanted a second guitarist. I turned up with my guitar at a rehearsal room in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

; there was no other guitarist there and they just said "Do you fancy joining the band?" I said "Oh. Go on then, why not?" It all happened really quickly." ~ ''Mark Collins'' Collins made his debut on a non-album single, "Me. In Time", and while the band was not satisfied with the release itself, he has remained with them ever since. In 2003, he produced the track "Same Sad Story" from Adam Masterson's debut album, which was released as a single later in November that year. Same year, Collins joined Starsailor, playing additional and lead guitar on their nationwide UK tour and the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

later in 2005. Friend and fan of

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a nu ...

, Collins shared guitar with him on several events such as the Hero2Hero gigs,

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

and Fleadh Festival in 2004.

Personal life

Mark Collins has three children: Ella (born 1998), Stanley (born 1999) and Lois (born 2003).

References

External links

The Charlatans Official Website �
THE CHARLATANS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Mark 1965 births Living people Musicians from Manchester English rock guitarists English male guitarists English songwriters The Charlatans (English band) members Britpop musicians