Dominic James Howard (born 7 December 1977) is an English musician who is the drummer and co-founder of the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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

Howard was born in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with his family 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 ...

, a small town in

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 ...

. He began playing drums at about the age of 12, when he was inspired by a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

band performing at school. Howard's first band was named ''Carnage Mayhem'', which he was in at school. Meanwhile, he befriended

Matt Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, musician, producer, and songwriter. He is primarily known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for English rock band Muse. He is recognised for his eccen ...

, who played guitar but did not have a stable band. Not long after, Bellamy was offered the chance to join Howard's band. After two years of drop-outs, Bellamy suggested that they write their own songs, and only Howard and Bellamy remained.

Chris Wolstenholme Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band Muse. Early life Chris Wolstenholme grew up in the English town of Rotherham before moving to Teignmouth, D ...

, who played drums in "Fixed Penalty", then entered the scene and with a great "spirit of sacrifice" he began to play bass. In the first months of 1994 ''Gothic Plague'' was born, followed by ''Rocket Baby Dolls'' and then finally Muse. Howard is left-handed and drums on a left-handed drum kit. He also played drums in Vicky Cryer with Jason Hill from Louis XIV.

Muse

Muse released their debut album, '' Showbiz'', in 1999, showcasing Bellamy's

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

and a melancholic alternative rock style. Their second album, ''

Origin of Symmetry ''Origin of Symmetry'' is the second studio album by English rock band Muse, released on 18 June 2001 through Taste Media. It was produced by John Leckie, who produced Muse's debut album '' Showbiz'' (1999), and David Bottrill. ''Origin of Symm ...

'' (2001), expanded their sound, incorporating wider instrumentation and romantic classical influences, and earned them a reputation for energetic live performances. ''

Absolution Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pr ...

'' (2003) saw further classical influence, with

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

on tracks such as "

Butterflies and Hurricanes "Butterflies and Hurricanes" is a song by English rock band Muse. It was released as the sixth and final single from their third studio album, ''Absolution'' (2003), on 20 September 2004. Unlike ''Absolution'', the single was released through ...

", and became the first of five consecutive UK number-one albums. ''

Black Holes and Revelations ''Black Holes and Revelations'' is the fourth studio album by English rock band Muse, first released on 3 July 2006 through Warner Bros. Records and Muse's Helium-3 imprint. It was recorded over four months with producer Rich Costey in New Y ...

'' (2006) incorporated

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and pop elements, influenced by 1980s groups such as

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

, displayed in singles such as "

Supermassive Black Hole A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun (). Black holes are a class of astronomical ob ...

". The album brought Muse wider international success. '' The Resistance'' (2009) and ''

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 An ...

'' (2012) explored themes of government oppression and civil uprising and cemented Muse as one of the world's major stadium acts. Their seventh album, '' Drones'' (2015), was a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

about

drone warfare Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakis ...

and returned to a harder rock sound. Muse have won numerous awards, including two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s, winning the Grammys for

Best Rock Album The Grammy Award for Best Rock Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the rock music genre. Honors in sev ...

for ''The Resistance'' and ''Drones'', two

Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, winning Best British Live Act twice, five

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

and eight

NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...

. In 2012 the band received the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

for International Achievement from the

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy exists to support, protect, and campaign for the interests ...

. Muse have sold over 20 million albums worldwide.

Personal life

In 2004, Howard's father, William Howard, died of a heart attack shortly after watching Muse's performance at

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

. In a session where he and Bellamy answered questions from fans, Howard stated that the celebrity, alive or dead, he'd most like to meet is

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. He once had a dog called Hendrix. On 26 September 2008, Howard, along with Bellamy and Wolstenholme, was awarded an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

of Arts from the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

References

External links

Dominic Howard fan siteDominic Howard on MuseWiki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Dominic 1977 births Living people Muse (band) members British male drummers English rock drummers 21st-century English musicians Musicians from Manchester Music in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport People from Stockport People from Teignmouth Musicians from Devon 21st-century drummers