William "Will" Champion was born at 31 July 1978, he is an English musician and the drummer of rock band Coldplay. William Champion was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England, and was brought up in Highfield, Southampton, where his father, Timothy Champion, was a professor of archaeology. As a youth, his musical influences included Tom Waits, Nick Cave and traditional Irish folk music. He grew up playing guitar, but also had experience on the piano, bass, and tin whistle. Before Will joined Coldplay, he performed in a band called Fat Hamster. He went to primary school at Portswood Primary School, his secondary school was Cantell Maths and Computing College and he went to college at Peter Symonds College. He attended the Cantell secondary school in Basset Southampton and The Royal Hospital School, Suffolk before studying anthropology at University College London, where he met his future bandmates -Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland- and formed Coldplay, despite having no experience on the drums. The multi-instrumentalist picked up the drums quickly and earned fulltime duties on the band. According to lead singer Chris Martin, "Will is like a human jukebox, he's more a guitarist than a drummer. Me and Will used to sit on the stairs at our halls of residence and he'd know more songs than anyone. You name it, he'd play it". He went to church at Highfield church, Highfield, Southampton. Champion was the last of the four band members to join the ensemble on 31 July 1997. He took up the position as drummer with no prior experience, but quickly adjusted to fill the role. In 1999, lead singer Chris Martin sacked Champion, but the band asked him to return soon after. In Coldplay, he is often regarded as the rationality of the group. They say of him "Will does have a very sensible head on his shoulder and when it comes to making band decisions he's really good at putting valid points across and keeping everyone focused. He frequently has the casting vote and his decision can sometimes override the consensus!" As Chris Martin has said in multiple interviews, "We [Coldplay] are all just working for Will Champion." During the Viva la Vida Tour Champion sang and performed an acoustic version of the song "Death Will Never Conquer". A version of the song was included on Coldplay's live album LeftRightLeftRightLeft. He has also performed lead vocals on a live version of "Til Kingdom Come" and the Life in Technicolor II b-side "The Goldrush". Champion is a fan of Southampton F.C. and he is a season ticket holder at the South Coast team. In Autumn 2004, Champion and Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman guested on a-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen's first solo album, Past Perfect Future Tense.
Will Champion Equipment :
Yamaha Silver Sparkle Drums:
- 24" Kick Drum
- 16" Floor Tom
- 12" Rack Tom
- Maple Absolute 14" Snare
- 2 x Brady 14" Snare
