Muse life and biography

Muse are an English rock band formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy (lead vocals, lead guitar, piano, keyboards, keytar), Christopher Wolstenholme (bass, vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar, harmonica) and Dominic Howard (drums, percussion, synthesisers, sampling, harmtar).

The group's emotive sound and live dates drew critical acclaim and industry buzz, and after a trip to New York's CMJ festival, Muse signed a deal with Maverick Records. Their debut full-length album Showbiz was released toward the end of 1999. Two years later, Muse issued The Origin of Symmetry and had a major hit with Hyper Music. In 2002, fans were treated to the double-disc live set Hullabaloo. Their latest album Absolution is clearly the product of three mid twenties musicians at the height of their powers, determined to push their aesthetic all the way.

“Matt Bellamy has put together a collection of simple, poetic, transparent songs that re-engage with the old words and values; honour, courage and righteousness. It’s one long love letter to the Impossible Dream, and it WILL NOT SURRENDER. There’s been no record released yet this century with stakes so high. Musically, it could have been a disaster. But one man’s prog is another man’s progress, and every guitar here sounds like it’s from the future, every flourish and movement scored and orchestrated with the celestial vision. By indulging every pomp rock wet dream he’s ever had, Matt’s found that there’s no such thing as too much distortion, and that, when you care this much, chartbusting tunes really do fall from the sky…..On earth, Muse have made the UK Rock record of the year, but as it is in heaven, they’ve created a scripture; the defining document of a new religion no more complicated than Bellamy’s crystal clear lyrics.” (NME)

Bringing this holy vision onto the stage is second nature to these world-travellers. Live, Muse manage to seduce the unconverted, and reaffirm the fanatical devotion of their fans . “As balmy late evening sunshine gives way to darkness and cascades of rain, so Ash's breezy pop punk gives way to the tempestuous drama of Muse. It's the perfect setting for the Devon trio's heartstoppingly intense show. With Matt Bellamy plucking sounds from the air like a mad professor, Muse are truly incredible tonight, switching mood and pace to outragous effect. The rapturous applause that greets the killer conclusion of 'Muscle Museum' and 'Plug in Baby' is a heartening reminder that sometimes, just sometimes, originality and fearless, peerles ambition gets its just rewards.”

Absolution (produced by Rich Costey) was released in 2003 and debuted at number one in the UK.The album yielded their first top ten hit with "Time Is Running Out" and later three top-twenty hits: "Hysteria", "Sing for Absolution" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes". Muse subsequently undertook an international tour in support of the album. It continued for about a year and saw Muse visiting Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and France.

In 2006, Muse released their fourth album, Black Holes and Revelations, co-produced by Muse and Rich Costey. The album's title and themes are the result of the band's fascination with science fiction and political outrage.The album charted at No. 1 in the UK, much of Europe, and Australia. It was also a success in the United States, reaching number nine on the Billboard 200 album chart.

Possibly their biggest performances to date were two gigs at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium on 16 and 17 June 2007, which they opened using the piece "Montagues and Capulets". Both Wembley concerts were recorded for a DVD/CD titled HAARP, which was released on 17 March 2008 in the UK and 1 April 2008 in the US. It was named the 40th greatest live album of all time by NME. The touring continued across Europe in July 2007 before heading back to the US in August where they played to a sold out crowd at Madison Square Garden, New York.

The band's fifth studio album The Resistance was released in September 2009. It is the first Muse album to have been produced by the band itself. The album was engineered by Adrian Bushby and mixed by Mark Stent. On its release, it topped the album charts in 19 countries, became the band's third number one album in the UK, and reached number 3 on the Billboard 200.

The Resistance Tour started with a Seaside Rendezvous in Teignmouth, Devon in September 2009 and included headlining Coachella Festival in April 2010. It also included two gigs at Wembley Stadium in September 2010. The band also supported U2 for their U2 360° Tour. In the "Breakfast with Muse Concert" KROQ-FM held, Muse was asked how long they would be on tour. They commented saying in a paraphrase, "We will probably be touring until the end of next year. We will be doing this U2 and European tour and ship off to Australia and Asia and return for an extensive US tour. It will actually be our longest US tour to date. Starting at about the end of February or March."

According to bassist Chris Wolstenholme, Muse are set to enter the studio to start recording the new album in September 2011. Wolstenholme told BBC Radio 1: "September and October, that's when we're going to get into the studio to start writing the new album." In an interview with Billboard on 18 October 2011, the band's manager Anthony Addis revealed that Muse have already begun recording their sixth album in London and that he expected it to be released by October 2012. Bellamy jokingly described the album as a "christian gangsta rap jazz odyssey, with some ambient rebellious dubstep and face melting metal flamenco cowboy psychedelia" on his Twitter account.

Current members:
-Matthew Bellamy – lead vocals, lead guitar, piano, keyboard
-Christopher Wolstenholme – bass guitar, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica
- Dominic Howard – drums, percussion, synthesisers, backing vocals

Studio albums:
-Showbiz (1999)
-Origin of Symmetry (2001)
-Absolution (2003)
-Black Holes and Revelations (2006)
-The Resistance (2009)
-Sixth Album (2012)

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