22 Facts About Will Champion

William Champion was born on 31 July 1978 and is an English musician and songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of the rock band Coldplay.

Will Champion's energetic drumming style is based on prioritizing the essential elements of a song and he occasionally takes lead vocal duties during live performances.

Will Champion won seven Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards as part of Coldplay.

William Champion was born on 31 July 1978 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, being the second child of archaeology lecturers Timothy and Sara Champion.

Will Champion was raised in the Highfield suburb of the city close to the University of Southampton, where his parents worked.

Will Champion studied at Portswood Primary School while secondary education was held at Cantell School and Peter Symonds College.

Will Champion commented that music was "constantly on the stereo at home", which included listening to "anything from Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Nick Cave to traditional Irish folk", and performed in a group called Fat Hamster.

Will Champion's upbringing influenced him to start lessons on various instruments, including violin and piano from the age of eight, guitar at twelve and eventually bass plus tin whistle.

However, Will Champion did not always enjoyed the sessions: he could not read sheet music and performed songs mostly from memory instead.

Will Champion did work experience at Nuffield Theatre's box office and backstage when he was 14 years old.

Will Champion's education continued in University College London, where he attained a 2:1 degree in anthropology and met Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman, eventually forming Coldplay.

Will Champion was the fourth and last member to join the band in 1998.

Will Champion explained that Martin, Buckland and Berryman came to his house because a roommate had a drum kit and was a good drummer, but he had not turned up, "so I just said I would give it a go".

Will Champion guested on A-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen's debut album, Past Perfect Future Tense, along with Berryman.

Will Champion made a guest appearance as one of the Red Wedding musicians in the "Rains of Castamere" episode from Game of Thrones, which aired on 2 June 2013.

Will Champion is known to support food and wine magazine Noble Rot as well, becoming an investor of their namesake restaurants.

Will Champion owns a Yamaha hardware, a Roc-N-Soc drum throne, two electronic drum pads and one electronic percussion pad.

Will Champion named Ginger Baker, John Bonham and Dave Grohl as some of his favourite drummers as well, receiving compliments from the latter in return.

Will Champion is a lifelong fan of Southampton FC and has owned a seasonal ticket for many years.

Will Champion's funeral was scheduled for the same day Coldplay had to shoot the music video for "Yellow", which is why only Martin appeared on it.

When questioned about fame, Will Champion said he loves that after playing stadiums around the world, he can "disappear" back to his children and wife.

Will Champion's backing vocals were included in the title track of Everyday Life, being Champion's favourite piece of music from the album.