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 Wale ...

band

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

Early life

Howard was born in

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

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with his family to

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14 ...

, a small town in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

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, songwriter and producer. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and lyricist for the English rock band Muse. He is recognised for his eccentric stage persona, wide tenor vocal ...

, 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. He combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones, a motif of ...

, 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.

Muse

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

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, 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 ...

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

Origin of Symmetry ''Origin of Symmetry'' is the second studio album by the 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 o ...

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

Absolution Absolution is a theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Priest#Christianity, Christian priests and experienced by Penance#Christianity, Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, alth ...

'' (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: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

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 the English rock band Muse, first released on 3 July 2006 through Warner Bros. Records and Muse's Helium-3 imprint. It was produced by Rich Costey over four months in New York Cit ...

'' (2006) incorporated

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

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

elements, influenced by 1980s groups such as

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

, 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 ...

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

The 2nd Law ''The 2nd Law'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Muse, first released on 28 September 2012 through Warner Bros. Records and the band's own Helium-3 imprint. Recording took place in studios between London and Los Angeles Cou ...

'' (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 warfare using military drones or military robots. The robots may be remote controlled or have varying levels of autonomy during their mission. Types of robots include unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weapon ...

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

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

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 sever ...

for ''The Resistance'' and ''Drones'', two Brit Awards, 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 al ...

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 o ...

. In 2012 the band received the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

for International Achievement from the

British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors The Ivors Academy (formerly known as British Academy of Songwriters Composers and Authors – BASCA) is one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe. The academy works to protect and support and also campaigns the int ...

. Muse have sold over 20 million albums worldwide. Howard is left-handed and drums on a left-handed drum kit. He also played drums in the supergroup Vicky Cryer, featuring Jason Hill.

Personal life

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

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. 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 singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. 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

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