Billy Cooper, also known as Billy The Trumpet, is a

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

supporter best known as the trumpet player for the

Barmy Army The Barmy Army is a group of British cricket fans known for supporting the English cricket team in both domestic and international matches. The Barmy Army was at first an informal group but was later turned into a company limited by guarantee, ...

Career

Cooper was educated at

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

. He has a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

honours degree and a performer's diploma from the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

, and plays as a guest trumpeter with several orchestras including the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and new music specialists

Klangforum Wien The Klangforum Wien is an Austrian chamber orchestra, based in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, which specialises in contemporary classical music. Founded by composer and conductor Beat Furrer in 1985, it is run on collective principles, having no o ...

, as well as in West End musicals.

Barmy Army

Cooper became involved with the Barmy Army in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

after following

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on a tour of the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and accidentally leaving his trumpet in a taxi in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. It was later discovered by someone in the Barmy Army who was also at the same game Cooper was going to. When Cooper asked for it to be returned, the person asked for him to prove it was his by playing it. Cooper then played '' The Great Escape'' theme tune, which led to some of the Barmy Army offering to pay his air fare if he would join them on England's tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. At matches Cooper usually plays theme tunes from popular television programmes such as the theme tunes from ''

Blackadder ''Blackadder'' is a series of four Period piece, period British sitcoms - ''The Black Adder'', ''Blackadder II'', ''Blackadder the Third'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' - plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC1 from 19 ...

'', ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

'', and ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''. Cooper also plays songs such as "

The Lion Sleeps Tonight "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song originally written and first recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda under the title "Mbube", through South African Gallo Record Company. In 1961, a version adapted into English by the doo-wop group the Tokens bec ...

" and "

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

". During the

2010–11 Ashes series The 2010–11 Ashes series (known as the Vodafone Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was the 66th series of Test cricket matches played to contest The Ashes. The series was played in Australia as part of the England cricket team's tour of the ...

, Cooper played ''

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

'' from the top of the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...

early in the morning of the last Test game of the series. During the last

delivery Delivery may refer to: Biology and medicine *Childbirth *Drug delivery *Gene delivery Business and law *Delivery (commerce), of goods, e.g.: **Pizza delivery ** Milk delivery ** Food delivery ** Online grocer *Deed ("delivery" in contract law), a ...

of the Ashes series, Cooper played

The Last Post The "Last Post" is a British and Commonwealth bugle call used at military funerals, and at ceremonies commemorating those who have died in war. Versions The "Last Post" is either an A or a B♭ bugle call, primarily within British infantr ...

. Cooper also plays tunes appropriate to a particular passage of play. For example, during England's 2013 tour of New Zealand, he would play a passage of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

whenever the New Zealand fast bowler

Neil Wagner Neil Wagner (born 13 March 1986) is a New Zealand former Test cricketer who played for New Zealand and Northern Districts cricket teams. He played for Northerns until 2007/08 and Otago between 2008 and 2018. Wagner was a member of the New Zea ...

began a spell of bowling. In January 2020, he announced his retirement from touring matches after the South Africa tour.

Controversies

Cooper's actions have sometimes led him into trouble. In 2006, Cooper was thrown out of

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

and arrested for playing the ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

theme tune Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

on his trumpet during the

2006–07 Ashes series The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia national cricket team, Australia and England cricket team, England for The Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that ...

due to playing a "banned musical instrument". However, in 2010,

Cricket Australia Cricket Australia (CA) is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Cricket'. It is incorporated as an Australian Public Company ...

gave Cooper special dispensation to be the only person allowed into the Gabba with a musical instrument. In 2009, he was banned from attending a Test match at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

along with Barmy Army leader Vic Flowers for potentially being a distraction to people watching matches according to the operators of Headingley. He was not permitted to enter

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

during the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2015 Ashes series The 2015 Ashes series (named Investec Ashes Series for sponsorship reasons) was a series of Test cricket matches played between England and Australia for The Ashes. The venues were Sophia Gardens (Cardiff), Lord's (London), Edgbaston (Birmingham), ...

due to a stadium ban on musical instruments.

References

External links

*
The Barmy Army's page on Cooper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Billy Cricket supporters Living people Year of birth missing (living people) English trumpeters British male trumpeters Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Place of birth missing (living people) Sports musicians 21st-century British trumpeters 21st-century British male musicians