Christopher John Dyke Acland (7 September 1966 – 17 October 1996) was an English drummer and songwriter. He was the drummer of the London-based

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band Lush.

Early life

Acland was born at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary in

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, the youngest of three sons of paper manufacturer Oliver Geoffrey Dyke Acland, of Barnsdale, Burneside,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, who had served as a second lieutenant in the

Border Regiment The Border Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot and the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot. After service in ...

, and Judith Veronica Willans. He was the great-grandson of Sir Francis Dyke Acland, 14th Baronet. He studied at

North London Polytechnic The University of North London (UNL) was a university in London, England, formed from the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) in 1992 when that institution was granted university status. PNL, in turn, had been formed by the amalgamation of the No ...

, where he met his future Lush bandmates Meriel Barham and

Miki Berenyi Miki Eleonora Berenyi (born 18 March 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist best known as a member of the alternative rock band Lush and currently a member of Piroshka and the Miki Berenyi Trio. Biography Early life Beren ...

, briefly dating the latter.

Career

He played in a number of bands, including The Infection, Les Turds, A Touch of Hysteria and Panic, before founding Lush in 1988 with Steve Rippon,

Emma Anderson Emma Victoria Jane Anderson (born 10 June 1967) is an English musician. She is a songwriter, and was guitarist and singer in the shoegazing/Britpop band Lush. Early life Born in Wimbledon, London, the adopted daughter of a former army office ...

, Meriel Barham and Miki Berenyi. After personnel changes gave way to a stable lineup, Lush released their debut mini-album, ''

Scar A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrosis, fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other Organ (anatomy), organs, and biological tissue, t ...

'', and developed a following as a live act. They would go on to release three albums and several singles and EPs and achieve critical success.

Personal life and death

Acland was a keen

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

fan and a supporter of

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

He and members of

Moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

and

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

formed the group The Lillies and recorded a humorous

flexi-disc The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a Gramophone record, phonograph record made of a thin, flexible Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral Phonograph pickup, stylus groove, and is ...

entitled "And

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country ...

Will Be Very Disappointed About That" following the team's victory over

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

rivals

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the 1991 FA Cup semi-finals. On 17 October 1996, Lush had completed their tour and music festival appearances. Two days after Anderson announced a desire to quit the group, Acland was found dead as a result of

suicide by hanging Suicide by hanging is the intentional killing of oneself (suicide) via suspension from an anchor-point such as an overhead beam or hook, by a rope or cord or by jumping from a height with a noose around the neck. Hanging is often considered to ...

in his parents' garden in Burneside, Cumbria. Devastated by the news, Acland's bandmates subsequently disbanded after a period of mourning.Erlewine, Stephen Thoma
"Lush: Biography"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved 9 May 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acland, Chris 1966 births 1996 deaths 20th-century English drummers 20th-century English male musicians

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

Alumni of the University of North London English rock drummers Entertainers from Lancaster, Lancashire Male suicides Musicians from Lancashire Suicides by hanging in England Lush (band) members 1996 suicides