Mark Vincent Collins (born 14 August 1965) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist of the British

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 The Charlatans.

Career

Collins attended school with future Oasis guitarist

Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs Paul Benjamin Arthurs (born 23 June 1965), better known as Bonehead, is an English musician. He is best known as the co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Oasis, playing with the band from its inception in 1991 until his departure in ...

. He began his music career in 1986 as guitarist with The Waltones,

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

band based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. After the recording of their second album in 1990, drummer Alex Fyans left the group and the band relaunched themselves as Candlestick Park. The band split up a year later. Collins joined The Charlatans in 1991 after Jon Baker's departure. "I just went down there thinking the Charlatans wanted a second guitarist. I turned up with my guitar at a rehearsal room in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

; there was no other guitarist there and they just said "Do you fancy joining the band?" I said "Oh. Go on then, why not?" It all happened really quickly." ~ ''Mark Collins'' Collins made his debut on a non-album single, "Me. In Time", and while the band was not satisfied with the release itself, he has remained with them ever since. In 2003, he produced the track "Same Sad Story" from Adam Masterson's debut album, which was released as a single later in November that year. Same year, Collins joined Starsailor, playing additional and lead guitar on their nationwide UK tour and the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. Th ...

later in 2005. Friend and fan of

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

, Collins shared guitar with him on several events such as the Hero2Hero gigs,

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was original ...

and Fleadh Festival in 2004.

Personal life

Mark Collins has four children: Ella (born 1998), Stanley (born 1999), Lois (born 2003), and Martha (born 2019).

References

External links

The Charlatans Official Website �
THE CHARLATANS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Mark 1965 births Living people Musicians from Manchester English rock guitarists English male guitarists English male songwriters The Charlatans (English band) members Britpop musicians