Chris Wolstenholme

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Chris Wolstenholme
Wolstenholme performing with Muse in 2018
Wolstenholme performing with Muse in 2018
Background information
Also known asChromes
Born
Christopher Tony Wolstenholme

(1978-12-02) 2 December 1978
Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instruments
  • Bass guitar
  • vocals
Years active1991–present
Member of
Spouses
    Kelly Wolstenholme
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2003, divorced)​
      Caris Ball
      ​
      (m. 2018)​

      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 many Muse songs. He wrote and sang lead vocals from two songs from Muse's sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012). In 2024, Wolstenholme launched a solo project, Chromes.

      Early life

      Chris Wolstenholme grew up in the English town of Rotherham before moving to Teignmouth, Devon, where he played drums for a post-punk band.[1] His father worked in the coal industry.[2] Wolstenholme met the guitarist Matt Bellamy and the drummer Dominic Howard while their bands rehearsed in the same building. Bellamy and Howard convinced Wolstenholme to take up bass and start a band with them, initially called Rocket Baby Dolls. The band was renamed Muse in 1994.[1]

      Musicianship

      Wolstenholme's basslines are a central motif of many Muse songs.[3] Rather than playing root notes, his basslines often perform a lead role, such as in the 2003 song "Hysteria".[3] He combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers.[3] He typically splits his guitar signal into multiple Marshall amplifiers — one playing a clean tone, another distorted with a Big Muff pedal, and a third distorted with an Animato pedal — and blends the results.[3] Like Bellamy, Wolstenholme uses touch-screen controllers built into his guitars to control synthesisers and effects including Kaoss Pads and Digitech Whammy pedals.[4]

      Wolstenholme mostly plays with his fingers, rather than a plectrum, as he prefers the sound for most songs.[3] According to the producer Rich Costey, who has worked with Muse on several occasions, "His finger strength is staggering ... He hits the strings really goddamn hard. It sounds that way because that's the way he plays."[5] On their 2009 song "Undisclosed Desires", he played slap bass.[3] Wolstenholme wrote and sang lead vocals on "Liquid State" and "Save Me" on Muse's sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012).[6]

      Other work

      Wolstenholme played bass on Moriaty's 2015 single "Bones".[7] He also contributed to Rick Parfitt's posthumous solo album Over and Out (2018).[8][9] In August 2024, Wolstenholme announced a solo project, Chromes, and released the singles "Imaginary World" and "The Good Life".[10][11]

      Personal life

      Wolstenholme married his girlfriend, Kelly, on 23 December 2003.[12] They have six children.[13] In April 2010, the family moved to Foxrock, County Dublin, Ireland.[14] After Wolstenholme and Kelly divorced, Wolstenholme married Caris Ball on 1 December 2018, the day before his 40th birthday.[15] The couple have a daughter[16] and a son, as well as Ball's two previous daughters, giving Wolstenholme ten children in total.[17] Wolstenholme is a supporter of Rotherham United, his hometown football team.[18][19] He was awarded an honorary doctorate of arts from the University of Plymouth in 2008.[20]

      Wolstenholme has struggled with alcoholism.[21] In a 2011 interview, he said he would drink so much he would vomit blood, but did not grasp the severity of his situation.[22] His bandmates did not notice his problem for several years, as his playing was unaffected; according to Bellamy, Wolstenholme would perform "brilliantly" and then disappear to his room, so "we wouldn't really know what was going on".[22] His bandmates broached the subject of his drinking several times without success.[23] They eventually gave him an ultimatum to stop drinking.[23]

      In 2008, Wolstenholme began having panic attacks triggered by his drinking.[13] He eventually realised that drinking would kill him, as it had his father.[6] His alcoholism did not affect his playing until the recording of Muse's fifth album, The Resistance (2009), at which point he went into rehab.[22] He wrote two songs about his experience, "Liquid State" and "Save Me", which appeared on Muse's sixth album, The 2nd Law (2012).[6] In 2012, Wolstenholme said: "I threw myself into music in a way I hadn't done for 10 years. It sounds corny but it was the only thing that made me feel peaceful."[13]

      References

      1. "Bass Players To Know: Chris Wolstenholme". No Treble. 24 June 2016.
      2. Fricke, David (October 2009). "Global superstars Muse explode in America". Rolling Stone (1089): 13, 18.
      3. Beller, Bryan (8 January 2020). "Too much is never enough: Muse's Chris Wolstenholme reinvents art-rock bass for the 21st century". Guitar World. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
      4. "Muse Gear Guide – Matt Bellamy's FX Pedals". Dolphin Music. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
      5. Touzeau, Jeff. "An Evening With Rich Costey". Electronic Musician. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
      6. Levine, Nick (26 July 2012). "Muse's Chris Wolstenholme on alcohol battle: 'I had to stop or die'". NME.
      7. Belton, Emily (27 January 2015). "Moriaty – Bones (Single Review) | Pure M Magazine". Pure M Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
      8. Nerssessian, Joe (2 March 2018). "Muse's Chris Wolstenholme in his own words: a personal essay about Rick Parfitt". Independent.ie. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
      9. "Status Quo – The Official Site – Rick Parfitt". www.statusquo.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
      10. Lavis-Quinlin, Jennifer (14 August 2024). "Review: Muse's Chris Wolstenholme debuts fantastic new project Chromes with 'The Good Life' & 'Imaginary World' double single". The AU Review. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
      11. Dunworth, Liberty (17 October 2024). "Muse's Chris Wolstenholme launches new band Chromes with two singles 'Imaginary World' and 'The Good Life'". NME. Retrieved 2 March 2025.
      12. Ava Joe Wolstenholme [@AvaWolstenholme] (23 December 2015). "Happy wedding anniversary @Missmunniepenny @CTWolstenholme #relationshipgoals" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 24 December 2015 – via Twitter.
      13. Lynskey, Dorian (29 September 2012). "Muse: 'We like pushing it as far as we can'". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
      14. Carroll, Rory; McGreevy, Ronan (11 July 2010). "Eminem to close Oxegen 2010". The Irish Times.
      15. Beaumont, Mark (10 November 2018). "Muse frontman Matt Bellamy interview: 'There's a time-lag with fans, where five years later they get it'". The Independent. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
      16. ctwolstenholme78 (23 March 2020). "Mabel Aurora Ball Wolstenholme 03.03.2020". Instagram. Retrieved 31 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
      17. ctwolstenholme78 (14 November 2021). "Duke Buddy Ball Wolstenholme joined the squad on 29/10/21 ! When 9 became…10 ❤️". Instagram. Retrieved 31 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
      18. "Chris Wolstenholme - A Millers 'MUSE'ings".
      19. "Chris Wolstenholme from Muse: Football interview". YouTube.
      20. "EXCLUSIVE: University honour for rock stars Muse". This Is Plymouth. 26 September 2008. Archived from the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
      21. "Newspaper Large Muse Feature from The Times – Muse Messageboard". Board.muse.mu. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
      22. McAlpine, Fraser. "Muse's Chris Wolstenholme: 'I was a secret alcoholic'". BBC America. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
      23. Crossan, Jamie (30 September 2012). "Muse's Dom Howard: 'We gave Chris Wolstenholme an ultimatum to quit drinking'". NME.