Win Butler

Win Butler
Win Butler performing live in 2011.
Background information
Birth name	Edwin Farnham Butler III
Born	(1980-04-14) April 14, 1980 Truckee, California
Origin	Houston, Texas USA
Genres	Indie rock, art rock, baroque pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, mandolin, guitar, violin, keyboards, piano, synthesizer, bass, harmonica
Years active	2000–present
Associated acts	Arcade Fire
Notable instruments
Fender Jaguar Fender Telecaster Custom Mosrite Martin

Edwin Farnham "Win" Butler III (born April 14, 1980) is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire. His wife Régine Chassagne and his brother William Butler are both members of the band.

Life and career

Butler was born in Carson, California and raised in The Woodlands, Texas, with a Mormon upbringing, Butler is the maternal grandson of jazz steel guitarist Alvino Rey, a pioneer bandleader whose career spanned eight decades. His maternal grandmother, Luise, was a member of The King Sisters, who starred in a weekly variety program on ABC called The King Family Show. His mother, Liza, plays harp and sings.

At the age of 15, Butler started attending the Phillips Exeter Academy preparatory school in New Hampshire, where he lived in Abbot Hall. There he played varsity basketball and club softball, and performed with several student bands. He also worked with the administration to establish "Winter Thaw," in which students got a long weekend's worth of rest in the middle of typically cold, grueling New England winters. After graduation he studied photography and creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, but left after a year.

Butler moved to Montreal in 2000 to attend McGill University, where he met his future wife, Régine Chassagne, whom he married in 2003. Butler has a degree in religious studies.

Butler participated in the 2005 UNICEF benefit project, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?", along with his wife Régine. He co-wrote the music for the Richard Kelly film The Box along with Chassagne.

On April 2, 2011 LCD Soundsystem played its final concert. Arcade Fire performed on "North American Scum". During James Murphy's stumbling introduction to this song, Butler shouted out "shut up and play the hits!" Murphy immediately responded, "ladies and gentlemen, for our live record entitled 'Shut Up and Play the Hits'" and Butler's cry later became the title of the well-received documentary of the concert.

In September 2011, Butler played in a charity basketball tournament in Toronto known as, "Rock The Court." Several other celebrities and athletes participated, such as Matt Bonner of the San Antonio Spurs, whom Butler defeated in a 3-point competition.

Chassagne gave birth to Butler's first child, a son, on April 21, 2013.

External links

• NY Times article mentioning Win Butler's slam poetry at Sarah Lawrence College.