Matt Bellamy: Difference between revisions
m Undid revision 197327781 by 24.210.112.50 (talk) |
No edit summary |
||
Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
| Genre = [[Alternative rock]]<br>[[Progressive rock]]<br> [[Art Rock]] |
| Genre = [[Alternative rock]]<br>[[Progressive rock]]<br> [[Art Rock]] |
||
| Occupation = [[Musician]] |
| Occupation = [[Musician]] |
||
| Years_active = |
| Years_active = 1994-Present |
||
| Labels = |
| Labels = |
||
| Associated_acts = [[Muse (band)|Muse]] |
| Associated_acts = [[Muse (band)|Muse]] |
Revision as of 17:20, 11 March 2008
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
No issues specified. Please specify issues, or remove this template. |
Matt Bellamy |
---|
Matthew James Bellamy (born June 9, 1978 in Cambridge, England).[1] is the guitarist, vocalist, and pianist of the alternative/progressive rock group Muse, known for his falsetto voice along with his guitar and piano playing ability.
Biography
Bellamy was born in Cambridge, but spent most of his life in Devon, England. While attending school in Devon, Bellamy began to show an interest in music, and during his time at school he played the clarinet.[2] Bellamy's father, George, was the rhythm guitarist in the 1960s English rock group The Tornados, who were the first English band to have a U.S. number one, with "Telstar". Bellamy's mother, Marilyn, was born in Belfast, and moved to England in the 1970s. On her first day in England she met George Bellamy, who was at that time working as a taxi driver in London. They moved to Cambridge, where Matthew's older brother Paul was born, followed a couple of years later by Matthew himself. In the mid-1980s they moved to Teignmouth, Devon where Matthew was educated at Teignmouth Community College. He also attended Exeter College before Muse was signed.
Achievements
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/MUSE_047edt.jpg/220px-MUSE_047edt.jpg)
Total Guitar ranks Bellamy the 29th greatest guitarist. In 2004, Muse won "Best Album" for Absolution at the Kerrang! Awards.
Bellamy's riff from "Plug In Baby" was 8th in Total Guitar's poll of the Top 100 Riffs. This riff was also mentioned among the best-ever riffs in Q magazine's Rock and Pop Miscellany. As well as this, the riff for "Stockholm Syndrome" was voted the greatest riff ever by Australian radio station Triple J's Top 100 Riffs of all time, above Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and other iconic riffs. "Plug In Baby" made the top 20.
In March 2007, Total Guitar published "The 100 Greatest Riffs", which included three Muse songs; "Supermassive Black Hole" at #93, "Knights of Cydonia" at #21 and "Plug In Baby" at #8.
In April 2005, Kerrang! magazine ranked him #28 in their "50 Sexiest People In Rock" poll, as well as their in-house number one guitarist. Cosmopolitan also chose him as the sexiest rocker of 2003 and 2004. NME Magazine voted him the 14th Greatest Rock'n'roll Hero of all time, beating Lennon, Dylan and many musical greats. Bellamy also won the Sexiest Male Award at the 2007 NME Awards, beating the likes of Carl Barât and Pete Doherty to the top spot.
In 2006, the Muse album Black Holes and Revelations was voted 'Album of the Year' by Planet Rock magazine. In the same year, Muse won "Best British Band" at the Kerrang! Awards.
September 2007's issue of Q Magazine announced Matt Bellamy as a Guitar Hero. On October 1, 2007, Matthew and Muse won 2 EMA Awards in Munich for their live performance and best group in the UK and Ireland. Also in October 2007 they came top of the MTV2 top 100 British videos, with Plug in Baby.
Musical equipment
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/MattBellamyToronto2004.jpg/220px-MattBellamyToronto2004.jpg)
Bellamy uses Hugh Manson custom guitars made in Exeter, Devon. He currently has a number of Manson guitars, as well as instruments by other manufacturers including a Fender 'Aloha' Stratocaster, a Gibson Les Paul DC Lite, a Gibson SG, Jackson Randy Rhoads (custom), a Parker 'Fly', a Peavey EVH Wolfgang and finally a Yamaha Pacifica. Bellamy's famous Manson shape has been compared to a Yamaha Pacifica, a Fender Telecaster, a Schecter and a Godin Triumph.
The first and most famous is his silver Manson. Bellamy came up with the basic concept for this guitar and Hugh Manson helped him realize it. It has a built-in Z.Vex Fuzz Factory which gives Bellamy his distinctive sound and the ability to use controlled feedback. In addition, it has an MXR Phase 90 phaser, a Roland midi pickup and uses Seymour Duncan and Kent Armstrong pickups. All of his other Mansons follow this same basic design (apart from Bellamy's 7 string which was not originally built for him) with some just having different pickups and finishes, as with his mirrored Manson, and some taking the idea even further. Matt's black Manson has a MIDI strip that controls a Digitech Whammy IV, when it is connected, a Z.Vex Wah Probe and a number of other built in effects. For the 2006 album, Black Holes and Revelations, he bought a new guitar, the "Black Kaoss Manson". The guitar features two P-90s, a Fernandes Sustainer System on the neck and a Kaoss Pad. He also bought the M1D1, which is similar to the Black Kaoss Manson but has a Bare Knuckle Nail Bomb humbucker in the bridge position and a Fernandes Sustainer System (FSK-101 model, which is the humbucker version of the latter one) on the neck. He is also known to use an Ibanez Destroyer on stage (Hullabaloo). Bellamy uses Diezel amp heads, along with Marshall Mode Four cabinets ("We use Marshall because when we jump on them they still work, and they sound good... real good!"), Soldano Cabinets and Line 6 digital effects. Most of Bellamy's rack effects are made with Line 6 modules; his studio rack set-up also includes a Nord Modular.
Religion
Bellamy has in the past stated that he is an atheist: "Being an atheist means you have to realise that when you die, that really is it. You've got to make the most of what you've got here and spread as much influence as you can. I believe that you only live through the influence that you spread, whether that means having a kid or making music."
However, more recently in an interview with a Rock Music channel in France (2006), Bellamy stated, "I believe in the God of the universe, definitely." In addition, he revealed in a 2007 video inverview that, "I don't believe in heaven or hell, I don't really believe in that version".
In a session where he and Dom answered questions from fans, Bellamy stated that the celebrity, alive or dead, he'd most like to meet is Jesus Christ. "I'd like to meet Jesus just because I'd be interested to know how he did it all. You know what I mean? You know, making fish out of bushes and stuff, walking on water. I'd like to meet someone who can do that. I think that'd be certainly one of the most interesting people to meet I'd say."