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Win Butler

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Win Butler
Win Butler performing live in 2014
Win Butler performing live in 2014
Background information
Birth nameEdwin Farnham Butler III
Born (1980-04-14) April 14, 1980 (age 44)
Truckee, California, U.S.
OriginThe Woodlands, Texas, U.S.
GenresIndie rock, art rock, baroque pop
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, keyboards, banjo
Years active2000–present

Edwin Farnham "Win" Butler III (born April 14, 1980) is an American lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter of the Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire. His wife Régine Chassagne and younger brother Will Butler are both members of the band.[2][3]

Life and career

Butler was born in Truckee, California and raised in The Woodlands, Texas, with a Mormon upbringing.[4][5][6] He lived in Buenos Aires before his brother Will was born.[7]

His maternal grandfather was jazz steel guitarist Alvino Rey, a pioneer bandleader whose career spanned eight decades.[8] 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 Rey, who also performed on the family TV show, plays jazz harp and sings. His father, Edwin Farnham Butler II, worked as a geologist for oil conglomerate Halliburton in Houston, Texas.[9] They currently live on Mount Desert Island, Maine.[10]

At the age of 15, Butler started attending the Phillips Exeter Academy preparatory school in New Hampshire, where he lived in Abbot Hall.[11] 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, Quebec, Canada in 2000 to attend McGill University, where he met his future wife, Régine Chassagne,[12] whom he married in 2003.[13] Butler graduated from McGill in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in religious studies.[14][15]

Butler participated in the 2005 UNICEF benefit project, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?," along with Chassagne. The two also collaborated on the music for the Richard Kelly film The Box.[16]

Butler performing with Arcade Fire in 2007 with resonator mandolin

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.[17] In September 2011, Butler played in a charity basketball tournament in Toronto, Ontario, Canada known as "Rock The Court." Several other celebrities and athletes participated, such as Matt Bonner of the San Antonio Spurs.[18]

Régine Chassagne gave birth to the couple's first child, a son, on April 21, 2013.[19]

On February 12, 2015, Win Butler participated in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and scored 8 points and had 12 rebounds.[20] He returned to the event a year later in his home country. In his second stint, Butler won the MVP award of the event.

In March 2015, Butler, along with wife and Arcade Fire band mate Régine Chassagne, attended the launch of music streaming service Tidal, and revealed themselves, along with other notable artists, as shareholders in the company.[21]

References

  1. ^ Yoshida, Emily. "Arcade Fire's Win Butler is DJing at SXSW under the name DJ Windows 98, and this is what that's like". The Verge. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  2. ^ Win Butler was selected as the 2016 NBA Celebrity All Star Game MVP held in Toronto MP3.com Bio on Win
  3. ^ Denver Post Article on Butler, 9/13/2007
  4. ^ Sean O'Hagan. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/nov/28/arcade-fire-interview-sean-ohagan. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ^ Sean O'Hagan (November 28, 2010). "Arcade Fire: 'We're not a band that's out to party until we die'". The Observer.
  6. ^ "Win Butler acknowledges his home: Arcade Fire tells true tales of Texas inspiration in The Woodlands – 2011-May-05 – CultureMap Houston". Houston.culturemap.com.
  7. ^ Arcade Fire – Lollapalooza Argentina 2014
  8. ^ Anne Miller; Smithsonian Magazine (December 3, 2010). "Alvino Rey's Musical Legacy". smithsonianmag.com.
  9. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/spontaneous-combustion-the-return-of-arcade-fire-2032996.html
  10. ^ "Arcade Fire’s maternal spark", Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME, 26 January 2014. Retrieved on 9 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Jamie Oliver Says No to Donkey Bollocks – Conrad Black Divests – The Arcade Fire's Exeter Detractors – Showgirls with Sock Puppets – Dave Eggers Ditches Brooklyn College". Nymag.com. October 3, 2005.
  12. ^ "Arcade Fire Deliver Indie Rock Scion Unto the World". Spin Magazine. April 26, 2013.
  13. ^ "Couples That Rock: Regine Chassagne and Win Butler". Rolling Stone. August 30, 2011.
  14. ^ "The Arcade Fire is red hot", McGill University Alumni Quarterly, Montreal, Winter 2008. Retrieved on 9 April 2015.
  15. ^ "WIN BUTLER, BA’04", McGill Alumni Live 365, Montreal, 4 August 2010. Retrieved on 9 April 2015.
  16. ^ Phillips, Amy (December 19, 2008). "Arcade Fire's Butler Talks Miroir Noir, The Box Score". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
  17. ^ Southern, Dylan; Lovelace, Will (2012). Shut Up and Play the Hits. UK: Pulse Films.
  18. ^ "Win Butler gets fired up for hoops charity game in Montreal – ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. September 23, 2011.
  19. ^ "Arcade Fire's Win Butler, Regine Chassagne Welcome Baby Boy". Rolling Stone. April 26, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  20. ^ Beauchemin, Molly. "Win Butler Wins NBA Celebrity All Star Game". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  21. ^ "Six awkward moments at Jay Z's Tidal relaunch". BBC. March 31, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
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