With just a month to go until this year’s Isle of Wight Festival, we take a look at the Sunday headliner – Muse.
The British rock trio from Teignmouth, Devon formed in 1994 and in an early incarnation as Rocket Baby Dolls, they had a goth-glam look. They were awarded a Prince’s Trust grant for gear and won a local battle of the bands contest. Subsequently, they quit their jobs and became Muse.
Under the leadership of Matt Bellamy (lead vocals, guitar, and keyboards) with able support from bass player Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard, Muse experienced initial chart success albeit minor in mid-1999. Muse has since secured 6 consecutive Number 1 albums from Absolution in 2003 through to Simulation Theory in 2018. Singles wise they have secured 30 hits of which 4 reached the top 10.
To date, the group have released 8 studio albums, 2 live collections and a compilation. Their next collection ‘Will of the People’ is due to be released on 26th August 2022.
When on tour Muse are joined on stage by Morgan Nicholls and have won a reputation for excellent live performances as a major stadium act. And as a little side note, did you know Matt Bellamy’s father, George, was a member of the Tornados who were Billy Fury’s backing band.
In 2008 Muse was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Plymouth for their contribution to music. Then, 4 years later, ‘Survival’ was the official song of the 2012 London Olympics – the same year that they were honoured with an Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement.
Further recognition came in the form of 2 Brits as Best Live Act in 2005 and 2007, 2 Grammy Awards, 5 MTV Europe Music Awards and 8 NME gongs.
As well as appearing at Seaclose, Muse have dates in Europe playing in Athens, Berlin, Florence, Madrid and Odessa. However, there is a question about Odessa now with the situation in Ukraine.
