Will Champion

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Will Champion
[[Image:‎\|220px\|Will Champion at the grammys]] Will Champion at the grammys
Background information
Born	July 31, 1978 (age 28) Southampton, England
Genre(s)	Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Drummer, Musician
Instrument(s)	Drums, Vocals
Label(s)	Parlophone, Capitol
Associated acts	Coldplay

William Champion (born 31 July 1978) is the drummer of the band Coldplay.

Champion was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England where his father, Timothy Champion, is professor of archaeology at the University of Southampton. Having two teacher parents led him to be musically inclined. As a youth, his musical influences included Tom Waits and traditional Irish folk music. He grew up playing guitar, but also had experience on the piano, bass, and tin whistle. Before joining Coldplay, he performed in a band called Fat Hamster.

Champion studied anthropology at University College London, where he met his future bandmates and formed Coldplay, despite having no experience on the drums. The multi-instrumentalist picked up the drums quickly and earned fulltime duties on the band. According to lead singer Chris Martin, "Will is like a human jukebox, he's more a guitarist than a drummer. Me and Will used to sit on the stairs at our halls of residence and he'd know more songs than anyone. You name it, he'd play it."

In Autumn 2004, Champion and Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman guested on a-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen's first solo album, Past Perfect Future Tense.

Will was the first Coldplay member to marry: He married Marianne Dark, a teacher, in 2003. Their first child, a girl called Ava, was born on April 14th, 2006.