Early and Personal Life
Chris Wolstenholme grew up in the English town of Rotherham before moving to Teignmouth, Devon. While living there, he played drums for a post-punk band, while Matthew Bellamy and Dominic Howard played in another. While the two bands rehearsed in the same building, Bellamy and Howard walked over to Wolstenholme and asked him if he would like to play bass in their band, Rocket Baby Dolls, later renamed Muse. Wolstenholme was eager to join their band but didn't know how to play bass. He picked one up quickly and taught himself.
In 2003, when the band sued Nestle, he was the main reason behind it, being against the company that had a dubious reputation when it came to the promotion of powdered milk to new mothers in the third world. At the time, he had had his third child.
Chris Wolstenholme married his long-time girlfriend Kelly in December 2003 and they have six children: Alfie (born 1999), Ava-Jo (born 2001), Frankie (born 2003), Ernie (born 2008), Buster (born 2010) and Teddi, born 2012. He is known to be very devoted to his family, phoning home twice a day when on tour. In late April 2010, the family moved to Foxrock, Dublin. He said their decision to move to Ireland was based on their need to be beside a major airport and a desire to avoid London, England. During the 2011 NME Awards, it was confirmed that he, along with his family, have moved to London, due to the band's wishes to live in the same city whilst creating the new album. Despite not living in his hometown since his childhood, he remains an avid supporter of Rotherham United F.C., his hometown football team.
The Times magazine published an article in the summer of 2010 in which Wolstenholme admitted he had been a "raging alcoholic" and openly spoke about the depths of his addiction. He went into rehab halfway during the recording of The Resistance. In an interview with the Q Magazine it was revealed that he would drink so much he would vomit blood, but that he could not grasp the seriousness of his situation. His bandmates had tried to broach the subject of his drinking several times without success. In the end, he had come to his own realization that unless he quit drinking, he would end up like his father who had died due to excessive drinking when Wolstenholme was only seventeen. Since then, he has not drunk alcohol and said that his relationship with his wife and bandmates has greatly improved. He also had a habit of smoking and would have a few cigarettes daily. In 2010 he switched to smoking out of a pipe. He has stated, via Twitter that he had quit smoking, using an electric cigarette but he had taken up smoking again. However, as of May 2011, Chris has quit smoking.
Wolstenholme holds an honorary doctorate of arts from the University of Plymouth.
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