Muse

Three schoolfriends from Teignmouth in Devon turned a tangle of teenage bands into Muse, a trio who have spent the years since 1994 pulling alternative rock towards the classical, the electronic and the apocalyptic. Matt Bellamy supplies falsetto, guitar and keyboards, Chris Wolstenholme bass and Dominic Howard drums. The early sound was aggressive yet melancholic; later records brought in strings, synthesisers and pop. The spark was a local battle of the bands, won in 1994 by a group then called Rocket Baby Dolls, who smashed their equipment, quit their jobs and renamed themselves.

Two EPs, in 1998 and 1999, and a Maverick Records deal preceded the debut album Showbiz (1999). Origin of Symmetry (2001) added church organ and Mellotron, plus a cover of "Feeling Good". Absolution (2003) put strings on "Butterflies and Hurricanes" and began a run of seven consecutive UK number-one albums. Black Holes and Revelations (2006), home to "Supermassive Black Hole", widened their international reach; The Resistance and The 2nd Law then made them stadium regulars. Drones (2015), a concept album about drone warfare, topped the US Billboard 200. Two Grammys, two Brits and a 2012 Ivor Novello Award sit on the shelf.