30 Fascinating Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Muse

Muse, an English rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, was formed in the year 1994, and had their debut album release in 1999. The current line-up of the band include Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard. Here are 30 interesting facts about the band:

1. Initially, the band went by the names Gothic Plague, Fixed Penalty, Rocket Baby Dolls until they won a local competition among the bands and started taking their music seriously.
2. Their fifth studio album "The Resistance," was the first album produced by the band themslves, though it was suposed to be produced by Rick Rubin. The album topped charts in around 19 countries.
3. Bellamy was named as the 14th Greatest Rock ‘n’ roll Hero of all time, ahead of John Lennon and Bob Dylan, by NME.
4. A part of their fourth album "Black Holes and Revelations" was recorded at Super Bear Studios in France, the same place where Pink Floyd recorded part of "The Wall."
5. During the final recording of "Megalomania," from the "Origin of Symmetry," the band had to request permission to play one of the biggest church organs in Europe. The priest at St Mary the Virgin's Church, Bathwick demanded to check the song's lyrics, as the priest wanted to ensure that the Muse wasn't a devil worshipper.
6. Bellamy's trouser zipper was reportedly used as an instrument at the end of "Space Dementia," from the second studio album from "Origin of Symmetry."
7. The band played a gig at New York's Mercury Lounge on September 10, 2001, and left to Boston the same night. Had they staye overnight, they would have been in a hotel on Manhattan’s Lower East Side when the hijacked planes hit the World Trade Centre.
8. It is rumored that the name Muse was inspired by Bellamy's art teacher and went with it because it was short and looked good in print.
9. During his freetime from Muse, Wolstenholme plays drums in a local pub band in the Devon town of Teignmouth, where he lives with his Kelly and their three children Alfie, Frankie and Ava-Jo.
10. At Reading 2002, the band risked a £1,000-per-minute fine if their set over-ran, as they took to the stage several minutes late. They were late because Bellamy lost his ‘lucky’ belt with elephants on it, a gift from a fan which he liked to wear for the most important gigs.
11. Russian fans once shocked Bellamy with a painting of himself naked with a heart covering his privates and with a crow on one shoulder. the fans made up to him on his next visit by presenting him with a full-sized astronomer’s telescope.
12. Every member of the band is a keen poker player and the band is once known to have fleeced Robert Smith of "The Cure," for a hefty wad of cash.
13. Most of the guitars used by Bellamy is designed by Devon’s Hugh Manson, for the incorporation of revolutionary technical elements into the body of the instrument, such as touch pads and whammy pedals.
14. In the early 2005, Muse held a competition during their American tour, in which fans solving anagrams of new song titles on their setlists, were led by cryptic messages to a series of prizes. The prizes were actual bikes left in cities the band visited while touring.
15. During his trips to Japan, Bellamy used to have silk shirts specially tailored for him.
16. For the song "Screenager," Howard had gone to the extent to expand the standard rock drum kit with various other items of his own, including a balaphone and even animal bones and parts like llama toenails.
17. While recording the third album "Absolution," Bellamy was stressed to the level that he had recurring nightmared about being beaten on his feet and being hung upside down.
18. During the recording of the "Black Holes And Revelations" the group played jazz for fun and even considered becoming a jazz band. The same time, the also considered making "Black Holes And Revelations" a triple album - two discs of experimental electronica and rock, with the song-based album sandwiched in between.
19. Bellamy spent most of his twenties collecting various gadgets including MP3-playing watch and a jet-pack. However, he got rid of most it a few years back, when he lost his mobile and realised that life was better without it.
20. The band had initially planed to fly onto the stage in jet packs, during their show the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium, held in June 2007, but they fell foul of Health And Safety regulations. However, Muse became the first band to sell out the new Wembley.
21. During the "Origin of Symmetry" tour, for two years, the band had to spend over £150 per show on guitars which Bellamy smashed onstage. However, it was Bellamy who paid it on his own.
22. Howard has a penchant for dressing up behind the drumkit, and is known for having played gigs dressed as Spiderman and Gandalf.
23. During the 2007 show at Wembley Stadium, a remote controlled robot bought Bellamy's specially designed guitar onstage.
24. While recording "The Resistance," Wolstenholme had to check into rehab to deal with his alcoholism that threatened the band's future.
25. Since the first recording, Bellamy had made it a point that nobody other than the record's producer is allowed to stay in the studio while he is recording his vocal tracks. Till date, even his bandmates have never hearsd him sing without musical accompainment.
26. On the cover of "Absolution," the shaows of flying people are real, and the shot was taken by art director Storm Thorgerson, who also photographed the picture used as the cover for "Black Holes and Revelations." Thorgerson has since refused to reveal how the shot of flying people have been taken.
27. Bellamy appears in the music rhythm game "Guitar Hero 5," developed by Neversoft and published by Activision, as a playable avatar, for which he reportedly performed motion caption. Muse's music had also been used in ‘Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’ and ‘Guitar Hero: World Tour’.
28. The lead single "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)" for the film "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," was provided by Muse, reportedly a major inspiration for Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight’ series.
29. Bellamy usually smashes his guitar at the end of Stockholm Syndrome or during the outro of Uprising and holds the Guinness World Record for breaking guitars - 140 guitars at the Absolution tour 2004. Howard has been injured at three separate occasions of Bellamy's guitar smashing.
30. In the year 2008, Muse were awarded with an honorary doctorate from the University of Plymouth for their contributions to music.
31. Muse Net Worth: Muse has reportedly grossed over $76 million on 63 shows last year, and is ranked at #44 in the Forbes list of "Celebrity 100: The World's Highest Paid Entertainers." As for the net worth of the band members, Bellamy's estimated to be $12 million, while Wolstenholme's is $8 Million and Howard's is $7 million.