Dominic Howard

Dominic James "Dom" Howard (born 7 December 1977), is the drummer for the English rock band Muse.

Howard was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in England. When he was around 8 years old he moved with his family to Teignmouth, a small town in Devon. He began playing drums at about the age of 12, when he was inspired by a jazz band performing at school.

Howard's first band was named 'Carnage Mayhem', which he was in at school. Meanwhile, he befriended Matt Bellamy, who played guitar but didn't have a stable band. Not long after, Bellamy was faced with the chance of entering Howard's band. After two years of drop-outs after Bellamy suggested that they write their own songs, only Howard and Bellamy remained. Chris Wolstenholme, who played drums in "Fixed Penalty", then entered the scene and with a great "spirit of sacrifice" he began to play bass.

In the first months of 1994 Gothic Plague was born, followed by Rocket Baby Dolls and then finally Muse. From then on, things got more serious for Howard and the others. Howard is the oldest member of the band, followed by Bellamy, then Wolstenholme.

In 2004, Howard's father, William Howard, came to watch Muse's performance at Glastonbury 2004, a concert which Bellamy described as "the best gig of our lives" Just after their performance finished, William died from a heart attack. Through support from his family and fellow band members, Dominic recovered, and Muse managed to continue their tour.

The song Howard wants played at his funeral is "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen.
In a session where he and Bellamy answered questions from fans, Howard stated that the celebrity, alive or dead, he'd most like to meet is Jimi Hendrix.

On 26 September 2008, Howard, along with Bellamy and Wolstenholme, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Plymouth.

Drum kits

Howard is known to be an endorser of Tama Drums, and used Tama's now-discontinued Starclassic Mirage acrylic sets. However, he has used a set of orange and red Ludwig Vistalites in the USA cut of the Stockholm Syndrome music video, while a clear set of Vistalites is seen on one of the background images of Muse's official site. As of 2009, Dominic appears to be using DW Drums. His new kit is maple with VLT (Vertical Low Timbre) shells and reinforcement rings in a custom finish. All of his recent appearances in support of the new album "Resistance", Howard can be seen using Drum Workshop kits.