Will Champion

Best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of Coldplay, Will Champion actually had no prior experience as a drummer when he first picked up his sticks when the band formed. He had been playing the violin and piano since he was 8, and the guitar since he was 12, but it was Drums that chose him. He explains:

Coldplay and drumming arrived simultaneously for me. […] [Chris, Guy, and Buckland] came to my house, because I lived with a guy with a drum kit. He was a good drummer, but he didn’t turn up – he was at the pub or something – so I just said I’d give it a go. They recorded it, and it kind of went from there. I played on one song on that EP, and in the beginning of the next year they said, ’Do you want to be in the band?’ I said, ’Absolutely.’ I was desperate to be in a band. I would have played kazoo.

Good thing he answered that doorbell, because that was opportunity knocking! Since then, he has gone on to earn a reported $75 million.