Win Butler

Win Butler
Win Butler performing live in 2017
Background information
Birth name Edwin Farnham Butler III
Also known as DJ Windows 98[1]
Born (1980-04-14) April 14, 1980
Truckee, California, U.S.
Origin The Woodlands, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • multi-instrumentalist
Instruments
Years active 2000–present
Associated acts Arcade Fire

Edwin Farnham Butler III (born April 14, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the co-founders of Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire. His wife Régine Chassagne and younger brother Will Butler are all members of the band.[2][3]

Early life

Butler was born in Truckee, California, and raised in The Woodlands, Texas, with a Mormon upbringing.[4][5][6] He lived in Buenos Aires before his brother Will was born.[7]

Butler's maternal grandfather was jazz steel guitarist Alvino Rey, a pioneer bandleader whose career spanned eight decades.[8] His maternal grandmother, Luise, was a member of The King Sisters, who starred in a weekly variety program on ABC called The King Family Show. His mother, Liza Rey, who also performed on the family TV show, plays jazz harp and sings. His father, Edwin Farnham Butler II, worked as a geologist for oil conglomerate Halliburton in Houston, Texas.[9] They currently live on Mount Desert Island, Maine.[10]

At the age of 15, Butler started attending the Phillips Exeter Academy preparatory school in New Hampshire, where he lived in Abbot Hall.[11] There, he played varsity basketball and club softball, and performed with several student bands. He also worked with the administration to establish "Winter Thaw", in which students got a long weekend's worth of rest in the middle of typically cold, grueling New England winters. After graduation, he studied photography and creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College, but left after a year.

Career

Butler moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2000 to attend McGill University, where he met his future wife, Régine Chassagne,[12] whom he married in 2003.[13] Butler graduated from McGill in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in religious studies.[14][15]

Butler participated in the 2005 UNICEF benefit project, "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?," along with Chassagne. The two also collaborated on the music for the Richard Kelly film The Box.[16]

Butler performing with Arcade Fire in 2007 with resonator mandolin

On April 2, 2011, LCD Soundsystem played its last concert before its disbandment. Arcade Fire performed with them during the song "North American Scum." During James Murphy's stumbling introduction to the song, Butler shouted out "shut up and play the hits!" Murphy immediately responded, "ladies and gentlemen, for our live record entitled 'Shut Up and Play the Hits'" and Butler's cry later became the title of the well-received documentary of the concert.[17] In September 2011, Butler played in a charity basketball tournament in Toronto, Ontario, Canada known as "Rock The Court." Several other celebrities and athletes participated, such as Matt Bonner of the San Antonio Spurs.[18]

Régine Chassagne gave birth to the couple's first child, a son, on April 21, 2013.[19]

On February 12, 2015, Butler participated in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and scored 8 points and had 12 rebounds.[20] He returned to the event a year later in his home country. In his second stint, Butler won the MVP award of the event.

In March 2015, Butler and Chassagne attended the launch of music streaming service Tidal, and revealed themselves, along with other notable artists, as shareholders in the company.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Yoshida, Emily. "Arcade Fire's Win Butler is DJing at SXSW under the name DJ Windows 98, and this is what that's like". The Verge. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Win Butler was selected as the 2016 NBA Celebrity All Star Game MVP held in Toronto MP3.com Bio on Win
  3. ↑ "Win Butler stays calm as Arcade Fire ignites – The Denver Post".
  4. ↑ Sean O'Hagan. "Arcade Fire Interview".
  5. ↑ O'Hagan, Sean (November 28, 2010). "Arcade Fire: 'The cliched rock life never seemed that cool to us'". Music. The Observer. United Kingdom. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Win Butler acknowledges his home: Arcade Fire tells true tales of Texas inspiration in The Woodlands – 2011-May-05 – CultureMap Houston". Houston.culturemap.com.
  7. ↑ "Lollapalooza Argentina: The Right Way to Do a Festival". thebubble.com. The Bubble, Inc. April 4, 2014.
  8. ↑ Anne Miller; Smithsonian Magazine (December 3, 2010). "Alvino Rey's Musical Legacy". smithsonianmag.com.
  9. ↑ "Spontaneous combustion: The return of Arcade Fire". July 23, 2010.
  10. ↑ "Arcade Fire’s maternal spark", Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME, 26 January 2014. Retrieved on 9 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Jamie Oliver Says No to Donkey Bollocks – Conrad Black Divests – The Arcade Fire's Exeter Detractors – Showgirls with Sock Puppets – Dave Eggers Ditches Brooklyn College". Nymag.com. October 3, 2005.
  12. ↑ "Arcade Fire Deliver Indie Rock Scion Unto the World". Spin Magazine. April 26, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Couples That Rock: Regine Chassagne and Win Butler". Rolling Stone. August 30, 2011.
  14. ↑ "The Arcade Fire is red hot", McGill University Alumni Quarterly, Montreal, Winter 2008. Retrieved on 9 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "WIN BUTLER, BA’04" Archived April 16, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., McGill Alumni Live 365, Montreal, 4 August 2010. Retrieved on 9 April 2015.
  16. ↑ Phillips, Amy (Dec 19, 2008). "Arcade Fire's Butler Talks Miroir Noir, The Box Score". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved Feb 8, 2008.
  17. ↑ Southern, Dylan; Lovelace, Will (2012). Shut Up and Play the Hits. UK: Pulse Films.
  18. ↑ "Win Butler gets fired up for hoops charity game in Montreal – ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. September 23, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Arcade Fire's Win Butler, Regine Chassagne Welcome Baby Boy". Rolling Stone. April 26, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  20. ↑ Beauchemin, Molly. "Win Butler Wins NBA Celebrity All Star Game". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  21. ↑ "Six awkward moments at Jay Z's Tidal relaunch". BBC. March 31, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
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