Winston Marshall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Winston Marshall
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Marshall in 2019
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Winston Aubrey Aladar deBalkan Marshall
20 December 1987 Wandsworth, London, England
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| Other names | Country Winston |
| Education | St Paul's School, London |
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| Years active | 2007–present |
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Melissa Chen
(m. 2024) |
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Winston Aubrey Aladar deBalkan Marshall (born 20 December 1987) is a British musician. He is best known as the former banjo player and lead guitarist for the folk rock band Mumford & Sons. Before joining Mumford & Sons, he was part of a bluegrass and rap group called Captain Kick and the Cowboy Ramblers.
With Mumford & Sons, Winston Marshall achieved great success. The band won several important awards, including a Grammy and two Brit Awards. He has also played music with other famous groups and worked with artists like Baaba Maal and HVOB. After leaving Mumford & Sons, Marshall started his own interview podcast.
Contents
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Winston Marshall was born in Wandsworth, London, on 20 December 1987. His father is Sir Paul Marshall, a well-known British businessman. His mother, Sabina de Balkany, is French. Winston has a sister named Giovanna, who is also a singer and songwriter.
His family has an interesting history. His maternal grandmother was a successful property developer in France. Winston has shared that some of his family members were affected by the Holocaust, and his grandmother survived it. He attended St Paul's School, an independent school in London.
Winston started playing guitar when he was thirteen. He later became interested in the banjo after watching the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?. This inspired him to switch to folk music. He left university after one year to focus on his music career. Winston met Marcus Mumford, a future bandmate, at church when they were teenagers. They played worship music together. Winston chose to focus on the banjo because there were fewer banjo players, making it easier to find music jobs.
Music Career Highlights
Early Bands and Jam Sessions
In the early 2000s, Winston Marshall was part of a band called Captain Kick and the Cowboy Ramblers. He played banjo, guitar, and other instruments for the group. He was known as "Country Winston Driftwood" in the band.
With Captain Kick and the Cowboy Ramblers, Winston hosted jam nights. These were informal music sessions for young people at a small club in London. Many musicians who loved acoustic music attended these nights. This included artists like Noah and the Whale and Laura Marling.
Joining Mumford & Sons
The band Mumford & Sons officially formed in December 2007. The four members had already played music together in different ways. Marcus Mumford started writing songs after seeing Winston's band perform. Winston encouraged Marcus to join them on stage.
The first Mumford & Sons performances were at Winston's jam nights. Marcus, Winston, and other friends like Ben Lovett and Ted Dwane started playing together. They soon realized they were a real band. Winston played the banjo, guitars, and provided backing vocals for the group. He was often seen as the funny member of the band.
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The band performed at Glastonbury Festival in 2008. They released their first EP later that year. Winston and Marcus even worked in Winston's mother's antique shop to save money for recording their music. They toured with Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn from 2008 to 2009.
Their first album, Sigh No More, came out in 2009. It included the popular song "Little Lion Man". The band was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2011. They performed at the Grammy ceremony with Bob Dylan. Sigh No More also won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year in 2011. The album's success helped make folk music more popular.
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In 2012, Mumford & Sons released their second album, Babel. This album had a more rock sound. Winston sang lead vocals on the song "For Those Below". The band also contributed songs to films like Wuthering Heights and the Pixar movie Brave.
Babel quickly became a best-selling album. Winston stopped using his "Country Winston" nickname around this time. He felt he had grown past it. Babel won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2013. The band also won the Brit Award for British Group that same year. They received the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement in 2014.
The band took a break in 2013. They returned in 2015 with the album Wilder Mind. This album had an electronic rock sound and did not feature the banjo. Winston later said he had started to like the banjo again after a break from playing it. The album received mixed reviews.
In 2016, they released an EP called Johannesburg with African artists like Baaba Maal. This EP also did not use the banjo. Winston sang lead vocals on the song "Fool You've Landed".
Mumford & Sons released their fourth album, Delta, in 2018. This album brought the banjo back, but in new ways. Winston said Delta felt like the result of ten years of work. The songs on Delta were inspired by their adult life experiences. Winston wrote some of the songs for Delta in Nashville.
In March 2021, Winston Marshall faced some criticism for praising a book by a journalist. Later that month, he apologized and announced he would take a break from the band. In June 2021, he decided to permanently leave Mumford & Sons. He explained that he wanted to be able to express his opinions freely without involving his bandmates. He later said that leaving the band was difficult because he had imagined they would play together for many more years.
Solo Music and Other Projects
In 2010, Winston Marshall was part of a group called Mt. Desolation. They recorded music and performed shows. He also played banjo for the Dropkick Murphys song "Rose Tattoo" in 2012. In 2013, he joined another temporary group called Salvador Dalí Parton.
Winston has also explored comedy. He took improv classes and planned a comedy web series. In 2015, he became interested in electronic music. In 2017, he worked with the electronic duo HVOB. They released a single called "The Blame Game" and an album called Silk. Winston contributed vocals to "The Blame Game". The album was well-received.
Between 2013 and 2015, Winston collaborated with Baaba Maal. He played banjo on Maal's 2015 album The Traveller. In 2019, he created remixes for songs by Maggie Rogers and Kevin Garrett.
Political Interests and Podcasting
Winston Marshall is interested in the ideas of Canadian professor Jordan Peterson. He invited Peterson to Mumford & Sons' studio in 2018. Winston believes it's important to read different opinions to form your own ideas. In 2018, he and Marcus Mumford shared that they preferred not to talk about politics as musicians.
In January 2021, Winston created a group to help people from Hong Kong who were moving to the UK. This followed a new security law in Hong Kong.
In January 2022, he launched his own podcast called "Marshall Matters." The podcast is hosted by The Spectator magazine. On the podcast, Winston interviews people from creative industries. He has interviewed figures like Laurence Fox, Jordan Peterson, and Candace Owens. He said that after making the big decision to leave his band to speak his mind, he felt it was important to actually do so.
On 7 July 2022, he appeared on the BBC's political show Question Time. He discussed the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that day.
Influence on Music
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Winston Marshall is credited with helping to create the British folk music scene. Many successful artists started by performing at his folk jam nights at Bosun's Locker. One musician said that Winston was key to this new music trend.
His banjo playing with Mumford & Sons also made the instrument more popular. Many people, including famous musician Emmylou Harris, say the band made the banjo cool again. Their music is seen as responsible for a banjo revival in both Europe and the United States. There is even a Deering banjo model named after him, the Winston Marshall Signature Model.
Personal Life
Winston Marshall was married to American actress Dianna Agron. They got engaged in late 2015 and married on 15 October 2016, in Morocco. They kept their relationship private. They separated in 2019 and divorced in 2020. In 2023, Winston became engaged to Melissa Chen.
He is a big fan of Manchester United football club. He has also become interested in dance, taking classes at a dance studio.
Selected Discography
With Mumford & Sons
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Individual Projects
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