Friends since their teenage years, guitarist/vocalist Matthew Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard first created Muse (though named Gothic Plague before Fixed Penalty before Rocket Baby Dolls) when they were 13. Passing the time in their small town of Teignmouth, Devon, the Brits released their debut EP in 1997 with Dangerous Records. A year later their sophomore EP, Muscle Museum, appeared. The group found a local fan base thanks to their Battle of the Bands performances and radio time/NME (a British music publication) articles. While the group was rising to success within their indie label, major UK record companies were initially hesitant to sign the all-too familiar sounding rockers, while America was all about Muse and had the boys performing at New York's CMJ festival as a deal with Maverick Records hatched.Their debut album, Showbiz, was followed by a tour with Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters. The groups second album, The Origin of Symmetry, appeared two years later in 2001 and showed a new side of the group from England with large parts of the record seeing instrumental experimentation unknown to similar alt-pop rock bands. The group became even more popular in an unconventional sense, with a court suit filed by the group to Nescafe after a commercial used one of Muse's singles without permission, followed by Celion Dion's request (and monetary offering) to use the name for her Las Vegas show, which was sequentially rejected by the members. After signing to Warner, the group released the double-disk Hullabaloo Soundtrack, a live CD and DVD. Earning a widespread reputation for their unique live performances, Hullabaloo was timed perfectly.Muse performed at the annual Coachella Festival and followed with their 2006 record Black Holes and Revelations, their biggest success yet. H.A.A.R.P. Live from Wembley followed in 2008.