Chris Acland
Acland performing with Lush
Background information
Birth name	Christopher John Dyke Acland
Born	7 September 1966 Lancaster , Lancashire , England
Died	17 October 1996 (1996-10-17) (aged 30) Burneside , England
Genres	Shoegaze , Britpop
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Drums
Years active	1980?1996
Labels	4AD
Formerly of	Lush

Christopher John Dyke Acland (7 September 1966 ? 17 October 1996) was an English drummer and songwriter. He was the drummer of the London-based alternative rock band Lush .

Early life [ edit ]

Acland was born at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary in Lancaster , Lancashire , the youngest of three sons of paper manufacturer Oliver Geoffrey Dyke Acland, of Barnsdale, Burneside , Cumbria , who had served as a second lieutenant in the Border Regiment , and Judith Veronica Williams. He was the great-grandson of Sir Francis Dyke Acland , 14th Baronet. ^[1] He studied at North London Polytechnic , where he met his future Lush bandmates Meriel Barham and Miki Berenyi , briefly dating the latter. ^[2]

Career [ edit ]

He played in a number of bands, including The Infection, Les Turds, ^[3] A Touch of Hysteria and Panic, before founding Lush in 1988 with Steve Rippon, Emma Anderson , Meriel Barham and Miki Berenyi. After personnel changes gave way to a stable lineup, Lush released their debut mini album, Scar , and developed a following as a live act. They would go on to release three albums and several singles and EPs and achieve critical success.

Personal life and death [ edit ]

Acland was a keen football fan and a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. He and members of Moose and Cocteau Twins formed the group The Lillies and recorded a humorous flexi-disc entitled "And David Seaman Will Be Very Disappointed About That" following the team's victory over North London rivals Arsenal in the 1991 FA Cup semi-finals ^[4]

On 17 October 1996, Lush had completed their tour and music festival appearances. Two days after Anderson announced a desire to quit the group, Acland was found dead as a result of suicide by hanging in his parents' garden in Burneside, Cumbria. Devastated by the news, Acland's bandmates subsequently disbanded after a period of mourning. ^[5]

References [ edit ]