Max Beesley's High Vibes

Maxton Gig Beesley Jr. was born to Maxton Beesley, Sr., a professional jazz drummer, and a jazz singer mother, who sang under the stage name Chris Marlowe. His middle name was inspired by the US actor Gig Young. His father was also a regular guest on the Ted Rogers show 321, doing impressions amidst the sketches. He has a stepbrother, actor Jason Milligan, who is the husband of former Coronation Street and Cutting It actress Angela Griffin. Max Beesley is also a musician, having had a successful career before becoming an actor. He was a Chorister at Manchester Cathedral and studied at Chetham's School of Music. He also studied percussion at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with soul singer Omar ("There's Nothing Like This") and toured with the Brand New Heavies on keyboards and percussion. He is also a vibraphone player. He has performed in concert as a percussionist and pianist for Robbie Williams, Take That and The Paul Weller Movement. Beesley played percussion and piano at Robbie Williams's Knebworth gigs of Summer 2003 and at Hyde Park, for Live 8 London. Robbie Williams's first concert of his Close Encounters tour in Perth, Western Australia on November 30, 2006 saw Beesley as percussionist for the second half of the show. He also played drums during the performance of Rudebox at Robbie's second Brisbane concert and during the recent BBC electric proms show. Max Beesley was also a member of the jazz band Incognito and after an eight month tour with them, decided to end his music career and start in acting. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.