Bill Drummond

Bill Drummond
Photograph of Drummond at All2gethernow, Berlin 2011.
Background information
Birth name	William Ernest Drummond
Also known as	King Boy D Time Boy Tenzing Scott Brown
Born	(1953-04-29) 29 April 1953 (age 63) Butterworth, South Africa
Origin	Newton Stewart, Scotland
Occupation(s)	Artist, writer, musician, music industry manager, theatre set designer, carpenter
Years active	1975–present
Labels	Zoo Records, WEA, Creation Records, KLF Communications
Associated acts	Big in Japan, Lori & The Chameleons, The Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu, The Timelords, The KLF, K Foundation, The One World Orchestra, 2K, The17
Website	Penkiln Burn The17 Mydeath The Open Manifesto Curfew Tower

William Ernest "Bill" Drummond (born 29 April 1953) is a South African-born Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he burned a million pounds in 1994. More recent art activities, carried out under Drummond's chosen banner of the Penkiln Burn, include making and distributing cakes, soup, flowers, beds and shoe-shines. More recent music projects include No Music Day, and the international tour of a choir called The17. Drummond is the author of several books about art and music.

Drummond was born in Butterworth, South Africa, where his father was a minister for the Church of Scotland. His family moved back to Scotland when he was 18 months old, and his early years were spent in the town of Newton Stewart. He moved to Corby, Northamptonshire at the age of 11. It was here that he first became involved in performing as a musician, initially working with school friends such as Gary Carson and Chris Ward. He attended the University of Northampton and the Art and Design Academy from 1970 to 1973. He later decided that "art should use everything, be everywhere" and that, as an artist, he would "use whatever medium is to hand". He spent two years working as a milkman, gardener, steel worker, nursing assistant, theatre carpenter, and scene painter.

In 1975 Drummond began working at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool as a carpenter and scene painter. In 1976 he was the set designer for the first stage production of The Illuminatus Trilogy, a 12-hour performance which opened on 23 November 1976, and which was staged by Ken Campbell's "Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool". This production then transferred to the National Theatre in London. According to Campbell, Drummond became known as "the man who went for Araldite": "In the middle of a tour, Drummond announced he was popping out to get some glue – and never returned."