What Is Win Butler's Net Worth?

Win Butler is an American-Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician who has a net worth of $8 million. Win Butler is best known for being the lead vocalist of the rock band Arcade Fire, which he co-founded with Josh Deu in 2001. Win's wife, Régine Chassagne, is also a member of the band, and his brother, Will, was in the band from 2003 to 2021. Besides being Arcade Fire's lead singer, Butler plays guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, and mandolin for the band. Arcade Fire won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 2011, and they have released the studio albums "Funeral" (2004), "Neon Bible" (2007), "The Suburbs" (2010), "Reflektor" (2013), "Everything Now" (2017), and "We" (2022). Win appeared as himself in the 2016 film "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping," and he directed the Arcade Fire music videos "You Already Know" (2014), and "Porno" (2015).

Butler composed the score for 2009's "The Box" with Chassagne and frequent Arcade Fire collaborator Owen Pallett, and the band worked with Pallett on the score for the 2013 film "Her." The "Her" score earned Arcade Fire numerous awards, including a Chicago Film Critics Association Award, International Cinephile Society Award, International Online Cinema Award, Italian Online Movie Award, and San Diego Film Critics Society Award, and Owen Pallett and Will Butler received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. Win is also a DJ who uses the stage name Windows 98, and in March 2015, he and Chassagne were revealed as shareholders of the music streaming service Tidal.

Early Life

Win Butler was born Edwin Farnham Butler III on April 14, 1980, in Truckee, California. He grew up in a Mormon household in The Woodlands, Texas, with mother Liza, father Edwin II, and younger brother Will, and the family lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before Will was born. Butler's father worked for Halliburton as a geologist, and his mother is a singer and harpist who performed on the musical variety series "The King Family Show" with her parents and siblings in the '60s. Liza's father, Alvino Rey, was a bandleader and jazz steel guitarist, and her mother, Luise, was a member of the vocal group The King Sisters. Win attended New Hampshire's Phillips Exeter Academy, then he spent a year studying creative writing and photography at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. In 2000, Butler began attending Montréal's McGill University, where he met Régine Chassagne, his future wife/bandmate. He earned a bachelor's degree in religious studies in 2004.

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Career

In 2001, Win formed Arcade Fire with his friend Josh Deu, and they soon recruited Chassagne, multi-instrumentalists Tim Kile and Brendan Reed, bassist Myles Broscoe, and drummer/guitarist Dane Mills to join the group. By the time Arcade Fire released a self-titled EP in 2003, a few members had left the band, so Butler's brother, Will, bassist/guitarist Tim Kingsbury, and drummer Howard Bilerman joined the group. The band signed with Merge Records, an independent label, in 2003, and they released their debut studio album, "Funeral," in September 2004. The album was certified 2× Platinum in Canada, Platinum in the U.K., and Gold in the U.S., and the singles "Rebellion (Lies)" and "Wake Up" went Platinum in Canada. In 2005, Butler and Chassagne took part in the recording of the UNICEF charity single "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" alongside Beck, David Cross, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Thurston Moore, and several other artists. Arcade Fire's second album, 2007's "Neon Bible" reached #1 on the charts in Canada, Ireland, and Scotland and on the U.S. "Billboard" Independent Albums, Top Rock Albums, and Top Tastemaker Albums charts. "Neon Bible" was certified 2× Platinum in Ireland and Platinum in the U.K.

The 2010 Arcade Fire album "The Suburbs" topped the charts in seven countries and was the band's first album to reach #1 on the "Billboard" 200 chart. Their next two albums, 2013's "Reflektor" and 2017's "Everything Now," also hit the top spot on the "Billboard" 200 as well as the charts in several other countries. "Reflektor" was certified 3× Platinum in Canada, and the title track from "Everything Now" (their first single on Columbia Records) went Gold in Canada and Portugal. In May 2022, the band released the album "We," which reached #1 in Scotland, Ireland, Portugal, and the U.K. Arcade Fire also contributed the song "Abraham's Daughter" to "The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond" soundtrack (2012), and they performed "Baby Mine" during the end credits of Tim Burton's "Dumbo" (2019). The band has been the musical guest on "Saturday Night Live" five times as of this writing, and in May 2012, they served as the backing band for host and musical guest Mick Jagger.

Personal Life

Win married Régine Chassagne in August 2003, and they welcomed a son on April 21, 2013. Butler became a naturalized Canadian citizen in July 2019. He has played in the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game several times, and he was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2016 game.

Sexual Misconduct Allegations

In August 2022, "Pitchfork" reported that four people had accused Win of sexual misconduct. A representative for Butler told the publication that Win admitted to having sexual interactions with all four individuals but said that they were consensual and initiated by the other person in each case. Risa Heller, a crisis PR specialist, issued a statement on Butler's behalf that read, "I have long struggled with mental health issues and the ghosts of childhood abuse. In my 30s, I started drinking as I dealt with the heaviest depression of my life after our family experienced a miscarriage. None of this is intended to excuse my behavior, but I do want to give some context and share what was happening in my life around this time."

One of Win's accusers, a gender-fluid individual who was given the pseudonym Lily in the article, said that Butler sexually assaulted them a few weeks after meeting at a another band's concert in 2015. A few months later, "Pitchfork" reported that a fifth accuser had come forward, alleging that she had a three-year emotionally manipulative relationship with Win.

Awards and Nominations

Butler has been nominated for 10 Grammys, winning Album of the Year for "The Suburbs" in 2011. His other nominations were for Best Alternative Music Album for "Funeral" (2006), "Neon Bible" (2008), "The Suburbs" (2011), "Reflektor" (2015), and "Everything Now" (2018), Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for "Cold Wind" from "Six Feet Under" (2006), Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "Ready To Start" (2011), Best Song Written for Visual Media for "Abraham's Daughter" from "The Hunger Games" (2013), and Best Music Video for "Arcade Fire: We Exist" (2015). Win earned a "Fangoria" Chainsaw Award nomination for Best Score for "The Box" in 2010, and he received an Online Film & Television Association Award nomination for Best Music, Original Song for "Abraham's Daughter" in 2013. In 2006, Arcade Fire earned a Brit Award nomination for Best International Album for "Funeral," and they were nominated for Best International Group in 2014.

The band has received MTV Europe Music Award nominations for Best World Stage Live Performance (2012) and Best Canadian Act (2018), and they won an iHeartRadio Much Music Video Award for Best Rock/Alternative Video for "Arcade Fire: We Exist" in 2015. The group has earned 10 other iHeartRadio Much Music Video Award nominations: Best Independent Video for "Arcade Fire: Rebellion (Lies)" (2005), Best Post Production for "Arcade Fire: Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" (2006), International Video of the Year by a Canadian for "Arcade Fire: The Suburbs" (2011), UR Fave Artist for "Arcade Fire: The Suburbs" (2011), MuchFACT Indie Video of the Year for "Arcade Fire: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" (2012), Rock/Alternative Video of the Year for "Arcade Fire: Reflektor" (2014), Video of the Year for "Arcade Fire: Afterlife" (2014) and "Arcade Fire: We Exist" (2015), Your Fave Video for "Arcade Fire: Reflektor" (2014), and Best Rock/Alternative Artist or Group (2018).

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