Murray Cook

**Murray James Cook** is an Australian guitarist who was formerly known as a member of The Wiggles. He started playing the guitar at age 11. As a teenager he performed in musicals and local bands. He is the second tallest Wiggle, slightly shorter than Greg Page and Lead Guitar in The Wiggles.

**Early Musical Projects**

Murray's major musical influences are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Eric Clapton. In 2008, Cook was named "the sixth best guitarist in Australia".

Murray owns a collection of thirty vintage guitars.

Murray Cook played the guitar in the late 1980s with "The Transistors" and "Finger Guns" (who released three singles) before joining the Sydney-based band Bang Shang a Lang. He continued to play for this band in Sydney, when not on tour with The Wiggles. When things did not work out in the music field for him, he returned to college and studied early childhood education at Macquarie University, where he met Anthony Field and Greg Page and formed The Wiggles in 1991. He performed as a Wiggle from 1991 to 2012 and loved every minute of it, quoting "Children are the best audiences!" He was a music teacher at Kegworth Public School in Leichhardt in 1991 and was a tutor in early education and taught at Macquarie University in 1992. Murray's schtick in The Wiggles was an obsession with playing the guitar. He was conscious that he was probably the first guitarist children would see, and said, "I always think that if it inspires kids to play guitar later on that would be great. I think it would be really nice if in 15 years I read that somebody got into guitar playing because of the Wiggles. I know that would be fantastic." When asked what his favourite Wiggles song was, he stated, "Play Your Guitar With Murray, of course. When we play that song live I get to play like a rock 'n roll star." Murray's major musical influences are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Eric Clapton. In 2008, Cook was named "the sixth best guitarist in Australia".

Murray owns a collection of thirty vintage guitars.

Onstage, he used the Australian-made Maton Mastersound 500 guitar. He also played a '53 Gibson Les Paul gold top, '64 Fender Strat, James Burton Fender Telecaster, Maton Mastersound 500 and a more recent Les Paul at home or in the studio. The amplifiers he used were the Marshall Head and Box Combo, the Fender Twin and a Bad Cat, which he bought while in the U.S. and said had a "great sound." Murray, whose nickname is Muzz, came up with The Wiggles' signature index finger-wagging move after watching professional bowlers do the move on television. Murray left the group in 2012; since then he has made cameos and played instruments on tour with Greg Page and Jeff Fatt and temporally replaced by Simon Pryce, to spend more time with his family and friends. In 2013, Murray became the Tour Manager for The Wiggles Australia Tour and was making cameos in The Wiggles' TV series Ready, Steady, Wiggle!.

**Personal Life**

Murray was made a member of the Order of Australia on 26 January 2010 for service to the arts, particularly children's entertainment, and to the community as a benefactor and supporter of a range of charities.

**Trivia**

* His favourite guitar that he used to play in the early days is the Red Starry Guitar.
* He is absent in 2 songs Oranges And Lemonsand Wags The Dog, He Likes To Tango (2012 version).
* He and Paul Knobloch were waiters.
* In Spanish he is voiced by Mario de Candia.
* In Walking On The Moon (episode), Lachy wore his spacesuit.
* Murray is the only Wiggle who is realistic because he plays guitar the most.