Coldplay Biography

Despite their initial success, the band lacked real rock cred. They spent much of 2001 away from Britain, touring the Parachutes album. By the end of the year the band seemed in disarray with rumours of tour exhaustion and Martin suffering from writers block. Martin famously told the presss that if the band's new songs weren't up to standard, they would call it a day. In 2002 things began to change. Previously coming across as a tongue-tied geek in interviews, Martin loosened up, becoming quotable. He accused Bono of having a hair weave and confessed to having been a virgin until three years previously and that he'd previously thought he was gay.

Their Glastonbury 2002 appearance previewed material from their new album, A Rush Of Blood To The Head. The new material marked a significant move forward, adding a more powerful, muscular experimental dimension to their sound. Wiry piano ballads like The Scientist sat nicely alongside stadium-lite anthems In My Place and Clocks. The album entered the British charts at No.1. America also began to sit up and take notice. Clocks became a US radio hit and the album climbed to No. 5 in the US, an almost unprecedented achievement for a British band. Coldplay were willing to put the legwork in to crack America. They played all the places that most British bands weren't prepared to play. (Hello Oasis).

Chris Martin's raised profile in the US led to a string of celebrity dates with Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Their respective alternative star demeanours seemed to make for a good pairing. They were both slightly out of time and place. Paltrow speaks several languages and Martin is the drug-free rock star familiar with ancient Greek and Latin. However, Liam Gallagher wasn't impressed by the celeb coupling, referring to Gwyneth as "a gawky bird" and Martin as "a geography teacher." Both Martin and Paltrow struggled to keep their relationship a secret as Chris had run-ins with several photographers trying to snap the couple, allegedly smashing the windscreen of one hapless pap.

The couple's wedding was held under strict secrecy. The event took place at San Ysidro Ranch, California on 7 November, 2003, followed by a honeymoon in Mexico. Soon after Paltrow announced she was pregnant. She gave birth to a baby daughter, Apple, in 2004.

Over 2003 A Rush Of Blood To The Head would go on to sell three million copies in the US alone. By the start of 2004 it had sold 9m copies worldwide and earned the band 17 major accolades, including three Grammys, numerous MTV Video Music Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriters Of The Year. Martin responded to the band's success and his newfound relationship with a new confidence. He stopped apologising onstage and in interviews. Names as disparate as Bono, Mos Def, Beth Orton, P. Diddy and PJ Harvey started to sing Coldplay's praises as they toured A Rush Of Blood To The Head throughout 2003. They sold out legendary venues like the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden.

They also used their position as a leading rock band to campaign for a number of charitable, environmental and anti globalization groups. Chris visited Haiti and the Dominican Republic with Oxfam to witness how the poor are affected by inequitable global trade rules, raising awareness of the Make Trade Fair Campaign. Chris was also part of the Band Aid 20 re-recording of Do They Know It's Christmas in November 2004 to aid famine relief in Ethiopia.

Coldplay have now completed their third album, X & Y,due for release in May, 2005. Martin said on making the album. "We've become obsessed with trying to deliver something amazing." We wouldn't bet against them...

The release of their debut album, 'Parachutes' in 2000, showcased Chris Martin's emotive, elegaic songs, the sound of men mature beyond their years. The album entered the UK chart at No.1 in July, a refreshing kick against the climate of lad rock dominating the British music scene. It was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize and had gone four times platinum by the end of the year.

Despite their initial success, the band lacked real rock cred. They spent much of 2001 away from Britain, touring the Parachutes album. By the end of the year the band seemed in disarray, with rumours of tour exhaustion and Martin suffering from writers block. Martin famously told the press that if the band's new songs weren't up to standard, they would call it a day. In 2002 things began to change. Previously coming across as a tongue-tied geek in interviews, Martin loosened up, becoming quotable. He accused Bono of having a hair weave and confessed to having been a virgin until three years previously, and that he'd previously thought he was gay.

Their Glastonbury 2002 appearance previewed material from their new album, 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head'. The new material marked a significant move forward, adding a more powerful, muscular experimental dimension to their sound. Wiry piano ballads like 'The Scientist' sat nicely alongside stadium-lite anthems 'In My Place' and 'Clocks'. The album entered the British charts at No.1. America also began to sit up and take notice. 'Clocks' became a US radio hit and the album climbed to No. 5 in the US, an almost unprecedented achievement for a British band. Coldplay were willing to put the legwork in to crack America. They played all the places that most British bands weren't prepared to play. (Hello Oasis).

Chris Martin's raised profile in the US led to a string of celebrity dates with Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Their respective alternative star demeanours seemed to make for a good pairing. They were both slightly out of time and place. Paltrow speaks several languages and Martin is the drug-free rock star familiar with ancient Greek and Latin. However, Liam Gallagher wasn't impressed by the celeb coupling, referring to Gwyneth as "a gawky bird" and Martin as "a geography teacher." Both Martin and Paltrow struggled to keep their relationship a secret as Chris had run-ins with several photographers trying to snap the couple, allegedly smashing the windscreen of one hapless pap.

The couple's wedding was held under strict secrecy. The event took place at San Ysidro Ranch, California on 7 November, 2003, followed by a honeymoon in Mexico. Soon after Paltrow announced she was pregnant. She gave birth to a baby daughter, Apple, in 2004.

Over 2003 A Rush Of Blood To The Head would go on to sell three million copies in the US alone. By the start of 2004 it had sold 9m copies worldwide and earned the band 17 major accolades, including three Grammys, numerous MTV Video Music Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriters Of The Year. Martin responded to the band's success and his newfound relationship with a new confidence. He stopped apologising onstage and in interviews. Names as disparate as Bono, Mos Def, Beth Orton, P. Diddy and PJ Harvey started to sing Coldplay's praises as they toured A Rush Of Blood To The Head throughout 2003. They sold out legendary venues like the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden.

They also used their position as a leading rock band to campaign for a number of charitable, environmental and anti globalization groups. Chris visited Haiti and the Dominican Republic with Oxfam to witness how the poor are affected by inequitable global trade rules, raising awareness of the Make Trade Fair Campaign. Chris was also part of the Band Aid 20 re-recording of 'Do They Know It's Christmas' in November 2004 to aid famine relief in Ethiopia.

Next release 'X & Y' hit the shops in June 2005, a slightly delayed release. Perhaps sensing the weight of expectation from fans and critics, Martin said on making the album, "We've become obsessed with trying to deliver something amazing." This aim was certainly achieved, with X & Y outselling all other albums that year, shifting over 10 million copies globally to date, and entering the chart at number one in 22 different countries. Although the critics were a bit sniffy (well – it is in their job description), some arguing that it didn't live up to its predecessors, the band could probably take the brickbats. Furthermore, they had a couple of knockout single successes too, in particular the epic stadium-rock-lite anthem 'Fix You'.

Part of the critical sniping at the band may well have had something to do with the do-goody image of the group, in particular their overtly charity-conscious frontman. Martin may have won back a few of the more cynical Coldplayer-haters with his tongue-in-cheek appearance in the second series of BBC sitcom 'Extras' in 2007. Playing a grotesque version of himself, Martin turns up to record a message for charity, but takes it as an opportunity to plug his band's next album, suggesting the backdrop could be pictures of the starving African children holding up copies of it.

Following the release of 'X & Y' came some major live dates- as well as duetting on 'Bittersweet Symphony' with Richard Ashcroft at the London leg of Live 8, the band's 'Twisted Logic' tour took in spots at Coachella and Glastonbury, in addition to numerous American venues into 2006. April 2006 brought the arrival of Martin and Paltrow's second child, the slightly-more-sensibly-named Moses ( I mean, 'Apple'...why not just call your child 'Pick on Me'?). The band picked up best album and single awards at the Brits in February of 2006, and by the end of that year they were already looking ahead to their next studio album.

After months writing and recording with Brian Eno (manfully splitting his time between producing for Coldplay and producing for U2 – whatta guy), Coldplay announced in early 2008 that their summer release was to be named 'Viva la Vida or Death and all His Friends', a name nicked from a Frida Kahlo painting - although Martin acknowledged that certain wags had suggested to him that it might have been inspired by Ricky Martin's 'Livin' la Vida Loca' (...hmm...maybe they should cover that...?)

Seemingly unsatisfied with the group's global domination, their frontman still expressed to the Rolling Stone his worry that 'Viva...' could be the group's '...last shot at the big time...', but the weight of the band's popularity is such that they probably could cover Ricky Martin and it'd still sell by the bucketload. And as long as Martin keeps heeding that creative urge to write more and more songs, the band will be around for several years yet, one senses: 'There's a voice that comes at three in the morning with songs. There might come an age when you say, 'Ah, fuck it, I'm going to go back to sleep.' But I'm still at the point where I'll get up and work it out. Tom Waits or Bob Dylan said sometimes these things bug you until you deal with them. I suppose it's like the urge to masturbate'.

Nicely put, Chris - although with comments like that, you may well be teeing up the critics for some rather easy put-downs when the album comes out...