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 It's no secret, really, that Coldplay is one of the world's most popular bands, or that their expansive, dreamy songs built on singer Chris Martin's falsetto and pensive lyrics got them pegged originally as U2/Radiohead/Travis/Jeff Buckley followers. And anyone who's ever stood in line at a grocery store knows that Martin and actress Gwyneth Paltrow are married with a daughter named Apple. Not as widely known, though, is that drummer Will Champion is adept at piano, guitar, bass and tin whistle, but couldn't play drums when he joined, or that they were initially called Pectoralz and later Starfish. It was Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley who gave them the name Coldplay, which he'd used for one of his early bands.
Coldplay coalesced between 1996, when Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland and bassist Guy Berryman met in college, and 1998, when Champion was added. By 2000, when Parachutes and "Yellow" made them international sensations, they'd released three barely noticed EPs and established two very important ground rules: first, they all share profits equally, and second, use hard drugs and you're fired, period.
In 2002, A Rush Of Blood To The Head earned them Rolling Stone's Band Of The Year honors and their second consecutive Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. By 2005, they had become so ginormous that when the release of X&Y was slightly delayed it caused worldwide music giant EMI's stock to drop; eventually, X&Y debuted at #1 in 22 countries and became the world's best-selling album that year.
In 2008, Coldplay introduced Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends (produced by Brian Eno) with the buzz saw guitar-driven "Violet Hill." A step away musically from Parachutes, Rush and X&Y, the band acknowledge that Viva La Vida's influences took root in their 2007 tour of Latin America.
Provenance: London, England
Latest Release: Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends (2008)
© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
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