Coldplay

he members of the band met in the halls of residence at the University College London in September 1996.

Martin and Buckland were the first members of the band, having met one another during freshers' week. They spent the rest of the year planning a band; at one point Martin had considered forming an *NSYNC inspired boy band called Pectoralz.

Eventually, Berryman joined the ranks, without consideration of what musical direction the band was taking. On 8 January 1998, the band's line-up was complete when Champion joined the band to take up percussion duties. The multi-talented Champion had grown up playing piano, guitar, bass, and tin whistle; he quickly learned the drums, despite having no previous experience with that instrument. At the time, the band performed under the name Starfish.

Eventually, they took the name Coldplay from a mutual friend, Tim, who had his own band. According to Martin, "He (Tim) decided he didn't like the name anymore because it was too depressing." In 1998, Coldplay was performing small club gigs for local Camden promoters.

Wanting more creative freedom, Martin recruited fellow student and childhood friend Phil Harvey to act as band manager. Harvey helped the band raise money needed to record a demo. Harvey managed the band up until and including the release of their debut album Parachutes.

On May 18, 1998 the band released 500 copies of the EP Safety. Most of the discs were given to record companies and friends; only 50 copies remained for sale to the public. In December, Coldplay was signed by indie label Fierce Panda, after founder Simon Williams had attended the band's gig that evening. The result was the three track EP Brothers And Sisters which was quickly recorded over four days in February 1999. The disc was released in April, only 2,500 copies were pressed in a very limited release. Buzz was slowly growing across the UK, helped by regular airplay from BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq and BMG Music Publishing, which had signed the band to a development deal.

After completing their final examinations, Coldplay was signed to Parlophone for a five-album contract in the spring of 1999. After making their first appearance at Glastonbury, the band went into studio to record a third EP titled The Blue Room. The disc was released in October, and 5,000 copies were made available to the public.

The recording sessions for The Blue Room were tumultuous. Martin kicked Champion out of the band but later pleaded with him to return and due to his guilt, Martin (a self-proclaimed non-drinker and non-smoker) went on a drinking binge. Eventually, the band worked out their differences and placed a new set of rules to keep the group intact. First, the band declared an all-for-one approach; Coldplay was a democracy, and profits were to be shared equally, taking a page from bands like a-ha, U2 and R.E.M. Second, the band would fire anyone who used cocaine.

In later years, Martin joked about the band's clean-cut image by saying "This (playing music) is better than doing coke off a hooker's back! Which we don't do!"

In November 1999, Coldplay focused their efforts on their debut album. The band spent the New Year by completing album tracks "Yellow" and "Everything's Not Lost". They also played on the NME Carling Premier Tour, which showcased up-and-coming acts. After releasing three EPs without a hit song, Coldplay scored their first Top 40 single, "Shiver". Released in March 2000, the single placed at a modest #35 and earned the band their first airplay on MTV.

June 2000 was a pivotal moment in Coldplay's history. The band embarked on their first headlining tour, which included a triumphant return to Glastonbury. More notably, the band released the breakthrough single "Yellow". The song shot to #4 on the UK Singles Chart and placed the band in public consciousness.

Coldplay released their first full-length album, Parachutes, in July 2000, which debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart. Along with critical acclaim, Parachutes was sometimes criticised for bearing a strong resemblance to the music of Radiohead in their The Bends–OK Computer era. "Yellow" and "Trouble" earned regular airplay on radio on both sides of the Atlantic. While having strong influence of Radiohead, the album captured some of their audience after the electronic-experimental alienating fusion Kid A. Parlophone originally predicted sales of 40,000 units of Parachutes; by Christmas, 1.6 million copies had been sold in the United Kingdom alone. Parachutes was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in September 2000.

Having found success in Europe, the band set their sights on North America. Parachutes was released in November 2000. The band embarked on a US club tour in early 2001 coupled with appearances on Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Late Show with David Letterman. Parachutes was a modest success, and was certified with Gold status in the United States. The album was also critically well-received, earning Best Alternative Music Album honours at the 2002 Grammy Awards.

Coldplay returned to the studios in October 2001 to begin work on their second album. The sessions were sometimes difficult, and there were numerous rumours that the band was on the verge of a break-up or that the album would be their final release. With much anticipation, Coldplay released their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head in August 2002.

The album was generally considered to be a more sophisticated effort than Parachutes. For example, the charged opening track "Politik" was written days after the September 11 terrorist attacks. A Rush of Blood to the Head became a best-seller and earned the band more critical accolades. The album spawned many popular singles, notably "In My Place", "The Scientist", and "Clocks". A Rush of Blood to the Head was perhaps most reminiscent of classic era Echo & the Bunnymen. This is not surprising, since Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch was invited to recording sessions as an unofficial studio consultant. On one occasion, Martin was actually wearing McCulloch's jacket when recording "In My Place". Chris Martin and Jon Buckland returned the favour by guesting on McCulloch's solo album Slideling. Coldplay have also performed live renditions of the Bunnymen hit "Lips Like Sugar" on a regular basis.

Coldplay toured for over a year, from June 2002 to September 2003, visiting five continents including co-headlining festival dates at Glastonbury Festival, V2003, and Rock Werchter. The tour showed the band's progression into a bona fide stadium act. Many shows included elaborate lighting and individualized screens reminiscent of U2's Elevation Tour. Coldplay also built a reputation of performing eclectic covers, including Aqua's "Barbie Girl", Rammstein's "Du hast", and Nelly's "Hot in Herre", along with more heartfelt renditions of songs like Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World". During the extended tour, Coldplay also recorded a live DVD and CD, Live 2003, at Sydney's Horden Pavilion. A new song, "Moses", could be found on this compilation.

In December 2003, Coldplay covered The Pretenders hit "2000 Miles", which was made available for download on their official site. It was the top selling UK download that year, with proceeds from the sales donated to Future Forests and Stop Handgun Violence campaigns. A Rush of Blood to the Head won two trophies at the 2003 Grammy Awards. At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Coldplay earned Record of the Year honours for "Clocks".

2004 was a quiet year for Coldplay, as they spent most of the year out of spotlight resting from touring and recording their third album. In May, Coldplay teased fans with a new song and music video on their official site to celebrate the birth of Apple, Martin's daughter. Famed producer Sir George Martin introduced the promo as Coldplay and their producer Ken Nelson performed as The Nappies, a satirised rap/glam rock outfit. Martin joked that this music had been inspired by Jay-Z.

Coldplay's third album, X&Y, was released on 6 June 2005 in the UK. The lead single "Speed of Sound", made its radio and online music store debut on 18 April and was released as a CD on 23 May 2005. The album debuted at #1 in 28 countries worldwide and is the third fastest selling album in UK chart history (behind the 1997 Oasis album Be Here Now and 2006 Arctic Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not). Two other singles were released that year by the Brit quartet: "Fix You" in September and "Talk" in December.

X&Y was originally set to be released in late 2004. In the middle of that year, Coldplay had penned over 40 new songs for their third album. Several of these songs such as "The World Turned Upside Down" and "Pour Me", which have since been released as b-sides on the "Fix You" single, and "Ladder To The Sun" had been performed live on the A Rush Of Blood To The Head Tour. However, they were scrapped and the band regrouped to write and record new tracks. X&Y was recorded over 18 months in eight studios in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Liverpool, and London.

To promote the new release, Coldplay performed at a series of intimate secret gigs in Europe and in North America from March to May 2005, which resulted in sold-out shows in locations such as San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, Boston, and New York City. Since June 2005, Coldplay has been on the Twisted Logic Tour, a global concert tour that has included festival dates like Coachella, Glastonbury, The Austin City Limits Festival and the Fuji Rock festivals. In July, the band appeared at Live 8 in Hyde Park, London. A week before they also headlined at the Glastonbury Festival on Saturday night. In September, Coldplay recorded a new version of "How You See The World" to War Child's Help: a Day in the Life charity album. Then in December 2005, the band appeared on the American television concert series Austin City Limits and performed previous hits and songs from X&Y.

Coldplay has planned two more legs of the Twisted Logic Tour for 2006, with North American dates from late January (launching in Seattle) to early April (ending in Philadelphia). The band has also confirmed Australian concerts in June/July in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Adelaide and Perth were also added after successful online and offline petitions from the respective cities. Their Australian support group will be upcoming Aussie band Youth Group.

In February 2006, Coldplay earned Best Album and Best Song honours at the Brit Awards. In his acceptance speech, lead singer Chris Martin raised rumours of a band split when he announced "This (award) means so much to us, especially now. It's going to be a few years before you see us again." The band's label have refuted these claims. It should be noted that the band attracted break-up rumours after the release of Parachutes.

In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Chris Martin hinted that Coldplay's next album may be a "fast, dark and heavy" affair "with no pianos." Band manager David Holmes suggested that the band may record a new album between their tour schedule over the new year: "They're definitely hungry to get back in the studio to make another record; they've got a lot of material. So for next year we're looking at building a tour around their recording schedule. Ultimately it could potentially mean we end up releasing another record [next year] and continuing to tour well into 2007."

There are speculations that the band will get to the studio soon to record new material. "We just love being creative," bassist Guy Berryman said. "When we're out on the road, it's amazing to play live but we're really missing what we do best, which is creating. We've been together for almost ten years now and we've only made three albums." Speaking to BBC 6 Music, he added: "When you look at people like The Beatles who knocked out a couple a year, it sort of makes us start to panic a little bit. So we're just desperate to get back into the studio."

Recently, Chris Martin has stated that "I think next time we'll be everyone's band. Our next album is going to be the greatest piece of music ever made...It is going to be really good." The band already has songs for the album written. "I just feel so motivated and I just see life as being so short and I still don't think we've written the best song ever, so every night, in the middle of the night, I wake up and I'll just try and write it."

Furthermore, Chris Martin appeared on The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 on 14th February 2006. He stated that "the next album is very good, and I know because its written". Also, 6 Days later Kanye West was a guest on the same show and claimed to have been working with Chris Martin in the famous Abbey Road Studios. However he did not disclose many details of whether the recordings would be on his album or not.

Coldplay has announced that a DVD of the two upcoming shows in Toronto will be released. The band also announced that five fans will get the chance to film the show themselves and have the footage included on the DVD.