Coldplay
Biography
Coldplay is a British band formed in London in 1997. The lineup includes singer and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University College London and began playing together between 1996 and 1998, initially calling themselves Starfish.
Their music incorporates elements of soft rock, pop rock, piano rock and post-Britpop. After self-releasing their first EP Safety (1998), the band signed to Parlophone in 1999. Their debut album Parachutes (2000) features their flagship single Yellow and earned a Brit Award for British Album of the Year, a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and a Mercury Prize nomination.
Their second album A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) won similar honors and includes Clocks, which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. X&Y (2005) and Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008) were the best-selling albums of their respective years, each topping charts in more than 30 countries. Viva la Vida… earned the band a Grammy for Best Rock Album and their first Album of the Year nomination, while its title track was the first song by a British group to simultaneously reach number one in the UK and the US in the 21st century.
Coldplay later diversified their sound with Mylo Xyloto (2011), Ghost Stories (2014), A Head Full of Dreams (2015), Everyday Life (2019) and Music of the Spheres (2021). Each album presented a distinct theme and added new styles to their repertoire, including electronica, ambient, pop, R&B, funk, classical music, jazz fusion and progressive rock.
The band is also known for their “euphoric” live performances. With over 100 million albums sold worldwide, Coldplay is the most successful group of the 21st century and one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. Other notable achievements include the seventh-highest-grossing tour of all time, three of the 50 best-selling albums in the UK, the largest number of number-one records in that country, the most nominations and wins for a group in Brit Awards history, and being the first British group to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.