Coldplay

Coldplay formed in London in 1997 and grew from the early line-ups Big Fat Noises and Starfish into a four-piece led by vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, alongside guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion. Manager Phil Harvey is also credited as a full member. After independently releasing the Safety EP in 1998, the band signed with Parlophone the following year.

Their debut album, Parachutes, arrived in 2000 and introduced the breakthrough single “Yellow.” It won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year and the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. Its successor, A Rush of Blood to the Head, released in 2002, received the same honours. Coldplay saw 2005’s X&Y as the conclusion of a trilogy begun with those records. X&Y and 2008’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends topped charts in more than 30 countries and were the best-selling albums worldwide in their respective years. Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album, while its title track became the first song by a British act to reach number one in the United States and United Kingdom simultaneously in the 21st century.

Later albums broadened the group’s musical palette. Mylo Xyloto, Ghost Stories, A Head Full of Dreams, Everyday Life, Music of the Spheres and Moon Music drew on electronica, R&B, ambient, disco, funk, gospel, blues and progressive rock as well as the band’s rock foundation. Music of the Spheres, released in 2021, included “My Universe,” the first song by a British group to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Moon Music followed in 2024.

Coldplay’s concerts have become central to their public profile. The Music of the Spheres World Tour is the most-attended and second-highest-grossing tour of all time, and the first tour by a band to gross $1 billion. A documentary, Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams, was released in 2018 to mark the group’s 20th anniversary. In 2023, they featured on the inaugural Time 100 Climate list.

With more than 160 million records sold worldwide, Coldplay are among the best-selling music acts of all time. They hold the record for the most Brit Awards won by a band, according to Fuse. In the United Kingdom, they have three of the 50 best-selling albums, 10 UK Albums Chart number ones without missing the top spot, and are the most-played group of the 21st century on British media. The band have also supported humanitarian projects and donate 10% of their profits to charity. Their popularity has made them polarising cultural figures, even as their records and live shows have sustained a global audience.