Coldplay
Aug 1, 2011
The members of Coldplay met and became friends while living in the same dormitory at the University College of London in the mid-1990s. They formed a band, originally naming themselves Starfish. When friends of theirs who were playing in a band called Coldplay no longer wanted to use the name, Starfish officially became Coldplay. The name was taken from a book of poetry called Child's Reflections, Cold Play. The group comprises bassist Guy Berryman, guitarist Buckland, drummer Will Champion, and lead singer, guitarist, and pianist Martin.
In April of 1998 Coldplay went into the recording studio with the intention of recording a demo CD to use as a calling card for introducing the band to record labels. The recording session went so well that the band decided to release the three songs as an EP that was titled Safety. In the audience at one of Coldplay's live shows in a London club was Simon Williams, a music journalist and the founder of independent record label Fierce Panda. Williams was so impressed by the band that he signed them to his label. With the label's financial backing, Coldplay returned to the studio in February 1999 to record the EP Brothers and Sisters. With this release, Coldplay began earning the attention of England's music reviewers and radio hosts. In 1999 the influential British magazine New Musical Express ( NME ) labeled Coldplay the new band to watch, and Steve Lamacq of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio 1 gave Coldplay's music plenty of airtime, helping the song "Brothers and Sisters" enter Britain's pop music charts at number ninety-two.
In March of 2000 Coldplay released "Shiver," the first single from Parachutes. "Shiver" made a splash, reaching number thirty-five on England's music charts, but it was the second single from Parachutes that catapulted Coldplay to stardom. "Yellow," released in June 2000, became a genuine hit in both England and the US, where it came to the attention of the public as a video on MTV and then went into heavy rotation at radio stations all across the country. Parachutes was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2000, and in 2001 the album earned two BRIT Awards for best British group and best British album. The following year Parachutes won the Grammy Award for best alternative music album.
Following the album's release in the summer of 2000, Coldplay hit the road, touring the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. By the end of the tour, Coldplay's members were in dire need of a long rest, but they had accomplished their mission: they had brought their music to the masses, and the masses were happily singing along. A Rush of Blood to the Head was released in the summer of 2002 to a chorus of positive reviews. Coldplay earned a slew of awards for their sophomore album, including three MTV Video Music Awards in 2003, a Grammy Award for best alternative music album in 2003 and, for the song "Clocks," a Grammy for record of the year in 2004. After another intense round of touring to support the release of A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay attempted to take a break from the spotlight, returning to England and the recording studio to create their third album. In the meantime they released Live 2003, a CD and DVD package chronicling a concert performed in Sydney, Australia, with the DVD featuring additional behind-the-scenes coverage of the tour.
Their third album, X&Y was released in June 2005 in UK and Europe. It became the best-selling album of 2005 with worldwide sales of 8.3 million. The lead single, "Speed of Sound", made its radio and online music store debut on April 18 and was released as a CD on May 2005. The album jettisoned onto its original chart entry at the number one position in 20 countries worldwide, and was the third-fastest selling album in UK chart history. Two other singles were released that year: "Fix You" in September and "Talk" in December. From June 2005 to July 2006, Coldplay went on their Twisted Logic Tour and in February 2006, Coldplay earned Best Album and Best Single honors at the BRIT Awards. Two more singles were released during 2006, "The Hardest Part" and "What If".
In October 2006, Coldplay began work on their fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, with producer Brian Eno. "Violet Hill" was the first single, with a radio release date of April 2008. After the first play, it was freely obtainable from Coldplay's website from 12:15 pm for one week (achieving two million downloads), until it became commercially available to download on May 6th. "Violet Hill" entered the UK Top 10, US Top 40 (entering the Top 10 in the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart) and charted well in the rest of the world. The title track, "Viva la Vida", became the band's first number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and their first UK number one, based on download sales alone.
On May 31st 2011, Coldplay announced that "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" was to be the new single from their upcoming album and was released on June 3rd. The song debuted at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, selling 85,000 copies in its first week, and has is currently climbing up the charts.
