Christopher Anthony John Martin (born 2 March 1977) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the vocalist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay.
Christopher Anthony John Martin was born on 2 March 1977 in Exeter, Devon, England.[6][7] He is the eldest of five children.[8] His father, Anthony John Martin, is a retired chartered accountant.[9] His mother, Alison Martin, is from Zimbabwe and works as a music teacher.[10] His family's caravan and motorhome sales business, Martin's of Exeter, was founded in 1929 by his grandfather John Besley Martin, CBE (a High Sheriff-also Mayor in 1968 of Exeter).[11][12][13][14][15] His great-great-grandfather, William Willett, campaigned for and made daylight saving time a recognised practice.[16][17][18]
Martin performing with Coldplay in 2010 during the Viva la Vida Tour
Martin was responsible for co-founding the band along with Buckland; they met each other during UCL's orientation week in 1996.[26] The pair spent the rest of the year planning a band and started to write their first songs together in early 1997, practising every night as well.[27] Berryman joined the group in the following months and they recorded numerous demos without a drummer.[28] By November, the trio was known as Big Fat Noises.[28] In 1998, they became Starfish "in a panic", as Champion scheduled their debut live performance at The Laurel Tree only a few days after he joined the line-up.[29] Weeks later, the band settled on the name Coldplay,[29] which came from UCL friend Tim Crompton.[28] He originally considered it for his own band after finding a copy of Philip Horky's Child's Reflections, Cold Play (1997), but the idea was ultimately discarded.[28]
Martin's fascination with hip hop was shown in mid-2006 when he collaborated with rapper Jay-Z for the rapper's comeback album, Kingdom Come, after the two met earlier in the year.[32] Martin put some chords together for a song known as "Beach Chair" and sent them to Jay-Z who enlisted the help of hip-hop producer Dr. Dre to mix it. Coldplay producer Rik Simpson conceived and performed the drum beats. The song was performed on 27 September 2006 by the two during Jay-Z's European tour at Royal Albert Hall. Martin has also worked on a solo collaboration with Kanye West, with whom he shared an impromptu jam session during a 2006 concert at Abbey Road Studios.[33] He performed the chorus of "Homecoming", from Kanye West's album Graduation.
In 2015, Martin collaborated with DJ Avicii to work on two new tracks for his album Stories. Their first collaboration was officially named "Heaven". Martin wrote the lyrics, Avicii did the production, and Simon Aldred of Cherry Ghost was the vocalist.[34] He also provided the vocals for Avicii's True Believer, also in Stories. In February 2017, Martin performed "A Different Corner" at the 2017 Brit Awards in tribute to George Michael.[35]
A song he co-wrote called "Homesick" appears on Dua Lipa's self-titled debut album, which was released in June 2017.[36] In 2019, Martin was featured on Avicii's posthumous album Tim.[37] The song "Heaven" features vocals by Martin and was written by Avicii and Martin prior to Avicii's death.[38]
Philanthropy
On 12 December 2012, Martin performed three songs, including "Losing My Religion" with Michael Stipe, as a part of the "12/12/12 Concert" which was held as a fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy relief.[39] On 15 November 2014, Martin joined charity group Band Aid 30, performing alongside British and Irish pop acts on the latest version of the track "Do They Know It's Christmas?" at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London to raise money for the 2014 Ebola crisis in Western Africa — this was the second time Martin has contributed to a Band Aid recording having performed in the 2004 version.[40] Martin became the creative director of the newly established Global Citizen Festival in 2015, a role he plans to fulfil for 15 years.[41]
In March 2015, Martin attended the televised launch of music streaming service Tidal via a video link, and revealed himself, along with other notable artists, as a shareholder in the company.[44] In June 2015, Martin performed "Til Kingdom Come" at the funeral Mass of Beau Biden, the son of then United States Vice President Joe Biden, after learning that Beau Biden was a fan of his.[45] In August 2017, Martin performed a live solo piano rendition of "Crawling" by Linkin Park. The performance was a tribute to Linkin Park's lead singer Chester Bennington, who died by suicide the previous month.[46]
Influences
Martin performing with Coldplay in 2017
A major influence on Martin and Coldplay was the Scottish rock band Travis, with Martin crediting the band for the creation of his own band.[47] The Irish rock band U2 is another important influence on Martin both musically and politically.[48] Martin wrote for Rolling StoneMagazine's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" on the band,[49] saying: "I don't buy weekend tickets to Ireland and hang out in front of their gates, but U2 are the only band whose entire catalogue I know by heart. The first song on The Unforgettable Fire, "A Sort of Homecoming", I know backward and forward—it's so rousing, brilliant, and beautiful. It's one of the first songs I played to my unborn baby."[48] Martin has been also influenced by Radiohead.[50] In 2024, Coldplay invited and performed alongside Michael J. Fox at the Glastonbury Festival, with the singer saying that when he saw Fox playing guitar in Back to the Future (1985), he knew that was what he wanted to do.[51]
Martin is very vocal about his love for Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha. In 2005, he stated in an interview: "I found myself in Amsterdam the other day and I put a-ha's first record on. I just remembered how much I loved it. It's incredible songwriting. Everyone asks what inspired us, what we've been trying to steal from and what we listened to as we were growing up — the first band I ever loved was a-ha."[52] Martin has also performed live together with Magne Furuholmen of a-ha, introducing him as "the best keyboard player in the world".[53] In November 2011, he stated that "back when we didn't have any hits of our own we used to play a-ha songs."[54]
Coldplay performed R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming" with Michael Stipe during their Austin City Limits performance in 2005, as a part of the Twisted Logic Tour. Martin went on to call "Nightswimming" "the greatest song ever written".[60] He has called Richard Ashcroft, formerly of the Verve, "the best singer in the world".[61] He also admires the lyrics of Morrissey.[62] Martin was quoted as calling Coldplay's song "Shiver" a rip-off Jeff Buckley influenced by Buckley's song "Grace". In 2008, Coldplay released an alternate music video for Viva la Vida, directed by Anton Corbijn as a tribute to Corbijn's 1990 video for Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence". It shows Martin dressed as a king, as Dave Gahan was in the original video. The band stated: "This is our attempt at a video cover version, made out of love for Depeche Mode and the genius of Anton Corbijn".[citation needed]
Personal life
According to The Times in May 2023, Martin had an estimated net worth of £160 million.[63] In a 2012 interview with the Daily Mirror, Martin revealed that he had been suffering from tinnitus since his early adult years, although he said that he had noticed the symptoms even as a teenager "while listening to loud music".[64] As a result, Martin wears specially filtered earplugs or customised in-ear monitors while performing and has encouraged his bandmates to do the same as a preventive measure.[65] Similarly, he has encouraged his children to wear hearing protection at concerts.[66] Martin has also become an advocate for hearing loss awareness, having partnered with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People.[67]PETA named Martin the World's Sexiest Vegetarian in 2005.[68] However, he began eating meat again after his separation from his then-wife, American actress Gwyneth Paltrow.[69]
Martin is a supporter of Exeter City.[70] He is also ambidextrous.[71] In February 2020, a cassette tape was discovered by a former fellow pupil of Martin's. It contained a three-minute instrumental piece titled "Electric Thunder", which was composed by Martin, aged 12, at Exeter Cathedral School. Martin played keyboards on the track accompanying other pupils performing in a group called Grandisson Ensemble. The cassette was expected to sell for £600 at auction; it ultimately fetched £840 (US$1,100).[72][73]
Relationships
According to one source, Martin previously had a relationship with live events producer Lily Sobhani around the Parachutes album release.[74] He and Paltrow married on 5 December 2003.[6][75] Their daughter Apple was born in May 2004 in London.[76] Martin and the band released a song called "I am your baby's daddy" under the name "the Nappies" in anticipation of her birth[77]. Coldplay's "Speed of Sound" was also inspired by Martin's experience and awe at becoming a father, being the lead single for the band's X&Y album. Actor Simon Pegg and Martin's bandmate Jonny Buckland are his daughter's godfathers, and Martin is godfather to Pegg's daughter.[78] His second child, Moses, was born in April 2006 in New York City.[79] The name was inspired by a song of the same name. In March 2014, Martin and Paltrow announced their separation as a "conscious uncoupling" after ten years of marriage.[80] Paltrow filed for divorce in April 2015 and it was finalised on 14 July 2016.[81][82] From August 2015 to August 2017, he was in an on-and-off relationship with actress Annabelle Wallis.[83] Since 2017, Martin has been in a relationship with American actress Dakota Johnson.[84] They reside in Malibu, California.[85] In 2024, it was revealed the couple have been engaged for several years.[84]
Politics
Martin playing piano at a concert in Brazil in 2007
Martin has been particularly outspoken on issues of fair trade and has campaigned for Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign. He travelled to Ghana and Haiti to meet farmers and view the effects of unfair trade practices.[86] When performing he usually has variations of "Make Trade Fair", "MTF" or an equal sign written on the back of his left hand and the letters "MTF" can be seen emblazoned on his piano.[87]
On 1 April 2006, The Guardian reported that Martin was backing the British Conservative Party leader David Cameron, and had written a new theme song for the party titled "Talk to David".[90][91] This was later revealed to be an April Fool's joke. While touring Australia in March 2009, Martin and the rest of Coldplay were the opening act at the Sound Relief benefit concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, for the victims of bushfires and floods in Victoria and Queensland.[92] Martin appeared in a video for the "Robin Hood Tax" campaign, which proposes a tax on stock trades in the United States.[93] This tax is aimed at levelling the field between the 1% and 99%. In June 2016, Martin supported Vote Remain in the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.[94]
^The term "records" is for album and single sales combined.[1] Coldplay, however, sold 100 million copies in albums alone, while Parlophone have not disclosed the amount of records.[2]
^With exception of tracks 5, 7, 10, 13, 21 and 22, Martin performed backing vocals in all songs from the album's "Snow Queen" edition.[116]
^According to Ora's interview for Apple Music, Martin "helped take this song to another level" and "put that Chris Martin dust on it", but his name is not shown in the album's personnel credits.[119]
^"Latest Coldplay News". Capital FM (Press the "View More" button on the "Facts" column). 2023. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
^"Chris Martin". Biography. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^Lord Tanlaw (24 March 2006). "Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 679. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Lords. col. 461. Is the Minister aware also that in 1909, William Willett, who was the great-great grandfather of the popular singer Chris Martin of Coldplay, drafted Bills for Parliament's acceptance proposing daylight saving in this country as a means of conserving energy?Archived 11 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine
^Shaun of the Dead (2004) – Trivia, IMDb, 2008, webpage: IMDb-5748Archived 25 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine: notes role as zombie, and singer in Ash music.
^"Phoenix (Deluxe) by Rita Ora". Apple Music (Use the "Reader Mode" extension to see the archived page in full). 23 November 2018. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
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