Coldplay: How the British band rose to fame and captured the hearts of Irish fans
Coldplay come to Ireland in 2024. Picture: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
Coldplay's return to Ireland is already shaping up to be one of the biggest events of 2024.Â
This week we saw fans fight for presale tickets with hundreds of thousands waiting in virtual queues in the hopes of securing a ticket to the beloved band. With the addition of two added dates due to the overwhelming demand, Coldplay will now play four nights at Dublin's Croke Park in 2024.
We look back at the British band's rise to fame and acceleration to the type of act that can send Ireland into a frenzy.
Chris Martin met his bandmates Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion at a student bar while studying at university in London in the late 90s. Their first rehearsal was in Jonny Bucklandâs bedroom in January 1998 and the band started out as just him and Martin before Guy joined, later followed by Will. Chris Martinâs friend from boarding school, Phil Harvey came on board as the bandâs manager (and later creative director) and is often referred to as the fifth member.
Originally from Devon in England, Martin is the lead vocalist and songwriter behind Coldplayâs greatest hits. As Rolling Stone said in 2019, Martin is âfamously press-shyâ despite his immense fame.Â
Things moved pretty quickly for Martin and co. After gigging in London and deciding on their band name, Coldplay recorded their first extended play, Safety in 1998. In 1999, they released their single Brothers & Sisters and in the same year, they were signed by Parlophone Records.
Brothers & Sisters debuted at number 92 in the UK Singles Chart and the band had become one to watch. A second EP (The Blue Room) followed before the release of their first album Parachutes in July 2000.Â
The album was well-received and debuted at number one in the UK. However, their now iconic hit Yellow was the real star of the show and remains a Coldplay classic 23 years on. The minimalistic music video was shot on a beach in Dorset featuring Martin on his own. This is because the filming took place on the day of Championâs motherâs funeral.
The rapid rise to fame kicked off with Parachutes and the album sold almost 900,000 copies by the end of 2000. The same year saw the band win a BRIT Award for both Best British Band and Best Album. It was followed by their second album A Rush of Blood to the Head in 2002 which continued Coldplayâs winning streak at home in the UK, while also making an impression on the US.
By 2002, the band was lined up to headline the biggest festival in the UK, Glastonbury. Their third album X&Y became the best-selling album of 2005, selling over 8.3 million copies worldwide. It included the single Fix You.
In 2002, Chris Martin met American actress Gwyneth Paltrow backstage at a Coldplay concert. By December 2003, the pair were married. Around this time, Coldplay had set their sights on conquering the US.
In 2004, Martin and Paltrow welcomed their first daughter, Apple. Two years later, they announced the birth of their son Moses, who was named after the Coldplay song of the same name which Martin wrote for his wife. As well as Moses, Martin famously wrote the song Fix You for Paltrow. The song is about the death of her father. In 2014, the pair announced their split via a post on Paltrowâs website, Goop. However, they remain close friends and Martin is currently in a relationship with actress Dakota Johnson.
Amid their rise to fame, Coldplay often came across the pond to gig. In 2001, they played Slane Festival at Slane Castle and in 2003 they played Witnness (later Oxegen). By 2011, they were headlining at Oxegen Music Festival alongside the likes of Beyonce, the Black-Eyed Peas, the Foo Fighters and Arctic Monkeys.
Their last gig in Ireland was in 2017.
The band has received a lot of criticism over the years, particularly from music critics. In 2011 the New Yorker even published an article titled 'Why Donât I Like Coldplay?'
In the early 2000s Creation Records founder Alan McGee famously described the band as being âbedwettersâ.
Speaking on the criticism in an interview in 2001 for Select magazine, Chris Martin said: âWeâve just been fired and while half the time you think, âThis is great weâre flying through the airâ, the other time you think, âShit, when are we going to land?â People who donât like you talk about you like youâre the Third Reich. People who do like you will really defend you.âÂ
In 2016, Vice concluded: âA lot of people will tell you the problem with Coldplay is their music. That itâs so tiresome itâs like running through the desert only to reach an oasis of airy nothingness. And often, it is. Yet there are moments in their songs that are so universal.âÂ
With their background and fast-paced success in mind, it is easy to see how the band became so popular.
With chart-topping hits, the proof is in the pudding in terms of their ability to produce music that people want to listen to. From Parachutes and the more melancholic Ghost Stories to collaboration with the likes of Avicii, Coldplay have continued to adapt with the times. However â crucially â they have kept their distinct sound that makes their music instantly recognisable.
Hitting the big time in the early 2000s, their music has been the backdrop of the lives of many millennials and Gen Zers and perhaps that nostalgia has a part to play in the demand to see Coldplay live.
What we do know is the band has a reputation for putting on a show. From their now famous LED wristbands to stellar production, lights, and plenty of colour, Coldplay has created a name for themselves as a band you have to experience live at least once in your life â whether youâre a diehard fan or in Alan McGeeâs camp.
