Top of the pops: How Coldplay defied music-snobbery to become stadium-fillers

As Coldplay prepare to takeover Croke Park for four nights, Ed Power chronicles the English band’s journey from alt rockers to pop royalty

Coldplay: defied critics and expectations over two decades. Picture: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty

In 2005, the New York Times published an article headlined ‘The Case Against Coldplay’. Chris Martin’s vocals were described as “somewhere between a yodel and a hiccup”. His lyrics, said the author, “make me wish I didn’t understand English”. Coldplay were accused of “topping majesty with moping”.

Now 19 years later, Coldplay are no longer that band — no longer a punchbag for all seasons. When Martin steps on stage at Croke Park in Dublin on August 29 for the first of four shows at the venue, he will do so knowing Coldplay are one of the most beloved groups of their generation — and that the sneers they once attracted are long gone.