A look at Coldplay's incredible career timeline through the years
The Kings of indie pop have pretty much taken over the world
Coldplay have pretty much achieved world domination at this point. After meeting at uni and starting the band in 1996, Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Will Champion and Jonny Buckland have released a whopping nine studio albums — all of which hit the top spot in the UK charts.
But how did they get to where they are today? After the band's incredible headline performance at Glastonbury 2024, and following the announcement of their upcoming record-breaking residency at Wembley Stadium in 2025, we've taken a look back at Coldplay's career timeline and highlighted some of their biggest moments of the last three decades - including their eco-friendly Music Of The Spheres World Tour...
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Coldplay through the years: The band's career timeline
1996 - 1997
Coldplay formed in 1996 after members Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion met whilst at University College London together. The band was initially called Pectoralz, and at that time was just Chris and Jonny, who had met during the university's orientation week.
Bassist Guy joined the group soon after, being in the same classes as the other two, and the group was renamed to Starfish in 1997 when the band would play gigs in Camden. Chris appointed his old school friend Phil Harvey to be the band's manager, and Will joined the group as percussionist - learning the drums quickly as he'd no previous experience, although he was already musically gifted. The band settled on the name Coldplay.
1998 - 1999
Coldplay released their first EP in 1998, entitled 'Safety'. There were only 500 copies made, and only 50 of those made it into public circulation as the rest were given to record labels, and friends and family of the band. It contained tracks 'Bigger Stronger', 'No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground' and 'Such a Rush'.
The band signed to independent label Fierce Panda in December 1998, and released their first single 'Brothers & Sisters' in 1999 before signing to Parlophone.
2000
The band made their Glastonbury debut in 2000, having recorded their second EP 'The Blue Room' in October 1999, spawning songs 'Don't Panic', 'See You Soon' and 'High Speed', as well as including 'Such a Rush' and 'Bigger Stronger' from the previous release. Whilst making the record, it's reported that the band fell out quite severely - but this led to them putting down ground rules, which seem to have served them well over the last 20 odd years.
Coldplay embarked on their first tour in June 2000, and achieved their first Top 5 single in 'Yellow', which appeared on their debut album 'Parachutes', released in July that year. The album debuted at Number 1, and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.
2001
Coldplay won the BRIT Awards for Best British Group and Best British Album for 'Parachutes' in 2001 - as well as the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. At this point, Phil Harvey resigned from his role as manager due to stress, and took on the role of creative director. He's now referred to as the official fifth member of the band.
Coldplay began recording their second album 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head' in September 2001, and after writing 'In My Place' had a breakthrough after feeling creatively stalled. After writing more than 20 songs for the album, the track list was whittled down to the final 11.
2002 - 2004
The album was released in August 2002, followed by a worldwide tour which included a slot at Glastonbury, and finished in October 2003. At the BRIT Awards 2003, Coldplay once again won Best British Group and Best British Album, as well as three awards at the MTV Video Music Awards and the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.
After winning Record of the Year for 'Clocks' at the 2004 Grammys, Coldplay spent most of that year out of the spotlight recording their third album, 'X&Y', which was released in May 2005 and was the UK's third fastest-selling album.
2005 - 2007
Coldplay spent 2005 to 2007 on the road, taking the 'Twisted Logic Tour' all around the world and even bringing The Verve's Richard Ashcroft onto the stage at Live 8 to sing 'Bitter Sweet Symphony'. In February 2006, they won Best Album and Best Single at the BRIT Awards, and in October that year began recording album number four: 'Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends'.
After taking a break from recording, Coldplay toured Latin America and Spain, and said that this would give the upcoming album a 'Hispanic influence'. Regarding their first three albums as a 'trilogy', Chris described 'Viva La Vida' as a new direction for the band.
2008- 2012
'Viva La Vida' was released in June 2008, and became the world's best-selling album of that year. EP 'Prospekt's March' followed in November, and the 'Viva la Vida Tour' also began in June. They released free album 'LeftRightLeftRightLeft', which was made up of live recordings from the tour. Taking the rest of 2009 off, Coldplay released 'Christmas Lights' in December 2010, with Chris' pal Simon Pegg starring in the music video.
The band had finished making fifth record 'Mylo Xyloto' in the summer of 2011, and also headlined Glastonbury Festival. The album was released in October 2011, receiving three Grammy nominations and two BRIT Award nominations as well as the band winning Best British Group for the third time at the 2012 awards. They performed at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and released documentary film and live album 'Coldplay Live 2012'.
2013 - 2015
Coldplay contributed to the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with 'Atlas', and released sixth album 'Ghost Stories' in May 2014 which was followed by a six-date tour of 'intimate' shows around the world. The album received two Grammy nominations, and the themes of heartbreak throughout the album were thought to reflect Chris' real-life separation from wife Gwyneth Paltrow.
In December, Chris announced their upcoming seventh album 'A Head Full of Dreams' could be their last, and it was released one year later in December 2015. Prior to that, the band performed at the Global Citizen Festival, which is curated by Chris himself, at Central Park in New York.
2016 - 2017
In February 2016, Coldplay headlined the Super Bowl halftime show, bringing on guests Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Bruno Mars. They then embarked on their 'A Head Full of Dreams Tour', with a total of 122 shows around the world. They performed at Glastonbury Festival 2016, singing a duet of 'Stayin' Alive' with Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees.
Coldplay collaborated with EDM duo The Chainsmokers on 'Something Just Like This', released in February 2017, and they performed it together at the BRIT Awards. The 'Kaleidoscope EP' was released in July 2017, featuring the single, and was described as being a "leftover bag of ideas" from 'A Head Full Of Dreams'. In August, live album 'Live in Buenos Aires' was released, and the group performed at a benefit concert in Mexico, with proceeds going towards relief and aid for affected countries. They also performed at the 'One Love Manchester' benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena attack.
2018 - 2019
In November 2018, the group released 'Global Citizen EP 1' under the pseudonym Los Unidades, which included song 'E-Lo' featuring Pharrell Williams. Proceeds went towards 'efforts to end global poverty'. Chris also performed with Kylie Minogue during her emotional 'Legends' slot at Glastonbury 2019.
2019
Thankfully, Chris' prediction that 'A Head Full Of Dreams' would be their last record proved to be incorrect, as the band announced in October 2019 that their eighth album was on the way. The double album, entitled 'Everyday Life', is set to be released on 22nd November 2019, with the track listing being announced in a newspaper.
They released two singles, 'Orphans' and 'Arabesque', from the upcoming album in October 2019, with official press from the band revealing that the unusual album artwork is based on a '1919 photo of guitarist Jonny Buckland's great-grandfather's band'.
2019
After announcing they would not be touring their new album 'Everyday Life' due to environmental concerns, explaining that they're "taking time to see how our tour can be actively beneficial," Coldplay gave an incredible one-off concert at the Natural History Museum in London in November 2019, which was later broadcast on Absolute Radio.
They performed underneath a 25.2-metre-long blue whale skeleton, with proceeds going to the environmental charity Client Earth. Their set-list included old classics 'Lovers In Japan', 'Fix You', 'Viva La Vida' and 'Sparks', as well as new tracks 'Daddy', 'Arabesque', 'When I Need A Friend', 'Orphans', 'Guns' and 'Everyday Life'.
2020
Coldplay kicked off the new decade with a music video for 'Cry Cry Cry', a single from their newest album 'Everyday Life', released in November 2019. The music video was directed by Chris' partner Dakota Johnson.
Later in 2020, the band released another single off the album, 'Champion Of The World'.
2021
The group released 'Higher Power' in May 2021, their first single in almost 18 months. They said of the track: ''Higher Power' is a song that arrived on a little keyboard and a bathroom sink at the start of 2020. It was produced by Max Martin who is a true wonder of the universe.'
Coldplay are also set to open the BRIT Awards 2021, performing from a pontoon on the River Thames.
2021
On 11th May 2021, in what was their first TV performance in over a year, Coldplay opened the show at The BRIT Awards 2021. Not only did the band perform their new track 'Higher Power', but they did so from a pontoon on the Thames near The O2, along with a vibrant lights and fireworks show.
2021 - 2022
Coldplay's album 'Music of the Spheres' was released on 15th October 2021 and the band performed an exclusive album launch show in London on 12th October.
On 14th October, they announced four UK dates for their world tour. Coldplay will be performing in the UK in August 2022, with the tour set to take place in London Wembley Stadium on Friday 12th, Saturday 13th and Tuesday 16th August and they will then perform at Glasgow Hampden Park Stadium on Tuesday 23rd August.
2022
Coldplay's 'Music of the Spheres' was a huge hit with fans, so it came as no surprise that it was nominated for multiple awards! The album received three Grammy Award nominations in 2022 - including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, for 'My Universe' with BTS.
2022
Coldplay started their 'Music of the Spheres' world tour in Costa Rica in March 2022. It is their most sustainable tour ever and at each venue electricity-generating bikes would be installed along with kinetic dance floors, which would generate energy to help power the show through audience movement, both of these would cut mainstream electricity usage.
2023
It's fair to say that Coldplay's 'Music of the Spheres Tour' took fans' breath away - with plenty of viral videos going around showing the gorgeous scenes of wristband lights filling the arena as they sing huge tracks like 'Fix You' and 'Yellow'.
Due to phenomenal demand, the band delighted fans as they added extra dates to their summer UK tour in 2023! In addition to the already announced dates in May and June, Coldplay added a third date in Manchester, which took place on Saturday 3rd June, and a fourth on Sunday 4th June.
Bringing out special guests such as Manchester-born rapper Aitch, Coldplay also delighted the crowd as they performed a cover of James' 'Sit Down'.
2023
Coldplay set off on the 'Music Of The Spheres Tour' on a mission to reduce their direct carbon emissions by 50%, and in June 2023 they revealed the emissions data from the first 12 months of the tour. They wrote: 'The emissions data from the first 12 months of the tour has now been collated, assessed and independently validated by Prof. John E. Fernandez of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative.
'On a show-by-show comparison, the Music Of The Spheres Tour has so far produced 47% less CO2e emissions than our last stadium tour (2016-17). This is a good start - and something that our incredible crew should be very proud of - but clearly there's still room for improvement.
'Now that we're into the second year of the tour, we've started to run the entire show (audio, lights, lasers etc) from an electric battery system that allows us to use 100% renewable energy as efficiently as possible. We have been using electric vehicles and alternative fuels wherever we can, as well as reducing waste and plastic usage to a minimum.'
The band went on to thank their fans, as well as all of the 'brilliant' and 'creative' minds that have helped them so far.
2023
To mark 13 years since the release of their festive hit 'Christmas Lights', Coldplay released a five interesting facts about the accompanying music video. The song also crept back into the charts in December 2023 - as it does most years.
2024
In March 2024, the highly-anticipated line-up for Glastonbury Festival was announced - with Coldplay topping the bill alongside other huge names such as Dua Lipa, SZA and Shania Twain.
The festival will take place from 26th-30th June 2024, with Coldplay's headline date (Saturday) falling during their extended tour dates throughout Europe. Coldplay's bill-topping set will be their record-breaking fifth headline appearance at the famous festival, also marking the first time they've played there since 2016.
2024
In late 2023, Coldplay called on their fans to lend their vocals to their upcoming 10th studio album, called 'Moon Music'. The album was released on 4th October 2024 and was certified Gold within days.
The new album features the dulcet tones of those who responded to Coldplay's call for them to sing "Ahhhh" on a new track called 'One World'.
2024
Michael J Fox joined Coldplay during their headline set at Glastonbury. The actor performed two songs with the band, 'Humankind' and 'Fix You', he later took to social media to say it was a 'mind-blowing' experience to join the band on stage.
2024
In September 2024, Coldplay announced that they were to play multiple shows throughout August 2025, in support of the Music Venue Trust. Initially announcing eight shows at UK stadiums in Hull and London, they soon added extra dates - beating Take That and Taylor Swift's residency record at Wembley Stadium, with 10 showed lined up. Dates begin at Hull Craven Park Stadium on Monday 18th August 2025, playing two shows before heading to London Wembley Stadium on Friday 22nd, through to Monday 8th September.
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