After celebrating the illustrious careers of some of the greatest sports stars of all time, we thought it was time to break tradition. That’s why the latest edition in our ICON series puts sport to one side in order to focus on music, specifically Coldplay.
When it comes to British bands, few have topped the success of Coldplay. The four-piece have been going for almost 30 years and don’t look like slowing down following the release of Moon Music, their 10th studio album this year.
And with their incredible three-year world tour set to conclude next summer, we’ve taken a look at some of their greatest achievements.
Coldplay spawned in 1997 but if you were fans of them back then, you’d be forgiven for not recognising the name. Founded by lead singer Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, who met at university in London, they were initially called both Big Fat Noises and Starfish before settling on the iconic name Coldplay.
They were later joined by bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion before releasing debut record Parachutes in 2000. The album featured the iconic single ‘Yellow’, as well as other notable hits including ‘Shiver’ and ‘Trouble’.
As you can imagine, it was an instant hit and won the Grammy award for ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ as well as a BRIT award for ‘British Album of the Year’. Incredibly, Coldplay landed a hat-trick as their subsequent albums A Rush of Blood to the Head and X & Y both achieved the same feat.
They’ve not looked back since and Coldplay have arguably established themselves as the most successful band of the 21st century and have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.
Not content with their initial treble at the Grammys and BRITs, Coldplay have continued to be recognised across the music industry. They’ve been nominated for an astonishing 39 Grammy awards, winning seven times. The group have also been up for 30 BRIT awards and have claimed nine awards, making them the most successful group of all time.
By the time their fourth album, Viva La Vida, was released, Coldplay were household names – and the reaction reflected their popularity. Lead track Viva La Vida was the first song by a British artist to top both the UK charts and the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time since Rod Stewart’s Maggie May back in 1971.
Coldplay have broken 14 world record throughout their career – five have since been broken by others, but nine still remain theirs, including ‘Most Monthly Listeners On Spotify’, ‘Highest Attendance for a Music Tour’ and ‘Highest Debut by a UK Group in the US Singles Chart’.
Their global success has seen them collaborate with some of the biggest names in music, including Rihanna, Beyonce, Jay Z and Oasis star Noel Gallagher. They’ve also performed with the likes of BTS, Shakira and Bruno Mars.
Coldplay returned to Glastonbury this summer, headlining the famous Pyramid Stage alongside Dua Lipa and SZA. Chris Martin led proceedings 25 years after their first appearance at the prestigious summer festival.
It was their fifth time headlining Glastonbury, which set a record for the most headline appearances in history. They were previously joint-top alongside The Cure, who have headlined on four occasions.
In fact, Coldplay have appeared at Glastonbury seven times, performing twice before their first slot on the main stage. They were also set to perform in 2021 before the festival was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Coldplay have performed at countless festivals across the globe, including Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits and Rock in Rio. Meanwhile, they also performed the half-time show at the 2016 Super Bowl, which had the biggest audience of all time for a group’s performance.
And after playing all over the world across the last 27 years, they’re set to play their biggest gig ever in the new year. Coldplay take their tour to India and will be wowing around 132,000 fans in a cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Coldplay are currently in the midst of a three-year world tour that’s set to conclude with 10 sell-out gigs at Wembley Stadium next year. The ‘Music of the Spheres’ tour kicked off in March 2022 and is the second-highest grossing tour of all time after Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’.
If you fancy seeing them perform all their greatest hits from the best seats in the house, why not join us in our premium hospitality facilities? Enjoy the incredible show from luxury seats with unrivalled views, where you’ll get all this alongside an iconic music performance:
● Exclusive access to pitch view lounge
● Complimentary beers, wines and soft drinks before and after the show
● Complimentary welcome glass of Champagne
● Wide ranging buffet menu
● Snacks served post-show
● Pre-show DJ and post-show after party
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