Coldplay

About

Coldplay is a British rock band formed in London featuring lead vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, lead guitarist Jonny Buckland, drummer Will Champion, and bassist Guy Berryman. They are a subject of both love and derision online.

Discography

Coldplay debuted in 2000 with the album Parachutes, which, spearheaded by songs like "Yellow" and "Trouble," hit number 1 on the UK Albums Chart and went double platinum in the United States.^[1] In 2002, they released A Rush of Blood to the Head, which featured songs like "Clocks" and "The Scientist," and also hit #1 on the UK Albums Chart and went quadruple platinum in the United States.^[2] In 2005, they released X&Y, marking their third straight UK #1 and their first US #1.^[3] 2008's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends also went #1 in both countries,^[4] as did 2011's Mylo Xyloto^[5] and 2014's Ghost Stories.^[6] 2015's A Head Full of Dreams hit #1 in the UK, but failed to hit #1 in the United States top 100.^[7] They have sold over 80 million records worldwide and have won eight Brit awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, three World Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, and seven Grammys.^[8]

Reputation

Despite their commercial success, Coldplay has fought against critical and popular backlash for their entire career. People derided Coldplay's blandness and supposed similarity to Radiohead's early catalogue.^[12] In his 2003 book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, music critic and writer Chuck Klosterman famously eviscerated Coldplay.^[9]

"Fake love is a very powerful thing. That girl who adored John Cusack once had the opportunity to spend a weekend with me in New York at the Waldorf-Astoria, but she elected to fly to Portland instead to see the first U.S. appearance by Coldplay, a British pop group whose success derives from their ability to write melodramatic alt-rock songs about fake love. It does not matter that Coldplay is absolutely the shittiest fucking band I've ever heard in my entire fucking life, or that they sound like a mediocre photocopy of Travis (who sound like a mediocre photocopy of Radiohead), or that their greatest fucking artistic achievement is a video where their blandly attractive frontman walks on a beach on a cloudy fucking afternoon. None of that matters. What matters is that Coldplay manufactures fake love as frenetically as the Ford fucking Motor Company manufactures Mustangs and that's all this woman heard. "For you I bleed myself dry," sang their blockhead vocalist, brilliantly informing us that stars in the sky are, in fact, yellow. How am I going to compete with that shit? That sleepy-eyed bozo isn't even making sense. He's just pouring fabricated emotion over four gloomy guitar chords, and it ends up sounding like love. And what does that mean? It means she flies to fucking Portland to hear two hours of amateurish U.K. hyperslop, and I sleep alone in a $270 hotel in Manhattan, and I hope Coldplay gets fucking dropped by fucking EMI and ends up like the Stone fucking Roses, who were actually a better fucking band, all things considered."

In 2004's The 40 Year Old Virgin, Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen's characters used liking Coldplay as a punchline to their "You know how I know you're gay?" riff, which Arbitrary Analysis^[10] writer Jake Pitre marked as the moment Coldplay were established "as effeminate, emotional and generally soft, ready to be mocked and dismissed." For much of the 2000s, Coldplay remained something of a joke.^[11] They did not, however, reach the level of derision leveled at bands like Nickelback or Creed.

Chris Martin

In December 2003, Chris Martin married actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Since then, Martin's personal life has been subject to some ridicule.

Apple

On May 12th, 2004, Paltrow gave birth to a daughter that she and Martin named "Apple," which attracted mockery and was the subject of many lists about ridiculous celebrity baby names.^[13][14][15]

Conscious Uncoupling

In Spring 2014, Martin and Paltrow announced they were splitting. They called the split a "conscious uncoupling," which some mocked as new-age and pretentious.^[16]

Plagiarism Controversy

In 2008, guitarist Joe Satriani opened a lawsuit against Coldplay, arguing that their song "Viva La Vida" had ripped off his song "If I Could Fly." The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2009.^[17]

Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show

In February 2016, Coldplay played the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show, alongside Beyoncé and Bruno Mars. Many believed that the latter two performers severely upstaged Coldplay, leading to the Sidelined Chris Martin meme.

Cultural Appropriation Controversy

In February 2016, Coldplay's "Hymn For The Weekend" music video drew criticism from Indians for being "an amalgamation of cliches" about the country and accusation of cultural appropriation.^[18]

Social Media Presence

Coldplay is active on all social media networks. As of August 4th, 2016, they have over 17.2 million followers on Twitter,^[19] 39.1 million likes on Facebook,^[20] and 4.2 million followers on Instagram.^[21]

Search Interest

External References