Coldplay’s Chris Martin knows that not everyone is going to be a fan of his music — and that’s fine by him.
The British rocker, 47, opened up to Rolling Stone about Coldplay’s reputation, as the group is still sometimes considered a punching bag despite being one of the biggest bands in the world.
“It would be terrible if we lived in a society where everyone had to (like the same thing). We’re a very, very easy, safe target. We’re not going to bite back,” Martin said. “We are four white, middle-class men from England. We deserve to take some s— for what our people have done. There’s a reason we get to play all around the world, and part of it is not necessarily very healthy.”
Despite Martin’s take, Coldplay has plenty of fans. The group’s Music of the Spheres tour has sold more than 12 million tickets since it began in March 2022, and has earned more than a billion dollars, making it the highest-grossing rock tour of all time and the most-attended tour ever.
Chris Martin.
He is fingering
Martin and his bandmates Johnny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion still have dozens of dates left, with performances scheduled through September 2025.
Still, Coldplay has come a long way since 2005, when The New York Times called them “the most insufferable band of the decade” in a scathing review of their album X&Y.
The next year, Martin told Rolling Stone’s Joe Levy that he knew all art was at risk of criticism — and that he used it light a fire.
“Anything you do, someone says it’s great and someone says it’s terrible,” he explained. “I think (The Times is) correct (and we’re) doing what we can to change that… We’re obsessed with getting better and better. So criticism is essential and although we kind of had some hardcore stuff I now, nine months later, I love the fact that we’ve got it and we just want to try to make us a bit more sufferable.”
Chris Martin of Coldplay.
He is fingering
Whatever Coldplay did worked, as their next record, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, was a smash hit, winning best rock album at the Grammys and notching the title of best-selling album of 2008.
Coldplay’s most recent album, Moon Music, came out in October, and topped the Billboard 200 charts.
That same month, he joked onstage at a SiriusXM show about how longtime fans often get frustrated when he plays new music at concerts.
Chris Martin of Coldplay performing in October 2024.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
“I know that’s annoying for some of you. But once upon a time, even that song ‘Viva La Vida’ was new and everyone in the room was like, ‘What the f— is this? They got s— already,'” he said. “And so, it is amazing that every new song we have lots of people say is terrible. And then 10 years later, it’s a worldwide super classic smash. That’s happened maybe three times. So, the other 76 songs were just terrible.”
Martin has said that the band will release just two more records, one an animated musical, and one more that will be titled Coldplay.
“The cover of the album, I’ve known it since 1999,” he told Rolling Stone in the new cover story. “It’s a photograph by the same photographer that took the photo that’s the cover of our first EP.”
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