Coldplay are Chris Martin (vocals/piano), Jon Buckland (guitar), Will Champion (drums), and Guy Berryman (bass).
Chris Martin, began playing the piano as a young child, and started playing in bands at the age of fifteen. Among his early sources of inspiration were the poignant, gritty lyrics of U.S singer/songwriter, Tom Waits. Buckland, on the other hand, was into the heavy guitar work of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix and was playing guitar by age 11. Scotsman Guy Berryman was raised on punk and was therefore more than happy to lay down the basslines for the band. Multi-instrumentalist, Champion settled on drums in order to complete the Coldplay line-up.
While attending the University College of London, the four band members took to strumming their acoustics together. They had been playing instruments since their early teens and had been influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, the Stone Roses, Neil Young, and My Bloody Valentine.
The quartet played their first gig at the now defunct Laurel Tree in Camden, London in January 1998. Soon after, they appeared at a festival for unsigned bands in Manchester. It was after this that the Safety EP (limited to 500 pressings) was released. The Brothers and Sisters EP was issued by the Fierce Panda label and released a year later (again, limited to 500 pressings. Their sweet melodies and swooning lyrics landed Coldplay a U.K. deal with Parlophone in April 1999, and the limited-edition five-track, The Blue Room EP, followed that autumn. Two more EPs, Shiver and Yellow, arrived in spring 2000. By this time, Coldplay had begun their ascent with comparisons to artists such as Travis, Radiohead and Jeff Buckley.
Their full-length debut Parachutes, which earned the band a Mercury Music Prize nomination, was released in the U.K. In November 2000, the album was released in the U.S immediately breaking the band in the States (the first non-American band of the new millennium to do so). The track, Yellow was chosen as the theme song for all promo spots for America's ABC channel. In 2001, the band won three Brit Awards nominations and a sold-out ten-date tour of the U.S. in February.
Illness and exhaustion forced Chris Martin and Coldplay to cancel a series of American dates and scrap a European tour. The inevitable rumours of a split followed, but the band bounced back, playing festivals in summer 2001 and releasing their successful second single, Trouble.
In the autumn of 2001, the band headed into the studio once more and recorded their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. Although still recognisably Coldplay, this album, which was released in August 2002, proved to be louder, more up-tempo and energetic than its predecessor, Parachutes.
Their third studio album, X & Y was finally released on June 7th 2005. This collection of songs, saw Coldplay expand ther sound to embrace ambient electronic techniques, more readily identifiable with artists such as Brian Eno and Kraftwerk.
Equipment
Jonny Buckland plays 2 vintage Thinline Telecaster® guitars, a vintage Jazzmaster®, two reissue Jaguar® guitars, two Lake Placid Blue Japanese Jerry Donahue Telecaster® guitars, two Fender® Twin™ amps and three Hot Rod Deville™ Combo amps. You can hear his Tele® work on tracks like Don't Panic, Spies, Everything's Not Lost, Trouble and High Speed. The Jaguar® can be heard on Yellow and Shiver and the Jazzmaster® on Sparks and We Never Change .
Chris Martin plays two Telecaster® Deluxe guitars and two Hot Rod Deville™ Combo amps.
Guy Berryman plays two Fender® Precision® Basses.
