Coldplay.

That?s a name nearly everyone knows, especially anyone with an interest in music. They have sold millions of records in their name, not just coining them amongst the best-selling artists of all time, but 100 million records making them the absolute most successful band of the 21st century. 

Such a marvelous success story starts somewhere- Where did this legendary group get their start? How did the timeline of their records look? Let?s find out! 

?Coldplay? wasn?t always the band?s name. Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland joined forces at University College London during their orientation week. They knew they wanted to start a band together. 

Pectoralz became the name of their first musical endeavor. Their first songwriting sessions and practise sessions started in 1997. Over the course of the year as well as 1998, Guy Berryman joined the group as well as Will Champion. 

As well as additional members, the band also had two name changes again, from ?Big Fat Noises? to ?Starfish?. 

Only weeks later though, they settled on the name Coldplay. The iconic name was actually offered to them by a fellow student who had originally been using it for his own group, Tim Crompton. In the same year of 1998, Coldplay released the first record under their name, ?Safety EP?. 

Phil Harvey, the band?s manager-to-be at the time, funded the record?s release for ?1500 to press 500 copies. Most of these were given to either record labels or friends and family, but a concert the group held helped them sell off their first number of copies for profit. 

They shortly signed a short-term contract with Fierce Panda Records which released their debut single, ?Brothers and Sisters? in 1999. It wasn?t their leap into fame, but it did still find a place in the charts. It also featured a limited edition release on vinyl, 1500 copies were issued with a special picture sleeve. 

All this while they were still students at University. 

When they finished their studies, the four of them remained together as Coldplay and signed a five-album contract with Parlophone. ?The Blue Room?, Coldplay?s second EP and first record under Parlophone, released in 1999. This EP has different versions of songs that would appear on their first LP. This record came with another limited edition vinyl release, a 12 inch record individually numbered on the front picture sleeve. 

However, no band is without its troubles. 

Champion was for a short time, fired from the band down to differences and difficulties regarding drugs and alcohol. Martin found himself begging for Champion to return, and drowned his sorrows in a huge binge of alcohol. 

Most bands would lose a member or two in an event like this, but Coldplay survived such a fate. 

The two of them were able to work out their differences and the band were able to come to an agreement between each other. They decided to operate as an open democracy, they pledged that none of them would go hard on drugs or drinking again, or they?d be fired from the band. 

With their issues resolved, the band got back to work. Between tours and live performances, Coldplay?s first LP was brought to life. ?Parachutes? was released in 2000. Its singles performed well in charts, ?Yellow? specifically hit an impressive number 4 in UK charts. The album itself dominated the UK Album Charts at number one on debut. It found slower, but just as fulfilling success in the US and would eventually earn double platinum status. 

Despite the band?s success, Harvey was severely strained and tested as a manager. He managed the duties of a team as a single person, and stepped away from role as manager to instead wear the helm of creative director. He is often referenced and considered the band?s fifth member. Dave Holmes became the band?s new manager. 

The band rushed back to work in the studio following the success of ?Parachutes?. 

?A Rush of Blood to the Head? released in the summer of 2002. They teased a few of the new album?s releases while touring to promote ?Parachutes?. The 2002 release came with a number of successful hit singles, being ?Clocks?, ?In My Place? and the immensely popular ?The Scientist?. Over the next few years, they found immense success and even earned an award for Record of the Year for ?Clocks?. 

However after all the hustle and bustle of touring and awards, 2004 became an overall quiet year for the band. 

The only thing they put out during the year was a satirical music video by the non-existent band, ?The Nappies?. 

This seemingly silly stunt was in fact, a great way to get everyone excited for what the REAL band, Coldplay, had in the works. 

?X&Y? released in 2005. It quickly became the best selling album of its year, selling 8.3 million copies. As well as releasing two popular singles in ?Fix You? and ?Talk?, ?X&Y? also solidified Coldplay?s place in the music industry as quite possibly the biggest band of their time not just by the units it sold, but its astronomical success in around 20 countries, reaching the top of the charts in each one. 

From summer 2005 to spring of 2007, Coldplay were occupied by their Twisted Logic Tour, which also consisted of several festival appearances, one of which being yet another of their appearances at Glastonbury. Three more singles spawned during this gap in studio activity, and work on the next studio album started in 2006 while the tour continued, and also became the band?s focus when the tour ended. 

The next album would be much more experimental than the previous three. With traveling and recording in Latin America as well as Spain, the album took on a healthy amount of Hispanic influence. The album would feature songs that dipped their feet into more genres, such as blues being played around within the first released single for the record, ?Violet Hill?.

?Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends? released in 2008. The album conquered album charts worldwide, quickly climbing to become the best-selling album of 2008. It was recorded as one of the fastest selling albums in the UK?s chart history. It changed Coldplay?s sound, bringing in many different sub-genres and influences, such as ?Love in Japan??s use of orchestra, ?Lost!? featuring tribal themes and more. 

The album also moved away from close, personal themes and instead dived more into the deeper and wider issues of humanity as a whole. War, revolution, the album found more political footing than Coldplay had ever had before. 

?Prospekt?s March?, an EP, also released along with ?Viva la Vida?. It featured a few more songs that were recorded during the same sessions as the album it released with. 

Following more busy years of immensely successful tours, Coldplay were out of the studio for a few years, but not deprived of records to release. The ?Viva la Vida Tour? produced the live album, ?LeftRightLeftRightLeftRight?, which was recorded across several shows during the tour. Released in 2009, it was also given away at remaining shows on the tour and released as a free download on their official website. 

After these busy touring years, 2011 came and during the summer, ?Mylo Xyloto? was released. Months before its release were the teaser singles ?Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall? and what would become their next massive hit, ?Paradise?. The album topped the charts in over 30 countries, once again reining Coldplay as one of the most impressively-selling bands in the world. 

Again, ?Mylo Xyloto? would visit new themes from previous albums. While it held the consistent theme of love, it also took on themes of OCD, addiction and an escape. 

?Paradise? would go on to become the best-selling rock single in the UK, as well as winning the award for Best Rock Video in the year of its release. They also announced their next tour months before the album was released, which sold out entire venues in seconds. 

Despite continuously touring, and Chris Martin adamantly denying the idea of any sort of break, Coldplay continued recording their next album during. 

Come September of 2013, Coldplay released the first single of their new album-in-progress, ?Atlas?. The song was featured in the soundtrack of the movie ?The Hunger Games: Catching Fire?. In early 2014, the band also revealed ?Midnight?, another track from the album. 

Just a month later, May 2014, ?Ghost Stories? was released. This spiritual album followed on with new and interesting themes for Coldplay?s lyrics, the themes of actions of the past rippling into events of the future. It also took a new approach of each member contributing their own material, instead of just building off Martin?s concepts and ideas like before. 

The album topped a plethora of countries? charts once again. It took more awards under its belt, as well as releasing two more singles in ?A Sky Full of Stars? and ?True Love?. 

At the end of 2014, the next album was announced. 

?A Head Full Of Dreams? was revealed by Martin, who also stated that it would be Coldplay?s last album, as their seventh studio album. He also added a little hint of the new theming they?d be working with, as he described, it would be colourful, uplifting and something to shuffle your feet to. 

?Miracles? was first unveiled at the back end of 2014, as it would feature in the World War II based drama ?Unbroken?. 

?Adventure of a Lifetime? premiered on Nick Grimshaw?s Radio 1 Breakfast Show, as well as revealing the release date of the album itself. 

?A Head Full Of Dreams? released on schedule in December of 2015. The album features a plethora of guest appearances, one of which is even Barack Obama, and quickly climbed to number 1 in the UK, however just number 2 throughout other countries. 

Once again, after a successful release into the world, Coldplay ventured back on tour in promotion of the album?s release. This tour finished in 2017, and has been recorded as the third-highest grossing concert tour of all time. 

Despite Martin?s previous claims that the band would finish at seven studio albums, that wasn?t the case. 

Mysterious happenings occurred in 2019. Black and white posters began popping up in a number of countries, which visualized the whole band dressed in vintage clothing and displaying the date 22 November 1919. Coldplay?s social media profile pictures suddenly depicted a sun and moon, and a very short teaser was released shortly after. 

In a very interesting marketing technique, the band sent out a letter to fans directly, to inform them that their next album was in the works and that it was going to be named ?Everyday Life?. 

Just days later, the track list was revealed within public newspapers in a few places, most of which were linked to at least one of the band members. Still sticking to their ever-changing themes, teaser releases revealed ?Arabesque?, which was the very first Coldplay song to feature any profanity. 

The album sky-rocketed to the top of UK charts, giving the band a complete slate of number 1 UK releases. It quickly became one of the fastest selling albums of 2019, firmly clasping Coldplay?s influence on modern music. 

In 2021, Coldplay came with an announcement of ?Higher Power?, a new single which would see the band working with Max Martin and his team both on the track and the new album it was going to be a part of. 

?Music of the Spheres? was scheduled to release in October of 2021, which it did without a hitch. It dominated charts on release, both in the UK, the US, and plenty more. It quickly became the UK?s fastest selling album, beating out even Ed Sheeran in the title. The record overall followed the theme of space this time, which found a little bit of influence from previous album ?Mylo Xyloto?. However, this album completely chased the concept of space, so much as creating a fictional planetary system, ?The Spheres?.

From here, the list only ends temporarily. Coldplay are still going strong, and still remain to be the most successful band of this century. Throughout their successful career they have shaped the alternative music scene for the current generation. 

And even throughout the process of all the recordings and tours we?ve thought back on here, they?ve done so much we didn?t even get to mention. 

They have performed at Glastonbury nearly consecutively, headlining it several times. 

They have countless Grammys and awards under their name. 

They have taken part in raising money for several charity events, such as raising money for ?Future Forests? and ?Stop Handgun Violence? campaigns, as well as a hosting a live performance at the Natural History Museum in London, where they performed beneath ?Hope?, a huge blue whale skeleton of 128 years old. 

They have collaborated with so many artists, such as Rihanna, Beyonce,, Ed Sheeran, Pearl Jam, Noel Gallagher, Gwyneth Parlow, South Korean K-Pop group BTS and even a guest appearance from Simon Pegg on the music video for ?Christmas Lights?.

 

With such an awe-inspiring band still on the move, there?s no way of knowing what?s over the horizon that will come under the legendary name of Coldplay.