Lucky Coldplaying members Sarah, Felix and Mark met Chris Martin last night at Travis’ Astoria gig in London.

Up on the balcony, the Coldplay singer Chris Martin could be seen pogoing, along with everyone else, to Why Does It Always Rain on Me? And down on the stage, Travis approached their task with an unforced enthusiasm and vigour that was quite unlike the more measured performances of even a year ago, when it still seemed as if the stakes were that much higher.

Read the coldplayer accounts here and look out for some pictures posted on that thread soon [thanks *sarah*, Felix & mc_squared]

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher once described Chris Martin as a geography teacher with a gawky bird. Yesterday the Coldplay singer confessed he and bandmates Will Champion, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman felt like supply teachers in the absence of rock heavyweights at the bash.

The modest star – who along with the rest of the lads picked up the Album Of The Year award and were named Best Act In The World Today – performed his usual tactic of putting himself down when he and the boys deserve every honour that comes their way. He said: “Well this is fucking awesome. It’s like doing a wedding speech because everyone here is our friend. I’ve got so much to say I’ll probably bore your pants off, which would be no bad thing if you were Girls Aloud.”

He added: “The other three guys have more brains than the enthusiasm I offer. I’m just one twat with three great blokes behind me. We’re not trying to be cool, we’re just trying to be the best band in the world. While all the others are off, we feel like substitute teachers.”

Chris also took a trip down memory lane, checking out snaps of the band over the years in The Sun showbiz photographer Dave Hogan’s new book Access All Areas. I also caught up with bassist Guy and my fellow Scot insisted I smell the armpit of his Viva La Vida French Revolution-style army jacket to prove they were keeping themselves clean.

I had previously reported that the lads only had one outfit each to last the duration of their world tour. But Guy told me: “We’ve got more than one of these jackets, you know, and we get them dry cleaned regularly. I want that to be made perfectly clear in the pages of Bizarre.”

So here it is in black and white. The UK leg of their tour starts at the end of November and the band will cram in 16 dates before the end of the year. In total the boys will be cracking out a massive 150 shows on the world tour.

More on this article here onwards [thanks mimixxx]

Coldplay's Chris Martin grovelled to 3am after taking a pop at Daily Mirror in Q Awards acceptance speech. Here is the Mirror's report:

After branding Chris Martin the “most boring man in pop”, we expected nothing more than the cold shoulder. But when we bumped into Coldplay’s frontman on the red carpet at the Q Awards yesterday, the unthinkable happened... he was actually quite nice.

In fact, cheeky charmer Chris had us weak at the knees with his outrageous flirting and compliments. So imagine our shock when he then got up on stage to accept his award for Best Act In The World – and slagged us off! He mumbled: “Thanks to everyone we’re friends with apart from people who slag us off and the Daily Mirror.”

He got roundly booed by the Grosvenor House Hotel audience for that and maybe the reaction that greeted his petty outburst made him have a sudden change of heart. Because as we marched over to his table to confront him afterwards, Chris suddenly started grovelling – and, boy, can this man grovel. He could grovel for gold if it was an Olympic sport.

“I’m so sorry,” he snivelled. “It was all a mistake – I know you’re lovely. I was so nervous – you try and get up there and do a speech off the cuff. I meant to mention another horrible newspaper and for some reason the Mirror popped into my head. I genuinely didn’t mean anything – I’m so sorry. You’re my number one girls.”

Hmm, if you say so Chris but we’re up against stiff competition... ex-Catatonia star Cerys Matthews for one. Cerys turned into a giggling schoolgirl when he admitted that he had a crush on her. As Coldplay accepted the award from Cerys, Chris gushed: “Eight to 10 years ago we supported Catatonia on tour and you let me hold your cigarette and I thought, ‘Maybe I’ve got a chance’.”

Blushing Cerys admitted that he still did. Ooh-er! And then lusty Chris revealed his personal fantasies about Girls Aloud. He said: “I can’t just say I fancy Cheryl, it’s like a Rubik’s cube. You need all the colours together, just like 3am. You can’t have one without the other.”

OK Chris, you’re back in our good books (only just). But we don’t know what Gwyneth would say....

More on this here onwards [thanks Aphrophet]

Coldplay fan John Lydon is taking a break from revisionist history to sell Country Life butter. A fitting product tie-in for someone who's gone (always was?) so soft. Surprisingly, it's reportedly the first time he's appeared in a television commercial, because going to board rooms to hawk Guitar Hero III doesn't count. The details:

"People know I only do things that I want to or that I believe in and I have to do it my way," said Lydon on deciding to appear in the TV ad. "I've never done anything like this before and never thought I would, but this Country Life ad was made for me and I couldn't resist the opportunity."

The Country Life advert cashes in on Lydon's standing as a British icon, albeit of the nihilistic variety. He is seen wearing a tweed suit and gallivanting around the countryside, suggesting reasons why he might prefer Country Life, before settling on the fact that the Dairy Crest-owned brand simply tastes better. "It's not about Great Britain, it's about Great Butter," runs the slogan. The ad, created by WPP agency Grey London, appears on TV for the first time tonight on ITV during the Pride of Britain Awards. By appearing in the advert Lydon might be courting a new controversy. Dairy Crest has just announced that it is seeking job cuts and could close its Nottingham dairy.

Public Image Ltd., indeed.

Coldplay think the screens used during their arena tour make them look fat.

The band - who are currently on a world tour to promote new album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends' - claim the videotrons make them look like they have "love handles" and are worried their fans will think they have piled on the pounds. Frontman Chris Martin said: "We've turned from a Mars Bar into a King-sized Mars Bar. There's a little bit of fat on me. I could see on the screen. It adds love handles."

The group are due to perform at London's O2 arena in December, but despite the band's recent success - their album received rave reviews and went to number one in the U.K. charts - Chris doesn't think their show compares to previous residents of The O2.

He told Britain's Absolute Radio: "Prince sold out 21 nights. I don't think we could. You can't do that unless you've got impeccable facial hair. With my facial hair we could probably sell out five nights."

The singer also revealed the group are making every effort to shed their grumpy image, saying: "A concert is not so much about us - it's about our fans. It's about their day. They've come here from work or come here from school or whatever and it's our job to make everyone have fun."

Watch the first part of Absolute Radio's video backstage with Coldplay here [thanks mimixxx]

A reminder that you can listen to the Absolute Radio webstream ahead of Wednesday's Airing of the Munich concert via the Coldplaying toolbar - which you can download here. If you have any problems with the toolbar please log them here as soon as possible.

Coldplay's Chris Martin says it is not just his Hollywood wife Gwyneth Paltrow who is body conscious – he is paranoid about looking fat on stage. The Coldplay frontman told the new Absolute Radio that he also frets about his receding hairline. He said that putting on weight makes rock venues seem smaller. The 31-year-old said: 'There's a little bit of fat on me – I realised that today during the encore. I could see it on the big screen. It adds love handles.'

Meanwhile, Virgin Radio comes to an end today after 15 years with the launch of Absolute Radio. DJ Christian O'Connell was due to unleash the all-new station on his breakfast show at 7.45am. Insiders have said that Absolute promises a completely new format. Chris Martin welcomed the arrival at their sell-out gig in Munich, Germany, at the weekend in front of 15,000 fans. He said: "I really can't wait to hear Absolute."

Watch the first part of Absolute Radio's video backstage with Coldplay here [thanks mimixxx]

A reminder that you can listen to the Absolute Radio webstream ahead of Wednesday's Airing of the Munich concert via the Coldplaying toolbar - which you can download here. If you have any problems with the toolbar please log them here as soon as possible.

Oasis are top of a bizarre new chart to find out which artist is selling the most unofficial concert tickets in the UK.

Tixdaq.com are company behind the new chart which officially starts next week. They gather ticket information based on quantity and vastly over-inflated ticket prices on websites such as eBay, Get Me In and Viagogo. Unsurprisingly, the top 5 is made up of big names with Oasis at 1, Kings of Leon at 2, Stevie Wonder at 3, Kayne West at 4 and Coldplay at 5.

Kings of Leon are currently top of the UK singles charts with 'Sex on Fire' and their fourth studio album 'Only By The Night' is expected to enter in pole position later today. Oasis release a new single 'The Shock of the Lightning' tomorrow (September 29) which is taken from their forthcoming seventh studio album 'Dig Out Your Soul' which is released on October 6.

In case you missed it, don't forget to check out the hilarious video mashup of Viva La VIda by SMAP and Coldplay. SMAP is a Japanese "idol" group, formed by Johnny & Associates. Originally, there were six members in the group; current members are Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki and Shingo Katori. Their fanbase mostly consists of Japanese women.

In 2008, they will have a 6-day tour at the Tokyo Dome, becoming the Japanese artist(s) to have the most amount of tour at the Dome. They will also release a new album super.modern.artistic.performance (SMAP) on the first day of the tour, September 24, 2008.

Watch the video here [thanks melanieau]

Chris Martin loves getting tattoos because it gives him a "buzz".

The Coldplay frontman has had several inkings since his 30th birthday last year and loves them so much he would thoroughly recommend having a piece of body art. Chris, 31, said: "Getting tattooed is brilliant. I got a few done in my 30s and it is the best buzz ever - especially if you are married and can't take drugs. I would recommend getting a tattoo whether you are 70 or 12 - actually, maybe not 12. I think that might be a bit too young."

Earlier this year, it was reported Chris' wife Gwyneth Paltrow had got a tattoo in his honour. The actress had the letter 'C' etched at the top of her right thigh to show her commitment to her husband.

Tattooist Steve Flannery said: "At first she was thinking about having a tattoo on her arm, but then decided that this might affect her acting work. In the end she decided on the top of her right thigh, and joked that Chris would have fun finding it. I asked her if the C stood for Coldplay, but she said it was definitely a C for Chris."

More on this story here [thanks mimixxx]

The Pussycat Dolls have revealed that several songs on their new album have a "Coldplay-ish" sound.

Band member Kimberly Wyatt said the group has "messed around with a lot of different genres" on new album Doll Domination, to be released later this month. "There are songs [on the album] that show the more vulnerable side of the Pussycat Dolls," she told DigitalSpy. "The sound is something different than we've really done before, it's a little more Coldplay-ish. It's kinda got an indie-rock vibe."

Wyatt also revealed that each band member has recorded a solo track for the album, saying: "There's going to be a special edition where each of us gets a chance to do our own song."

Read the full DigitalSpy interview with Kimberly from Pussycat Dolls here

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin insists he will never smash up a hotel room – because he used to clean them.

The rocker, 31, said: “When you’re a cleaner and you walk into a trashed room, it’s truly annoying. All you want to do is go on your tea break – and you get faced with that.”

Chris has seen the latest Coldplay album Viva La Vida go to No 1 in more than 30 countries. But he begged trash-happy celebs: “Spare a thought for the poor schmuck cleaning the room.”

More on this trashy story here

London, Aug 14 (ANI): If you think that with a wife like Gwyneth Paltrow rocker Chris Martin wouldnt glance another women, then youre wrong.

In an interview on Japanese TV, the Coldplay band members were shown four photographs of models to choose from, whom they would like to take on a date. While Will Champion, Guy Berryman and Jonny Buckland refused to choose, Martin immediately made his choice.

Thankfully, my wife is over 1,000 miles away so I”ll answer this,” the Mirror quoted him, as saying. Pointing at the pictures, he joked, “I”ll go for breakfast with this lady, then this lady for lunch. Then this lady, I”d take her to dinner on Thursday…” (ANI)

Don't worry if you missed it - click here to see a crazy Coldplay interview from Japanese program Diago [thanks Cris_Santos]

They won't be sporting it...

Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell has no interest in copying Coldplay when the band come back with a new look for their next album, according to reports.

Coldplay's distressed military look, which they adopted for their latest album 'Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends', has been the subject of much debate. And Borrell, who spent the last Razorlight album dressed in all-white, says he has no interest in the image. “Nah, it would be too much like when Coldplay came back in those weird suits,” he told the Daily Star.

Razorlight are understood to be releasing their third album at the beginning of 2009.

30 today! Celebrate here [Thanks StephBerryman]

Some Will trivia:

Will Champion (born William Champion, 31 July 1978)

Will was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England where his father, Timothy Champion, is professor of archaeology at the University of Southampton. Having two teacher parents led him to be musically inclined. As a youth, his musical influences included Tom Waits and traditional Irish folk music. He grew up playing guitar, but also had experience on the piano, bass, and tin whistle. Before joining Coldplay, he performed in a band called Fat Hamster.

He attended the Cantell secondary school in Basset Southampton before studying anthropology at University College London, where he met his future bandmates and formed Coldplay, despite having no experience on the drums. The multi-instrumentalist picked up the drums quickly and earned fulltime duties on the band. According to lead singer Chris Martin, “Will is like a human jukebox, he’s more a guitarist than a drummer. Me and Will used to sit on the stairs at our halls of residence and he’d know more songs than anyone. You name it, he’d play it.”

In Autumn 2004, Will and Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman guested on a-ha keyboardist Magne Furuholmen’s first solo album, Past Perfect Future Tense.

Will was the first Coldplay member to marry: He married Marianne Dark, a teacher, in 2003. Their first child, a girl called Ava, was born on April 14th, 2006.

Will is a fan of Southampton F.C. and he is a season ticket holder at the South Coast team.

20 Will Champion Quotes

A lot of the time there is a lot of melancholy in the lyrics.

Will Champion

A lot of times when we play in countries where English isn’t the first language we get accused of being melancholy and miserable.

Will Champion

As soon as we played together, it was much better than anything else we’d ever heard.

Will Champion

At the end of the day, we’re just trying to prevent each other from going mad.

Will Champion

Coldplay are just four friends trying to make great music.

Will Champion

I can’t do all that riddly diddly stuff. I’m not good enough. It’s all about not playing.

Will Champion

I don’t think it’s changed a great deal.

Will Champion

I think hopefully we’ve got enough brain cells left to decide if our music is really worth something.

Will Champion

I think I’m the best non-playing drummer in the world. No one not-plays like me.

Will Champion

I think people have difficulty judging and being self-critical and being honest about how good they think their music is.

Will Champion

It is worrying, but we feel as though our first album is a representation of our musical career of the first years up to this point.

Will Champion

Optimism is the key.

Will Champion

So, if we’re happy playing the songs we have written, for as long as we can, then that is sort of the proof that they’re good songs as well.

Will Champion

Some of the really early songs we don’t enjoy playing anymore because they haven’t stood the test of time to us.

Will Champion

The first time we all played as a band, I think it was in January 1998, in Jonny’s bedroom.

Will Champion

Two weeks later, we played our first concert and had 100 people there. It was pretty cool.

Will Champion

We started with 20 songs, enough for two albums basically, but we knew that there were no second chances-you don’t get a second chance to do a debut album-so it was a very specific selection process.

Will Champion

We’re also passionate about music and very critical about the music that we listen to.

Will Champion

We’re very thankful for what we’ve got, so God forbid we start taking it for granted.

Will Champion

Well, the stuff on the album we are a hundred per cent sure that we’ll never get sick of because that was a very careful selection process.

Will Champion

When you write something it has to hit the level that you accept as being good.

Will Champion

Teen star Miley Cyrus was thrilled to heard that Coldplay would consider touring with her because she has a huge crush on the bands lead singer Chris Martin.

Martin recently revealed he is a fan of Cyrus and insisted hed never rule out hitting the road with Cyrus, reports contactmusic.com. He said: Anyone we like or respect, no matter how different they may be, we would play with. Shes doing something quite different. I just think she seems to have a sweet character.

Cyrus was ecstatic when she heard this news and even said she would not mind replacing Gwyneth Paltrow as the next Mrs. Martin. She said: In my other life, I would definitely be, like, Chris Martins dream girl. Hes awesome, hes, like, the most amazing performer. When I went to a show, he was like a saint.

Chris Martin says spending time away from his wife Gwyneth Paltrow works wonders for their relationship. The Coldplay frontman says that when he comes back from being on tour he feels even closer to the 'Shallow Hal' actress and their two children, Apple and Moses.

He explains, "We have so many different jobs in our family that sometimes we are together and sometimes we are not. It is just the way it all works out. But I think when you have a partner who is a musician or a dad who is a musician, it's a good thing not to see them for a few days. Then when you see each other it makes it really special. You treasure the time together."

Martin, 31, and Paltrow, 35, married in December 2003.

Source: http://www.showbizspy.com

Coldplay has decided to wear French Revolution-style army jackets every night for their 67-day tour.

The thesun.co.uk reports the band members have already been wearing the coats to death for promotional work of their album “Viva La Vida” and the video for single “Violet Hill”. The jackets are inspired by the uniforms worn by the soldiers in Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty Leading The People painting.

More on this story here

Even though the band Coldplay is very well known, their lead singer Chris Martin does not seem to be so.

Martin had gone to the Thompson Beverly Hills hotel on July 12 to meet some friends on the rooftop, but was not allowed in, as his name was not on the list. A guard stationed at the elevator did not recognize the singer and as his name had not been included on the list at the elevator that takes patrons to the roof, he was not allowed to go through.

“A goon at the elevator wouldn”t let him up,” E!online quoted a source as saying. “Everyone’s like, ”This is the lead singer of Coldplay.” The goon wasn”t rude, but he just asked him if he was on the list,” the source added. It was only after the guard had confirmed with the people upstairs, that Martin, who had been patiently waiting all the while, was let through.

More on this story here [thanks mimixxx]

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has defended celebrities who choose to give their children unusual names.

Martin, whose own children with Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow are called Apple and Moses, said “a name is just a noise”. He also said that if the parents were happy, then they shouldn't be concerned about what others thought.

"People make a big fuss over names. Names of babies, names of albums, names of bands,” he told Blender. "There's nothing weird about calling your baby Chewbacca (Star Wars character) if that's what you want to call your baby. It's no stranger than Sarah. A name is just a noise, and, if you like it, then fuck what everyone else says."

Coldplay are due to begin their US tour in Los Angeles next Monday (July 14th). The band, who are currently number one with their new album, played a number of warm up shows last month.

More on 'crazy' celebrity baby and band names here [thanks mimixxx]

Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, is certain that their "handsome" bassist Guy Berryman is the only reason for their success.

Martin claims that girls and gay fans love the charming bassist, reports contactmusic.com.

The singer said: "My entire life is spent trying to push him (Berryman) forward at photo shoots. He's our packaging... He's a handsome b*****d. None of us pretend that if he wasn't in the band we'd be as popular. He's responsible for all our calendar sales."

Source: indiaenews.com

After nearly five years of marriage, Chris Martin can still bring Gwyneth Paltrow to tears -- which is exactly what he did at Coldplay's recent concert in New York City.

As his biggest fan, the 35-year-old actress was front and center for the band's concert and enjoying every minute of it. "Gwyneth was whispering and clapping throughout the show," an eyewitness tells OK!. But when Chris, 31, launched into "Fix You," the song he wrote for Gwyneth after her father Bruce's death in 2002, "she broke down in tears."

The tears didn't go unnoticed. After the show, Chris, 31, made sure to comfort his wife. "He noticed she had been crying," the source says. "He kissed her and made her laugh by pointing out all the things he'd screw up in the show."

More on this here [thanks mimixxx]

Sparta’s Jim Ward is currently finding success with the alt-country-ish Sleepercar, but did you know that the early plan for the band was to include Coldplay’s Guy Berryman?

Ward says during the early stages of their careers, he and Berryman bonded over their love of this particular sound and had discussed forming a band called The London Country Rebels. Things really took off for Coldplay, limiting Berryman’s availability, but that hasn’t stopped Ward from trying to keep the idea fresh in the guitarist’s head.

The singer tells us he tried to get Berryman to get a London Country Rebels tattoo so that they both would know and would eventually do the project some day, but the guitarist said that they should try to write a song together first before getting a tattoo.

Ward says the logo is the best part with the London subway symbol emblazoned in silver letters with the words “London Country Rebels.” The last time Ward says they tried to unite was before Coldplay’s “A Rush Of Blood To The Head” came out, and things haven’t let up since. Though the pairing has yet to take, the singer says he was able to send the Sleepercar album to his friends in Coldplay and got feedback that the band had been listening to it while recording their latest disc.

Source: http://krockecho.blogspot.com/

"Guy Berrymans’s new camera may look antique, but it isn’t. It’s actually the new Lieca M8. They’ve got a retro look about them but are about the most coveted cameras around. Guy must be really getting into photography at the moment, because this is a hardcore camera. They retail for about £3000 and I’d give my left nut for one."

Guy uses a 35mm Summicron ASPH zoom lense and it looks like the folks over at flickr are practially salivating over this cool piece of kit, as it take stunning pictures.

[thanks MikeJ]

Talent borrows, genius steals, they say. On the evidence given when Coldplay were accused of plagiarism this week, we can conclude that the band are neither talented nor geniuses (but we know they are both).

The unknown Brooklyn singer Andrew Hoepfner and his band Creaky Boards have posted a video online claiming similarities between their track The Songs I Didn't Write and Coldplay's Viva La Vida (watch the two videos here). Hoepfner suggests Chris Martin was in the audience of a show he performed in New York last October (which the band strongly deny) and plays poor impoverished David to their corporate Goliaths, saying: "If they ever want to collaborate, I've got some microphones we could use in my bedroom."

Listening to his tune and to Coldplay's, you can hear a slight similarity between the stretched-out vowel in the middle of each line. Aside from that, any connection is tenuous at best. Oasis have got away with far worse.

This kind of thing does happen accidentally, however. Liam Fray from Manchester indie stars The Courteeners recently told me about their song, Smiths Disco, a recent B-side. It's an exact copy of the melody from Stephen Fretwell's song Scar - and Fray wrote it shortly after attending a Fretwell gig while very drunk and absorbing the tune in his subconscious. The two are mates, though, so legal action wasn't needed.

The case of Creaky Boards looks far creakier, but at least Hoepfner is getting a lot of publicity out of it. And even more fortunately, at least Coldplay haven't copied his moustache.

More on the plagiarism row here

Coldplay singer Chris Martin has revealed that his band's upcoming tour will be inspired by Mary Poppins.

Speaking to The Sun, Martin confessed that the Disney film had an impact on how Coldplay presented themselves live. "We grew up with Mary Poppins and all those sorts of things," he said. "We love making big shows up and trying to work out what lights will look cool. We get very nerdy about it because we can't believe we're allowed to do it."

The 31-year-old added that Coldplay still trail behind Muse in terms of on-stage pyrotechnics. "We'll never get as extreme as Muse," he commented "We'll let them do the biggest thing and think, 'OK, how did they do it?' We have always been a step behind Muse. They're so great live."