It looks like reports of Coldplay's demise — to parenthood, of all things — may be greatly exaggerated.

That's according to a spokesperson for Capitol Records, who on Monday (October 2) spoke with MTV News to dispel reports of Coldplay's "five-year hiatus" to concentrate on their families.

"The band is enjoying a much-deserved break, which I think everybody already knows," Ambrosia Healy wrote in an e-mail to MTV News. "No, there isn't a self-imposed 'five-year hiatus.' "

Healy's e-mail was in response to reports on various news sites and Coldplay message boards early Monday. The reports came just two weeks after Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman welcomed his first daughter, Nico, which made him the third member of the band to become a father (drummer Will Champion and his wife had their first child in April, and frontman Chris Martin has two children with actress Gwyneth Paltrow).

The new baby — coupled with the fact that Coldplay have no touring or recording plans on the horizon — had fans wondering if they'd have to wait until 2011 to hear the follow-up to the band's triple-platinum X&Y.

While those fears are unfounded, Healy made it clear that fans shouldn't be looking for a new album in the immediate future, either.

"There isn't a timetable for them recording the follow-up to X&Y," Healy continued. "They're enjoying not having a plan at the moment. Isn't that what a break is all about?"

More on this story here

Chris Moyles DJ, who lives in a trendy part of North London, has many celebrity neighbours.

Chris Martin is one but the Leeds-born loudmouth admits he often can’t make out what the Coldplay star is really like — because he’s quite mad.

He explains: “He came into our studio one morning and he just seemed wired — it’s the only word I can think of which won’t get me into trouble. He just seemed out of it, not out of it as in wasted, but just really, really giddy and surreal and a little bit, I suppose, bonkers. He’s very clean living and very healthy but sometimes you’d think he was Pete Doherty’s flatmate.”

Read the full article here

It’s been a heck of a year for English rock band Coldplay. First, lead singer Chris Martin and wife Gwyneth Paltrow had a baby boy, Moses, in early April.

Not to be outdone, drummer Will Champion and his wife Marianne welcomed a daughter named Ava about a week later.

And, now, according to ContactMusic, bass player Guy Berryman and his wife Joanna Briston show that they’re supporting the band’s efforts at procreation as well, with the arrival of their daughter Nico earlier this week.Whoa! That’s three out of four. Is this getting to be some kind of record for a rock band? What I’m most worried about is all the pressure that this places on guitarist Jon Buckland. I mean, forget the music, everyone around him is having babies. There is a rumor that Jon and his girlfriend Chloe are thinking of getting married. Better come through on that one Jon, or you may be looking for a new band to play with next year. They’re not going to want a band member who can’t change a diaper, for goodness sake.

from Celebrity Baby Names Blog 21/09/2006 - [thanks cpfan50]

Chris was delighted to hear that Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow had been watching him [on Celebrity X Factor] — and apparently even voted for him. Puffing out his chest, he says: “Now that is a true claim to fame! I’ve never met Gwyneth Paltrow — even though she lives very near to me — but I do sometimes see her husband, Chris Martin, about.

“I bumped into him and he told me that him and the wife were huge fans of the programme and had been tuning in to watch me — and to vote for me.

“How showbiz can you get?”

http://www.thesun.co.uk

Coldplay may not release a new album for the next five years, the Daily Star claims today.

Chris Martin was overheard discussing the decision with friends after performing with Jay-Z at the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday night.

"It's going to be a long, long time before you hear a new album from us," he explained. "We've done a few things, but we're all enjoying having families at the moment. If it takes five years for us to feel ready to record something new, then so be it. We need plenty of time to let it come together organically."

However the Q&A at the official site denied that Coldplay would be dormant for five years. More on this story here [thanks Flying Sparks] and here [thanks emilien88]

So prevalent is this culture of wussdom that earlier this year, Blender magazine compiled a list of the world’s wussiest rock acts.

Among those vying for sissy supremacy were Kenny G., Peter Cetera, Boyz II Men, Nick Lachey, Babyface, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and, presumably because it gave them the chance to publish a photo of a hot chick among these saps, Hilary Duff.

But then, Duff is dating a member of Good Charlotte, which makes her, at the very least, a wuss sympathizer.

What’s next? A rapper going to jail for making unsafe lane changes and speeding? Maybe he and his posse can share a cell with Paris Hilton, have pillow fights, colour-co-ordinate their bunks, flounce around in pink, feather-rimmed pyjamas, and gossip about the dreamy guard in cell-block C.

Remember, we live in a world where the latest sex-tape scandal doesn’t involve Colin Farrell or Brad Pitt — but the guy who played Screech on Saved by the Bell.

Unlike in School for Scoundrels, there’s no easy remedy for being a simpering weakling, although for those wishing to reconnect with the sturdier stuff in their souls, there’s no surer way to toughen up by sitting through a mini-festival of guy movies, the sort of cinema that oozes testosterone out of its celluloid.

What makes a great guy movie?

Someone being punched always helps, but as Clint Eastwood said in Million Dollar Baby: “Girlie, tough ain’t enough.”

No, rather a truly great guy movie needs to explore what it means to be a man, presumably around other men (and maybe a few gratuitously naked women).

They can be tough, they can even be tender, but make no mistake, they’re not for wusses.

Two nights into their short tour supporting Muse, Coldplay were preparing to welcome a haul of new fans in Newcastle. ALAN SMITHEE spoke to Will Champion (drums) and Guy Berryman (bass).

Leading up to their second ‘proper’ single, YELLOW, both the band and the fans are eager for the release of ‘PARACHUTES’, the debut album, on July 10th. WC: ‘It was co-produced by us and a chap called Ken Nelson, who we work with, and it was recorded in spits and spats, in four different studios around the country, Wales, Liverpool, London, mixed in New York. It’s called Parachutes after a short song on the album, and it seemed to fit quite nicely.’It had been said that there would be 10 tracks on the album plus an extra surprise at the end, and there was no way the band were going to reveal it! GB: ‘It wouldn’t be a surprise if we told you!’ WC: ‘Who told you that anyway?’.

WC: ‘(the recording) was quite stressful, a lot of things took a lot longer than we’d thought.’ GB: ‘There was a lot of times we thought we’d got it then we’d listen to it a week later and it was no good, there was a lot of going ’round in circles, but eventually the end product we’re happy with’.

Recently Coldplay filmed the video for YELLOW, although things didn’t quite go according to plan. WC: ‘Yeah we had a script and it was gonna be on the beach and we had loads of extras, there was gonna be loads of people sitting around on the beach but in the end it was pouring with rain, so Chris did it by himself’. GB: ‘Apparently it looks like Bittersweet Symphony, on the beach, in the rain!’

On June 8th, after a multitude of support slots and co-headliners, Coldplay start their first headline tour. How does that feel? WC: ‘Great! It’s really cool ‘cos this tour’ll be really good for us ‘cos a lot of Muse’s fans have actually heard of us and quite like us too, and the two gigs we’ve played already have been really really good so we’re definitely looking forward to the headlining.’ GB: ‘This is more of an event than the headlining, people come to see both bands.’ What about the dates recently confirmed for Europe, Australia and Japan? WC: ‘Yeah, definitely, you’d be mad not to (look forward to them) really!’ GB: ‘Especially Australia ‘cos we’re out there for six days and we’ve only got six days to play so we get some time there’. The band are confident of a warm reception, GB: ‘We’ve done alright so far, we released our single, the BLUE ROOM EP and it’s done very well apparently.’

WC: ‘ When we’re not touring we’re either recording or doing interviews or doing photos or videos (laughter), but when we’ve got time off we just sit around in the flat and… relax! GB: ‘Relax!’ WC: ‘It’s been very stressful, or whatever, so it’s just relaxation and going out and having fun!’.

This year Coldplay are really starting to ‘get noticed’ and their fanbase is snowballing, even after a somewhat disasterous session on LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND. WC: ‘Yeah the TV was a bit… we weren’t really happy with the Jools Holland thing.’ Was there something wrong with the sound there? WC+GB: ‘Yeah!’, WC: ‘It was just appaling. Worst sound I’ve ever heard. On any band, ever! (laughter) Yeah that was really annoying but it didn’t really do us too much harm ‘cos more people seemed to hear us’. You still seemed to pick up a few more fans after that. WC: ‘Yeah! That’s the plan! So yeah, I don’t think it did any harm to be on TV at all, we just would’ve preferred to be a bit better, that’s all’.

So how are Coldplay getting on with Matt Bellamy and co.? WC: ‘They seem really cool, the first gig was two nights ago, they came into our dressing room and gave us a couple of bottles of champagne, as a ‘Hello!’ sort of thing. Yeah, I’m really looking forward to getting to know them a bit better’.

What would you say was the best gig you’ve ever played?

GB: There’s a few that stick out…

WC: The one last night was quite enjoyable

GB: Yeah

WC: The Catatonia one was great

GB: Yeah!

WC: ‘Cos that was sort of like a landmark, our first big support, it was ages ago, last April, over a year ago, that was good. But yeah, hopefully we should get better every time we play, so hopefully tonight should be the best gig we’ve ever played!’

You’ve been labelled the new ‘nicest guys in rock’, how do you feel about that?

WC: It’s alright!

GB: Fine!

WC: It’s cool!

GB: It’s better to be labelled ‘nice’ than ‘tosser’! (laughter).

Last time we spoke, you said Chris got recognised because he had funny hair, has been recognised in the street since his haircut?

(laughter)

WC: Not in the street, but outside gigs he always gets little girlies flocking around him.

In Melody Maker, Chris said he’d like a one-night stand with Hillary Woods from JJ72, did anything happen there?

WC: (laughs)

GB: What’s that?

WC: That thing in Melody Maker at the MTV thing, five-night stand that guy asked about one-night stands, if there was anyone in the pop world he’d like to have a one-night stand with, and Chris said, holding his hand over the tape recorder, and basically said the bass player from JJ72s really pretty, and they printed it!

GB: (laughs)

WC: It’s just one of those things, one of those spur of the moment things I think!

What bands do you love and hate?

WC: Bands we love is just massive, just hundreds and hundreds of bands we love, and equally probably bands we hate aswell, it’s more types of music, well no that’s not right, there’s a lot of pop crap, it’s not even hating it, it just doesn’t even merit a response, but bands we love there’s just thousands and thousands and thousands.

Pet Hates?

WC: Pet hates? People who don’t look where they’re going walking on the street and then stop in front of you and don’t realise you’re walking right behind them and stuff like that, just a general lack of awareness for other people. That’s my pet hate.

It’s like that in supermarkets aswell.

WC: Yeah! People who’ve got no concept of other people. Terrible.

Again last time we spoke you said Will did a great impression of Michael Owen. Apart from that, can you tell me one question the UK doesn’t know about you or another band member?

(laughter)

WC: Dunno!

GB: There’s probably a lot of things the country doesn’t know about us, but it’s probably best left unsaid! (laughter)

WC: Can’t think of anything printable!

GB: Apart from really boring stuff which people wouldn’t be interested in like Chris’s middle name or something! (laughter) Which really isn’t interesting so…

WC: Can’t think of anything!

GB: Not interesting to write.

WC: Not without offending anyone!

Do you not just want to offend someone then???

WC: Not really! It’s not in our gameplan!

“We should get better every time we play, so hopefully tonight should be the best gig we’ve ever played!” - Will

That may well have proved to be true.

“We’ve had a really shit day so we just want to enjoy this as much as possible”, singer Chris Martin informs an angry, restless crowd of Muse-Os. The band get off to a breathtaking start with the best song of the set with the beautiful-groovy-beautiful SPIES. It was greeted by a great roaring cheer, to the delight of the band.

This was followed by a smooth yet lively rendition of DON’T PANIC, one of the two BLUE ROOM tracks of the evening, (the other being HIGH SPEED), although the version played was the ‘new’ version set to feature on the new album. The harmonica went down a treat aswell.

After another roar from the crowd, Chris shouts “Have any of you actually heard of us then?”, the response was yet another roar. A couple more roars later, including one after new single YELLOW, Chris takes a seat at the keyboard. “This one’s called TROUBLE. Come on you can do better than that I said this one’s called TROUBLE!”. The crowd were at his mercy. This beautiful song was another standout.

The other standout was the previous single. “This is the only one you might actually know, this one’s called SHIVER”. For the majority of the crowd this may well have been true, but I doubt there was one person in the house who didn’t themselves shiver when Coldplay let rip during the powerful crescendo.

As their fanbase increases, so does their confidence, and that night Coldplay played the perfect support set with absolutely no inhibitions, and it payed off big time.

Setlist

Spies

Don’t Panic

High Speed

Yellow

Trouble

Shiver

Everything’s Not Lost

ALAN SMITHEE

NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Coldplay singer Chris Martin's singing on a new Jay-Z track will not make it to the rapper's new album, but the song has become a New York club sensation.

Life Style Extra reported that a sample of the as-yet-unnamed track has met with great success in the city's expansive club scene, but will not be featured on Jay-Z's upcoming "Kingdom Come" album. A source confirmed that the melding of the two musical sensations was simply an experiment for the two singers and represented a bit of fun between the two stars.

"Jay taught him a verse and he was recorded doing about a minute of it." the source told Life Style Extra of the Coldplay front man. "It's not for Jay's album, it's just a bit of fun," the source added. "Chris loved it and had a laugh holding the microphone like a rapper and grabbing his crotch while he was rhyming."

Live 8 Anniversary Special (Saturday, SABC2, 10pm): Don't miss this one which features performances from U2, Elton John, Bob Geldof, Sting, Coldplay, REM, Annie Lennox, Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and The Who.

More on this here

Attention Coldplay fans in the US: If you've got cable you might be able to catch the band on a Saturday Night Live re-run this month.

According to RockOnTV, the SNL re-run will air on July 16th at 6:00am on Comedy Central.

Listen to three new tracks by the English band from the Midtfyns Festival.

Coldplay visited the Midtfyns Festival Wednesday evening, and Musik.dk was close by during the whole concert. Musik.dk is the first website in the universe to get legal permission to stream three tracks from their coming album, "A Rush of Blood to the Head." The three tracks are "Politik," "In My Place," and "God Put a Smile on My Face."

Press the links to the top right to see/hear the three tracks being performed, and be sure to catch the new album which will be appearing on the 26th of August. Also in August, we will be streaming the whole Coldplay concert at the Midtfyns Festival, so watch out!

Coldplay started their music career back in 1996 at the university. They released an EP with 4 songs and pressed 500 copies. Soon after they played the "In The City" music festival in Manchester. Their contract with Parlophone was manifested in 1999 with the release of another EP by the title "The Blue Room." With the EP getting so much attention, soon their debut album "Parachutes" was born and the boys were looking back on album sales in the 5 million range. They also came away with two Brit Awards, a Grammy and various NME and Q Awards.

Coldplay released their new single, "In My Place," to radio stations on June 18th. The single is a preview to their coming album, "A Rush of Blood to the Head," which will be released on August 26th.

26 year old Patrick Harvey, who courageously hopped on stage and stole the mic away from Chris during Coldplay's performance at the Royal Festival Hall, has been tracked down by NME.com.

When asked about his decision to get on stage, Harvey said "I was surprised that no one was trying to jump on the stage themselves. Because the stage was so low and there was nobody about I just bent my leg and up I was! I think someone came on stage to get me and Chris (Martin) waved him away."

Apparently Harvey's girlfriend was more than impressed by the stunt, as were Natalie Imbruglia and several other Coldplay fans, who eventually congratulated him on his efforts.

For more on the man who sang "Yellow," see NME.com.

A very nice girl over at PlayLouder.com, Melissa, had the following to say when I asked why Coldplay's set was not being webcast on their site:

"There are a lot of reasons, really. First of all, we were restricted by the bands that BBC filmed, and those were only the ones on the Pyramid and Other Stages after 1pm (so Coldplay would've been okay on that count). The other big factor was getting clearance from the bands and their record companies, and sadly, quite a few did not wish to be webcast. I don't know whether Coldplay specifically fell into this category, as another person in the office spoke to the record companies and worked out the legalities involved."

"It probably won't make you feel any better, but they did put on a stunning performance with lots of new songs, so I wish you the best and hope you get to see them in the flesh very soon."

"cheers, melissa"

While the "Berlin-like" wall at this year's Glastonbury Festival has managed to keep ticketless people out of the festival, it hasn't managed to keep out those who carry tickets that don't belong to them.

Apparently, 146 tickets have been stolen, together with mobile phones, wallets and cash from innocent festival-goers. Despite this statistic, all other aspects of the festival have improved since the last one two years ago.

As promised, Coldplay's set at the Glastonbury Festival showcased several songs from their upcoming album.

Chris Martin was in good spirits, and thanked the crowd for making the festival so special. He apparently apologized numerous times throughout the night for not being Rod Stewart (who plays the festival later this weekend).

As far as I am concerned, he is more than forgiven. Ananova reports that Chris also jokingly referred to the festival's strict new security measures by changing the lyrics to one track and singing, "If you're outside without a ticket, you'll have to watch it on the telly."

Here's what the band's frontman, Chris Martin, had to say about headlining Glastonbury and unveiling the new songs from 'A Rush of Blood to the Head:'

"The prospect of playing big festivals is quite scary, but also it's kind of like, damn right we should be playing right up the bill, because we've got this great album that people are gonna hear and these great songs that people are gonna hear for the first time maybe at these festivals."

"It's quite brave, but I think it's the right place to introduce these songs to people on a wide scale."

To read the article this quote was taken from, see BBC Radio 1 News.

According to Ananova, Chris Martin has said the new Coldplay record is about "getting things done now" and "a fear of dying."

He went on to say, "The record's about how you must do things now because time is short. Whether it's falling in love or stopping evil global corporations, you've got to do it now, not put it off. Part of the driving force behind that is fear of dying. Obviously, the other part of that is just fear of losing my hair. It's good to feel life is short, because that makes you live every day to the maximum. It makes you not give a s**t about people who don't like you."

The gig in Strasbourg has had to be cancelled due to Chris Martin having a viral throat infection and is under doctors orders to rest.

Meanwhile Clocks has entered at #4 in the UK charts this week.

According to NME.com, Coldplay dedicated "See You Soon" to Kylie Minogue, who was in the audience at their performance last night.

There was also a bit of hooplah when they started playing "Yellow," as a drunken fan made it on stage and stole the mic away from Chris.

Reportedly, the set they played at David Bowie's Meltdown Festival should be similar to the one they'll play on Friday when they headline the Glastonbury Festival.

The following setlist is unconfirmed, but comes from a fan who attended Coldplay's show at Mountfield Hall, Liverpool on the 20th:

Politik

Shiver

Spies

Daylight

Trouble

One I Love

Don't Panic

Everything's Not Lost

We Never Change

God Put A Smile Upon Your Face

Yellow

Scientist

Encore

Clocks

In My Place

Sugar Eyes (?) with Ian McCullogh (Echo and the Bunnymen)

Unknown Song

Life Is For Living

Apparently the set lasted longer than fans expected, so a lot of tapers didn't catch the whole thing. Sounds like the new songs sound great, though, and the good news is there are more shows coming. Stay tuned for more tour news as it becomes available.

Coldplay recently released their 3rd Official E-Zine, containing tour information and details about their new single, "In My Place," which has been getting a lot of airplay in England and abroad (i.e. the U.S.).

Download the e-zine here

Win a trip to see Coldplay in concert and meet the band! Click here for full details.

Prizing includes:

· Roundtrip tickets for winner and a guest

· Two (2) nights hotel accommodations

· Two (2) tickets to Coldplay concert

· Meet the band

Coldplay have been confirmed to play Australia’s 'Splendour in the Grass', which takes place July 19-20.

The festival, at Byron Bay on the New South Wales north coast, will also feature Placebo, Alpinestars and Goldfrapp. Aussie rockers Powderfinger will headline the Main Stage on Saturday July 19, with Coldplay closing the festival the following evening.

More acts are due to be announced in the coming weeks, with tickets going on sale May 2.

Perennial loudmouth Liam Gallagher has launched another verbal attack on Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, calling him a ‘knobhead student’ for restating his anti-war views at Coldplay’s Teenage Cancer Trust benefit show on Monday.

Speaking after his guest performance with Richard Ashcroft at the Royal Albert Hall, Liam accused Chris of speaking out about the wrong subject. He told The Sun:

"When Coldplay did this gig they banged on about the war, that's wrong. Chris Martin shouldn't be using this cause to bang on about his own views on the war. If him and his gawky bird want to go banging on about the war they can do it at their own gigs.”

He further added: “That lot are just a bunch of knobhead students - Chris Martin looks like a geography teacher. What's all that with writing messages about Free Trade on his hand when he's playing. If he wants to write things down I'll give him a pen and a pad of paper. Bunch of students.These gigs are about kids who have got cancer, they've got to fight a war every day of their lives. That's what we're all here doing this for”.

Source: xfm

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