April 6th buzz gig in Amsterdam online as we speak. Details here

There is plenty to keep you occupied this weekend as far as Coldplay are concerned.

NME have a Coldplay Video interview exclusive here

Saturday, 10am to 1pm (GMT): Coldplay join Jonathan Ross for chat and music on his Radio 2 show. Listen live here

Saturday, 9.30pm (GMT): Coldplay Documentary on Radio 2 titled "Hello, we're Coldplay" hosted by Steve Lamacq featuring interviews with the band and many people involved in their story. Listen live here

Sunday, 2.15am (GMT): Repeat of Coldplay's Top Of The Pops performance on BBC TV.

Sunday, 10pm (GMT): Repeat of Coldplay's interview on the Jonathan Ross show. This time on BBC3 at 10pm.

For all those who are incredibly addicted to Myspace.com, there is now a contest open to any U.S. residents.

A pair of tickets will be given away for each U.S. tour stop. To enter, you must leave the band a comment on their artist page containing a clever use of "X&Y."

Coldplay’s back with a new album, X&Y, and their first U.S. tour in 2 years! Myspace is hitching a ride and giving away a pair of tickets in every city along the way!

To enter add Coldplay as your friend and simply leave a comment on Coldplay’s profile with following info:

1. Name of the city you want to enter to win tickets in.

2. Use X&Y in a creative way. Nothing dirty, vulgar, or profane.

That’s it! We will contact the winners through their MySpace profile.

Contest is open to U.S. Residents ONLY. You must provide your own transportation to and from the concert.

LONDON: Coldplay's new album "X&Y", which hits the shops in Britain on Monday, has become the most pre-ordered album yet on Amazon.co.uk, the British arm of the US online retailer said Friday.

It has been at the top of Amazon.co.uk's 100 albums chart since March 15, when it became available for pre-order, but only on Friday did it overtake Dido's "Life for Rent" for the pre-order honours.

Though Amazon.co.uk did not release actual sales figures for Coldplay's third album, it said pre-orders of "X&Y" had surpassed those of "Life for Rent" by more than 10 percent.

"It's clearly important to Coldplay's fan base that they are the first to hear the new album, which just goes to show that the band's following is one of the most loyal in music today," said Amazon.co.uk music editor Helen Marquis.Coldplay, fronted by Chris Martin, had hoped that the first single off the album, Speed of Sound", would go straight to number one in the British pop charts last weekend.

But it was humiliated to the top by German dance group Axel F's novelty mix of the "bah-ding-ding-ding" Crazy Frog mobile phone ringtone with the theme from the "Beverly Hills Cop" movies.

Chris Martin has duplicated Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke's idea to compare his band to the United Nations - and Martin insists he would represent the military might of America.

The Coldplay singer-turned-political campaigner admits he steals many ideas from Yorke - and this is one of his favourites, as he knows exactly which powerful country each member of Coldplay would be.

Martin says: "Thom Yorke once drew a parallel between his band and the UN, and he said, 'Well, I'm America.' And with our band, I'm America. Jonny (Buckland) is definitely China: actually more intelligent and better than me; he just doesn't talk as much.

"Guy (Berryman) is probably Italy or Spain: somewhere you have a good time that adds the artistic creativity. And Will (Champion) is definitely Russia: hardcore, solid, hard to win over, but once won, loyal as royal. It's a very good parallel. And not the first thing we've stolen from Radiohead."

Source: iol.ie

The CD price war hotted up yesterday as ASDA slashed prices of top-selling albums. The supermarket giants have cut the price of chart-topping releases to a record low of £7.47 online.

The move coincides with the release next Monday of the new album by Coldplay, X&Y. Tesco sparked the price battle last year when they began selling top-selling music and films without VAT. Using a legal loophole, the store set up a distribution firm in Jersey and began selling CDs for £8.99 online including delivery. ASDA matched the deal last month and Tesco responded by announcing a '10 per cent off' sale which brought prices down to £8.08.

Yesterday, ASDA announced that, from this morning, some of their most popular albums - including Coldplay's new release X&Y and current bestseller Don't Believe The Truth, from Oasis - will be available for £7.47 for the next six days. An ASDA spokesman said: 'From Thursday albums will be available online from £7.47.'

In 1998, CDs were £11.99 in ASDA, and around £14 in most High Street retailers. The Treasury claim that they are losing £80million a year though retailers avoiding tax and look set to clamp down on the loophole.

Source: Daily Record

Coldplay are set for a collaboration with top rap producer Timbaland after Chris Martin confessed to being a huge fan in an interview.

Chris told rock bible Rolling Stone that he'd love to work with the rap mogul and the magazine's editors were thrilled when they contacted Timbaland and discovered he's Coldplay's number one fan.

Timbaland said, "Coldplay are my favourite, favourite group right now. I can do it anytime. I'd clear anything to work with Coldplay."

Coldplay Heats up New York City's Legendary Beacon Theatre with an Exclusive Performance for AOL Music Live!

Coldplay made their return to the stage at New York City's renowned Beacon Theatre for an exclusive AOL® Music LIVE! performance. The concert, which took place on May 17, will be broadcast online at aolmusic.com on Tuesday, June 7, the same day their highly anticipated album, X&Y, hits US stores. The concert will be available on-demand for 10 days following the event. In addition fans can also tune in to hear a simultaneous audio broadcast on the AOL® Radio Network.

"Coldplay is one of the best live rock bands in the world, and we are thrilled that they will be playing AOL Music Live with us, in such an exclusive and intimate setting," said Jack Isquith, Executive Director of Music Industry Relations for AOL Music. "Especially as music fans, we are relishing this great opportunity to have everyone on the web experience the power and beauty of Coldplay in concert."

This exclusive performance by Coldplay follows the success of recent AOL Music LIVE! concerts by Kanye West, Simple Plan and Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. AOL Music LIVE! has also featured performances by Alicia Keys, Rod Stewart, Usher, Nelly, Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte, Josh Groban and Foo Fighters among others. Months after the live events, individual original performances from these concerts consistently appear on AOL Music's weekly Top 11 charts, often outpacing the traditional music videos for the same songs. Coldplay's new album, X&Y, is the follow up to the band's Grammy-winning, triple platinum 2002 release A Rush of Blood to the Head. The first single from the album, "Speed of Sound" has already become a huge hit on U.S. radio. After the album's release on June 7, Coldplay will embark on their biggest world tour yet, beginning with dates in Europe, the UK and Ireland. Plans are in the works for a 40-city North American tour, which will commence in late July and continue through the end of September.

As part of this special AOL Music LIVE! event, fans are encouraged to donate to Keep a Child Alive (http://www.keepachildalive.org), an organization dedicated to providing life-saving medicine to children and families with AIDS in Africa.

AOL Music is a leading online destination for music, reaching more than 22.5 million music fans a month(1) through a rich array of programming, products and services that make it easy to discover, experience, listen to and buy music online. AOL Music's offerings, include original programs such as AOL Music Sessions, AOL Music LIVE! and AOL Music Breakers, and special features such as First Listen and First View. They are available through aolmusic.com, the AOL Music Channel, the AOL® Radio Network, Netscape® Music, CompuServe® Music, AIM® Music, ICQ® Music, Winamp® and SHOUTcast® services. Integrated commerce options make it easy for consumers to purchase the music they hear on AOL Music through MusicNet@AOL, iTunes on AOL, AOL's CD/DVD shop and AOL's Entertainment for Mobile store.

Source: Businesswire

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - If you see strange beacons of light flashed through the city on Saturday night it's not a call for Batman, but rather a promotion for Coldplay's new album X&Y.

Either that, or Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has been hired by police as their crime-fighting super weapon.

The letters X and Y will be shone on to various buildings and domains, including George St cinemas between 7.30pm and 9.30pm, Taylor Sq between 11.30pm and 12.30am, and a Harbour Bridge pylon between 1am and 1.30am.

"Please, please, I'll do anything, just keep BatMartin's music away from me," criminals may be moved to plead, while in a strange and secret, location the words: "to the Batcave, Gwyneth" might be heard.Meanwhile, Martin may owe the composers of an ABC TV show's themesong some royalties due to similarities between the theme and one of his songs.

An investigation by Confidential suggests Martin may be a fan of Brit soap Night and Day because his new song Speed of Sound sounds startlingly like the beginning of the TV theme.

The show, still screening in Australia, first ran here in 2002 and ceased production in England in 2003 – way before Martin wrote his new material.

Source: Daily Telegraph AU

Chris Martin harbours a secret dream to appear on hit US house renovation show Extreme Makeover: 'Home Edition' - because he's a big fan.

Chris insists he doesn't need a makeover on any of his homes, but he'd like to book an appearance on the ABC show, and he's gone so far as to ask TV bosses to consider it.

He says, "Maybe someone one day will be a Coldplay fan. That show, to me, is like taking one of the worst sides of our culture - reality TV - and crossing it with the best side of human nature. It makes me cry everytime."

On the show, a crew of designers and builders - led by presenter Ty Pennington - join forces to renovate the homes of families who have fallen on hard times.

Source: ContactMusic

Coldplay are reassuring fans in Glasgow that they will still play there on July 2nd - despite being doubled booked for Live 8 in London.

They're set to appear alongside Madonna, REM and U2 at the huge gig in Hyde Park. But what have they got planned for the shows? Chris:

"I think we're going to disappoint everybody and just play music! We were going to do some magic tricks and maybe saw each other in half. We have to play in Glasgow on the same night. What are we going to be doing? Maybe four songs, or three, or two if you're lucky."

On the day of X&Y's release, Radio 1 are hosting a Coldplay show at KOKO in London's Camden.

Tickets will be on sale from the KOKO box office from 8am Monday. They cost £20 and are strictly limited to ONE per person.

Upon purchase of ticket, wristbands will also be given and must be worn on receipt. It is very important that wristbands are not removed or tampered with. Admission will be refused if so and the ticket will also be required for entry.

Doors for the show open at 19.00 for a 20.45 start.

Tickets are also available via two Radio 1 competitions - one phoner and one online. For more details tune in to listen at 97-99fm or online here

Venue is located at 1a Camden High Street, Camden. Nearest Tube station is Mornington Crescent.

Source: Coldplay.com

Chris Martin and Johnny Buckland talked XFM's John Kennedy through each and every track on their third album, 'X&Y'.

Listen to the guys' commentary, plus hear the album in full right here'Square One'

"I remember it sounding like Dire Straits - it sounded like 'Brothers In Arms' a bit, or maybe I'm thinking of 'Road To Hell' by Chris Rea... But it sounded like something."

'What If'

"Actually, it came in the middle of the night one night. It came out in one go. It took about a year to record."

'White Shadows'

"I think as people listen to the album more it'll become its own thing more, but it'll also become apparent how much we've plagiarised. To me, really, at the end of our album we should've had a bibliography."

'Fix You'

"It's supposed to be a church organ but it isn't. In fact it's a keyboard that my father-in-law gave to Gwyneth my wife, and it sat in the house for ages and then I turned it on one day and it had these amazing sounds on it."

'Talk'

"We were just mucking around like two young men, doing what boys do. Naked. Naked as the day we were born."

'X&Y'

"A lot of people lay into the lyrics, but to me they're just the questions that everybody has. Whether you're a famous, or ex-famous, pop star or whatever, I'm sure everyone has some of these questions. Or maybe it's just me."

'Speed Of Sound'

"'Speed of Sound' is about the miracles that surround us every day that we take for granted. For example, Johnny Buckland."

'A Message'

"Funnily enough it's a very toiletry-based song, because I wrote it with no clothes on and in the morning I showed it to John and I played it to him in a men's... in a gentleman's room. You know what I'm trying to say."

'Low'

"This is when we went back and re-recorded a load of the other ones 'cos Johnny had kind of switched on at that point. He spent ten months following along and then decided to be a guitar hero."

'The Hardest Part'

"It has absolutely no invention in it whatsoever, but it's one of those songs which you can't ignore. For us it's kind of our tribute to REM."

'Swallowed In The Sea'

"This song was one of the first songs we finished writing, so it was always on the album but we took ages to get it right, we recorded it about 100 million different ways..."

'Twisted Logic'

"It's our first attempt at singing something which isn't about a girl or girls or friends. it's as politicial as we've been able to get, and it's supposed to be an optimistic end to the album."

Chris Martin dropped in for a chat with Xfm’s John Kennedy and explained exactly what he’d like to do to his musical arch nemesis: The Crazy Frog. Oh, and he also talked John through their new album ‘X&Y’.

Speaking about his recent chart battle with the Crazy Frog’s ‘Axel F’, Martin dropped a bombshell about the Frog’s dubious backstage demands, before back-pedalling possibly in fear of another chart panning.

“We refer to him as ‘That Little Frog’,” Martin begins. “We don’t like the frog and it brings me out in hives. I go red. The point is that little thing should have its legs chopped off and I’d like to eat them in a restaurant.

“I don’t know what I’m talking about,” he continued. “We love the frog. He’s friendly nice. We saw him backstage at Top Of The Pops. He was doing all kinds of drugs. He was with all kinds of pond life hanging around him.

“He has such a big entourage. Two toads are his bouncers, and a duck that follows him around filming things. I mean, he’s cool but he’s annoying. And don’t think we hadn’t thought of covering his song…”Martin also spoke about exactly how much of the album he’d nicked off other artists, holding his hands up to numerous steals.

“As people listen to the album more and more it’ll become apparent just how much we’ve plagiarised,” he admitted. “To me, at the end of our album we should have had a bibliography, or a discography, or references. The end of ‘What If’ is taken from The Beatles. We were stealing from a lot of people. Much more than people think.

'Axel F' outsold its nearest challenger in the singles chart, Coldplay's ‘Speed of Sound’, by around four copies to one to reach the top of the charts this weekend.

Source: XFM

In late 2004, Coldplay sent word to VH1 that they wanted to perform on the network's Storytellers -- which was a tricky request, since the show had been off the air for three years. The show's executive producer, Bill Flanagan, says, "It was like, 'Well, jeez, should we tell them we don't do it anymore?'"

But instead of turning down one of the world's hottest bands, VH1 brought Storytellers back to life. And as word spread of the show's revival, some of rock's biggest names -- Bruce Springsteen, Green Day and Dave Matthews Band -- all signed up to shoot episodes of their own. "We've raised the bar for the level of artist that does this show," says Rick Krim, VH1's executive vice president for music and talent. "To have these bands for the first four is pretty damn strong."

During Coldplay's performance, which was taped in Brooklyn in May and airs June 8th, frontman Chris Martin revealed the origins of the band's career-making 2000 hit "Yellow." "Originally, it sounded like a Neil Young song," Martin said. "And it was missing a key word, so I looked to the nearest book: It was the Yellow Pages. In an alternate universe, this song could be called 'Playboy.'"At the Dave Matthews Band's Storytellers (also taped in May, but not airing until September), Matthews explained that the funky, Cajun-flavored new song "Louisiana Bayou" came from a haunting tale he heard while on location for the film Because of Winn-Dixie. "A lady down in Louisiana told me about seeing two young boys lying on the side of the road," he said. "She thought they were sleeping, but as she got closer, it turned out they were both dead."

Springsteen's and Green Day's episodes are already in regular rotation, and Flanagan says VH1 is negotiating with other major artists for future shows. Along the way, Storytellers -- which aired sixty-nine episodes between 1996 and 2002, with artists ranging from Elvis Costello to Robert Plant singing songs and telling tales -- is broadening its reach. Green Day's show was "the hardest-rocking Storytellers ever," says Krim.

And in addition to the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, U2 and Prince, the show's wish list includes an unlikely artist. Says Flanagan, "We'd all love to stretch out and have Eminem do the show."

Source: Rolling Stone

Coldplay's hotly-anticipated new album has been illegally put on the internet a week before its UK and US release.

But record company EMI - whose profits fell after X&Y was delayed - said it was "kind of Ok" with the leak and insisted it would not wreck sales. The leak took place on Monday, the day copies were sent to UK radio stations and the day before it went on sale in Japan, its first country of release. "I'm not saying we condone it but I'm not saying it's a disaster," EMI said.

An EMI spokeswoman said tight security had successfully kept the album under wraps until CDs were sent to a wide number of people on Monday. It was "controlled up until the point that we couldn't control it any more", she said, describing it as "barely a leak". "We're kind of OK with it," she said. "Obviously we're not - but it could be a lot worse. The fact that we've held it back from being leaked until this point is a success, considering the Oasis album was leaked weeks ago." The music industry has battled internet "pirates" in recent years, arguing that fans are less likely to buy the CD if they have already downloaded the album for free.

Coldplay's importance to EMI was highlighted when profits fell 13% after X&Y and an album by Gorillaz were delayed. But EMI said the leak would have been "more of a concern" if the album had been pirated earlier.

"Obviously any leak is bad and we're not happy about the fact that it's already on the net," the spokeswoman said. "But to be honest, in the world we're living today, it's kind of unavoidable at certain times."

Security measures included hosting album playbacks at venues such as Abbey Road Studios for journalists and industry figures instead of sending them copies. A listening room in EMI's headquarters was equipped with iPods in locked cabinets and CDs that were sent out were labelled with a false name - The Fir Trees - to throw would-be pirates off the scent.

Coldplay themselves have not shown the highest regard for EMI's commercial fortunes. "Shareholders are the great evil of this modern world," singer Chris Martin said recently. "I don't really care about EMI. I'm not really concerned about that."

Source: BBC

Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof announced on Tuesday that he has organized a star-studded sequel to the landmark 1985 concerts that raised hundreds of millions of dollars for famine relief in Africa. But this time, Geldof said he's interested in raising awareness instead of money.

Instead of two shows, though, Geldof has lined up five shows for the July 2 Live 8 event to shine a spotlight on the issue of poverty in the developing world. Among the stars on board are U2, Mariah Carey, Coldplay and the Dave Matthews Band. The concerts will take place in London's Hyde Park, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, the Circus Maximus in Rome and the Museum of Art in Philadelphia.

"We arrived here today because I was very reluctant to do this again, I couldn't see how anything could possibly be better than that glorious day 20 years ago, almost perfect in what it achieved," Geldof said at the press conference. "But Bono and [filmmaker] Richard [Curtis], in particular, kept saying, 'Do it again.' What could we do that was in any way different? It couldn't be about charity anymore."The concerts are timed to coincide with the meeting of the G8 in Scotland (July 6-8) at which the leaders of the world's richest countries are gathering to discuss alleviating Third World debt. The concerts will be free and are aimed at raising awareness, not money.

The London show is slated to feature Paul McCartney, U2, Mariah Carey, Coldplay, Madonna, Elton John, Sting, Snoop Dogg, Annie Lennox, Dido, Keane, Muse, Scissor Sisters, Joss Stone, Stereophonics, Robbie Williams and R.E.M., while Philly will host Will Smith, Bon Jovi, Matthews, Stevie Wonder and P. Diddy. Berlin has Crosby, Stills & Nash, Lauryn Hill, A-ha and the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. So far, Jamiroquai, Placebo, Craig David, Youssou N'Dour and tennis-player-turned-singer Yannick Noah are on board in Paris, and Duran Duran and Faith Hill are slated to play Rome.

Organizers also said plans are being sketched out to hold more concerts in other G8 countries, but they did not announce those events on Tuesday. The remaining G8 members are Japan, Canada and Russia.

Speaking to CNN Tuesday morning (May 31), Matthews said, "I think awareness is the biggest thing, which is sometimes what's needed to move the leaders of the world." Growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa, Matthews said he saw firsthand how an event like Live Aid can help change people's minds. "The people of the world rose up and changed [things]," he said of the first concert. "This is another opportunity to say Africa shouldn't be indebted to us ... This is another chance we have to bring together the power of the people to move our leaders."

The original Live Aid took place at Wembley Stadium in London and in Philadelphia's JFK Stadium on July 13, 1985 and raised $245 million for famine relief in Africa. It was watched by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide and featured sets from U2, Queen, David Bowie, the Who, Elvis Costello, B.B. King, Black Sabbath, Run-DMC, Sting, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Judas Priest, Santana, Elton John, Madonna, McCartney, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and a reunited Led Zeppelin with Phil Collins on drums.

COLDPLAY’s new album ’X&Y’ has leaked ahead of its June 6 release.

The band’s latest LP appeared on file-sharing sites yesterday (May 30), meaning that it is now freely available to download from the internet.

A band insider told NME.COM: “It’s a miracle it hasn’t leaked before now to be honest. It’s released in Japan before Europe and they’ve played the album on their official website coldplay.com. Most major albums leak a long time before release, this is just a few days.”

The band’s record label have been secretive about sending the album out prior to release. Promo copies of the album were sent to journalists under the pseudonym The Fir Trees.

Source: NME

Tune into Xfm from 4pm GMT today to hear Will & Guy chat with Lauren Laverne. They also feature on the X-Posure Album Payback where you can listen to their new album in full along with track by track commentary from 11pm. 104.9FM or listen online here

Also at 7pm Chris & Jonny will talk with Ben Jones at Virgin Radio as well as listen to new tracks from X&Y. 105.8FM / 1215MW or listen online here.

(There will be an hour long interview with Ben broadcast on Sunday 5th June at 19.00).

Radio 1 here and on 97-99FM, have A-listed the whole album. Unprecedented for a radio station to do this for any artist. This means that all album tracks can be heard on rotation on the Radio 1 playlist over the coming weeks. You can also listen to the Coldplay Day (Mon 30th May) online in Radio 1's archive.

Chris and Johnny are interviewed on BBC Radio 4's "Front Row", tonight(Tue) at 7.15pm radio 4 here

Sign the petition here

After hearing Chris Martin's outstanding inpersonation of the Crazy Frog on Lamacq, we believe he should perform it in it's entirity at Glastonbury festival.

Preferably on acid, mixed with classic Trouble, to give it a new lease of life for a new generation of fans.

This will truly be the highlight of summer.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Details of the secret radio 1 gig will finally be revealed tomorrow morning on Radio 1.

Listen to Chris Moyles from 7am for details on how to win tickets. You can listen live here or between 97-99FM on your wirelesses...

Don't forget tonight though folks - Coldplay will be in the Radio 1 studio with Steve Lamacq from 2100h GMT. I'm sure you don't need reminding again!

You can fully preview all tracks of X&Y thanks to MTVAsia's "The Leak". For full details please click here

Today is Coldplay Day on Radio One and the station will be playing exclusive tracks from the new album 'X&Y'. They will also play classic Coldplay singles and album tracks on the hour every hour all day.

Steve Lamacq will be previewing the album live on Lamacq Live from 9pm GMT.

The band will be popping into the studio and Radio 1 are going to be putting your questions to them.

If you have any questions to put to the band please click here and you can listen live here

The great British public have spoken. Crazy Frog feat. Axel-F is officially number one and to comiserate/celebrate, please listen to the new remix here

[thanks no_ripcord]

The Crazy Frog ringtone has leaped to the top of the UK singles chart.

The reworking of Axel F - the theme to Eddie Murphy movie Beverly Hills Cop - is the first mobile ringtone to make it into the chart. HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo blamed the Frog's "huge novelty appeal and the massive amount of exposure it is getting."

He added: "Kids obviously find it cute and cool but students and office workers seem to be drawn to its rather kitsch, ironic appeal."

Coldplay's new single 'Speed of Sound' was relegated to number two, while last week's number one - Oasis' 'Lyla' - fell to sixth place.

The top ten singles in full:

1 (-) The Crazy Frog: 'Axel F'

2 (-) Coldplay: 'Speed of Sound'

3 (2) Akon: 'Lonely'

4 (-) Amerie: '1 Thing'

5 (4) Gorillaz: 'Feel Good Inc'

6 (1) Oasis: 'Lyla'

7 (-) Black Eyed Peas: 'Don't Phunk With My Heart'

8 (-) Gwen Stefani: 'Hollaback Girl'

9 (-) Audio Bullys Ft Nancy Sinatra: 'Shot You Down'

10 (5) Tony Christie Ft Peter Kay: '(Is This The Way To) Amarillo'