Chris Martin was born in Exeter England in 1977. He was educated privately, learning the guitar and forming a band while still at Exeter Cathedral Prep School.
After leaving boarding school – he went to Sherborne boy’s school; he studied at University College London graduating with an honours degree in Greek and Latin in 1999.
Chris Martin met future Coldplay members Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman while at university. Jonny Buckland and Chris Martin met during fresher’s week and formed the band Pectoralz. They were joined by classmate and bassist Gus Berryman and the line-up was complete by drummer Will Champion also a student at UCL.
They changed the band’s name to Starfish and Chris Martin contacted old Sherborne school friend, Phil Harvey to be their manager. In 1998 the band changed their name to Coldplay and recorded, and released an EP, titled“ Safety” which was mostly given away to record producers and friends.
A few almost succesful singles followed and the band took a break to complete their examinations, and then signed to major label Parlaphone for a five-album contract.
In 2000 they recorded their debut album Parachutes. They released “Shivers” from the album but the second single “Yellow” went to number 4 and was their breakthrough. The band played Glastonbury festival that year and when the album was released in July 2000, it debuted at number 1.
Parachutes was released in the US where it reached platinum status and eventually won a Grammy award in 2002 for best alternative album.
Since then Coldplay have released several further albums and EPs including: A Rush of Blood to the Head, Live 2003, X&Y, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Prospekt’s March and have won numerous awards including two Brit Awards and seven Grammys.
Coldplay have toured throughout the World and are one of the world’s most best selling and celebrated bands.
They played Sound relief in Australia in 2009 to raise money for the bushfire and flood disaster in Queensland Australia. Chris Martin came close to serious injury at this gig after throwing himself into the audience and being chased by thousands of fans.
Chris Martin is very much the face of Coldplay, singing and also playing guitar and keyboards. As the principle songwriter, he is the creative driving force behind the band. Chris Martin has always credited Radiohead as a major influence on his work however; he cites his first inspiration as the Norwegian band Ah Ha.
Chris Martin has collaborated with other artists including Nelly Furtado, the Streets, rapper Kayne West and Jay Z and he has written material for other artists including the hit song “See It in a Boys Eyes” for Jamelia and “Gravity “for Embrace.
Chris Martin is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow and is well known for his clean living life style. He campaigns for fair trade issues, makes a stand on political issues and has frequently denounced the War in Iraq.