There are some lesser-known facts about the band that even their biggest fans might not be aware of…
There is only a week to go now to one of the world’s biggest bands appearing in Hull. Coldplay will be rocking the Sewell Group Craven Park next Monday and Tuesday nights.
The city concerts will mark 25 years since Coldplay released their debut album, Parachutes. At the time, Sean Hughes, for a BBC Inside Tracks of summer 2000, called them “my favourite best new band” and predicted the track Yellow, now one of Coldplay’s best-known songs, would chart “in a couple of weeks”.
The rest, as they say, is history as Coldplay have garnered fans across the globe during their meteoric rise to fame. With over 160 million records sold worldwide in the past quarter of a century, Coldplay are one of the best-selling music acts of all time.
Here are five things you possibly did not know about Coldplay…
1 Music to make your bread rise
Celebrity baker Paul Hollywood, of Great British Bake Off fame, swears by Coldplay music to get the best rise out of his bread. Hollywood, known for his piercing blue-eyed stare and the “Hollywood handshake” for a bake well done, usually bakes himself, every other day.
In an interview for PA news agency, he said: ““I put a bit of Coldplay on and then make a bit of bread. When it’s fully risen you knock it back and gently shake it. I find that extremely relaxing.
“I can picture how that bread’s going to come out the oven before it’s even gone in the oven. You just know it’s going to be a good loaf.”
2 From plastic bottles to albums
Coldplay have been attempting to put on the greenest tour in history with their globe-trotting Music of the Spheres Tour, which is coming to Hull on August 18 and 19. The band work on the principles “reduce”, “reinvent” and “restore” – reducing consumption and recycling extensively to cut CO2 emissions; supporting new green technologies and developing sustainable touring methods, and funding a portfolio of nature and technology-based projects.
One of their latest moves was to announce the reissue of nine of their previous albums on clear records made from recycled plastic bottles. The EcoRecords are claimed to reduce carbon emissions during the manufacturing process by 85 per cent compared with traditional vinyl production.
Each 140g LP is made up of approximately nine recycled bottles, after they are cleaned, processed into small pellets and then moulded into records. “The shift to EcoRecord LP for their releases is a testament to what’s possible when innovation meets intention,” said Jen Ivory, managing director of the band’s label Parlophone.
3 Where music meets fashion
A chance encounter on a plane between a British jeweller and a Coldplay band member led to a new design partnership. Classically trained goldsmith Hannah Martin spotted Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman wearing one of her designs on a flight from Los Angeles to London.
Guy is the founder of the fashion label, Applied Art Forms. As fate would have it, he had been planning a foray into jewellery for his contemporary clothing brand.
The serendipitous meeting sparked the collaboration A Vanitas, with the collection – a blend of heritage and avant garde – being presented by Sotheby’s and available exclusively at Sotheby’s Maison, in Hong Kong. Hannah said: “When Guy and I began this creative journey, we sought to create objects that not only adorn but also ignite conversations about the beauty of seizing the moment.”
4 A moment in time
It is fitting that one of Coldplay’s early hits should be entitled Clocks. We are all familiar with the clocks going back in autumn and forward in spring, but did you know that Coldplay frontman Chris Martin is related to the man who first proposed Daylight Saving Time (DST) in Britain?
DST was first proposed by inventor William Willett in 1907. He published a pamphlet called The Waste Of Daylight, which outlined his frustration with not getting the most out of summer days.
He initially proposed that clocks jump forward by 80 minutes in four steps in April and reversed the same way in September. He died before any law was implemented in the UK, but his great-great-grandson Chris has seen it in action.
5 Up for the cup
Coldplay’s Chris Martin will help FIFA plan the line-up of artists for a first ever World Cup final half-time show. Chris and the band’s manager Phil Harvey’s involvement in the Super Bowl-style event was confirmed by Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, in a post on Instagram.
The 2026 final is due to be played at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19. Infantino said Martin and Harvey would be “working with (FIFA) to finalise the list of artists who will perform during the half-time show”.
Infantino also said there would be a “takeover” of Times Square in New York City over the weekend of the final. The finals are being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.