My Coldplay.com - A Coldplay Blog

From a rented flat to sold-out arenas, Coldplay is more than a band who jumped the pond.

Their first band name was Pectoralz, then Starfish.

What’s in a name? The name Coldplay comes from book of poetry, Child’s Reflections, Cold Play.

If he was a rich boy… According a report, Guy Berryman is the 4th richest man under the age of 30 in the UK, with an estimated wealth of £25 million MSN. (Translation: That’s a lot of dollars!)

Chris Martin was a virgin until he was 21 because his mother told him it was a good idea. “She reckons waiting and committing leads to great sex,” he has said.

“I just want to make the best music of all time with my best friends,” Martin has said. The band formed when the university pals were in their early 20s.

Coldplay held early rehearsals in a second-story flat at 268 Camden Road in London. Martin lived there with Buckland and two other mates in 1997.

Drool king? “I drool all over the place,” Martin has said. “We did this VH1 Storytellers the other day and I could feel there was a Grandpa Simpson bit of drool coming out. If you’re in Row A at a Coldplay show, you can really go away with a lot of DNA. You could literally re-create us.”

Colplay is well aware of their reputation for somber tunes. “Well I’m still going to die and I’m still in the same band. Those are two things I think about: Coldplay and death. Which might explain some of our music,” Martin said.

Though there are three other men in the band, frontman Martin acknowledges that he gets most of the attention. Why? “To be a frontman, you have to be half very driven and half a total knob. I like to think I’m both.”

Martin and Buckland had a cameo in Shaun of the Dead. Can you find them?

From 2000-2002, Martin lived in a rented flat on Isledon Road. The video Don’t Panic was filmed there and was the place where Martin wrote In My Place.

Chris once joked that though the band fights, it will never progress to a fistfight. “I’m pretty sure that me and Guy, our bass player, would have an equal match,” he said. “But I would never even approach Will with my hands raised. It’s very good to be scared of your drummer, actually.”

Coldplay had their first gig at the Former Laurel Tree Club, where each member took home approximately $130 each.

Jay-Z said that he and Martin almost went head to head for the title track of Jay-Z’s album, Til’ Kingdom Come. “Chris sent me these wonderful chords one day and he said he knew they were good because he almost didn’t tell me about them. He was gonna keep them for himself.”

Bromance. “There would be no Coldplay music without Jonny Buckland,” Martin has said.

When performing, Martin often has “Make Trade Fair” or “MTF” or an equal sign written on his hand because he is a strong proponent of “Fair Trade.”

Champion joined the group as a drummer, though he had never played the drums before.”Will is like a human jukebox, he’s more a guitarist than a drummer,” Martin has said.” 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.”

“Know how I know you’re gay? You like Coldplay.”

Martin once turned down an offer to have tea with the Queen. In 2005, he said, “I don’t think we should go, as much as I like the queen. We’ve got three more years of rebellion in us.” Time is up Chris!