1) Chris Martin, the eldest son of an accountant and a music teacher, learnt the piano very early and formed his first band at prep school called ‘The Rocking Honkies’.
2) Chris Martin is the great-great grandson of William Willett, the man who came up with the idea of daylight time saving and convinced the British Parliament to implement it.
3) Chris met current band members at University College London, from where he graduated with honors in the field of Ancient World Studies. Guy Berryman, Will Champion and Jonny Buckland joined Martin and christened their band ‘Pectoralz’ then changed it to ‘Starfish’- no kidding – and later renamed it to Coldplay (thankfully). Together they have released 5 studio albums and won 4 Grammy Awards.
4) Chris Martin never ceases to amaze us with his talents. He is not only a gifted musician but is also ambidextrous. He uses his left hand for writing and his right for drawing. It is no wonder that when he uses them both together he comes up with magical musical melodies.
5) Chris Martin, a musical genius himself, has also had the honor of writing a song for the Rock and Roll legend Johnny Cash, called ‘Til Kingdom Come’.
6) Martin collaborated with Nelly Furtado on the song ‘All Good Things (Come to an end)’ and performed with her in 2002 in a concert at Glastonbury. When asked for clarification regarding circulating rumors about them being a couple Nelly Furtado joked: “Yes, he’s my boyfriend – he just doesn’t know it yet.”
7) Martin leads a rather ascetic life; he neither smokes cigarettes nor drinks alcoholic drinks. He was declared the World’s Sexiest Vegetarian Alive in 2005 by PETA, an International Animal Rights Organization.
8) Chris Martin describes his relationship with Coldplay’s band members as a ‘four–way marriage’ and the members have a standing agreement to kick out anyone of them found using hard drugs.
9) Chris Martin claims that he has only had a single girlfriend ever and that is his wife Gwyneth Paltrow; she met him at one of his concerts. Martin acknowledges that if not for his band, he might not have had a romantic life at all. He also admits to having had feelings of jealousy towards Brad Pitt to whom Paltrow was once engaged. Chris wrote the song ‘Fix You’ to console his wife after her father’s death.
10) Chris Martin’s has two children. His daughter is named ‘Apple’ and his son ‘Moses’. His wife does not allow their kids to watch cartoons in English; they watch cartoons in either French or Spanish.
11) Chris Martin has a weird way of measuring success, where other musicians aim towards record high sales or their songs in top charts; Chris Martin would rather have his songs played in karaoke bars. He says that if 8 Coldplay songs were found being played in all bars worldwide, he would think of it as ultimate success.
12) Martin openly criticized George W. Bush for his Iraq War policy and supported the Democratic Presidential Nominee, John Kerry. Later, he supported Barrack Obama in the US Presidential Elections and thought of him as a figure of hope for the American people. Martin felt that if Obama won the election, it would change America’s image overnight.
13) Martin is a great fan of the bands: Travis, Oasis,Muse,Westlife, Radiohead, a-ha and U2. He acknowledges Travis as the inspiration, which led to the creation of Coldplay. Chris knows U2’s whole catalogue by heart and has memorized two of their songs forward and backward. He talks about his respect and adoration for U2’s Bono frequently and is also known to fool around with his friends, calling himself ‘Crono’.
14) Martin and fellow band member Jonny Buckland, who Chris calls fondly as his ‘Guitar Hero’, made special appearances in 2004 critically acclaimed comedy film, Shaun of the Dead. Martin has also made a special appearance in the fourth episode of the second season of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s comedy series Extras.
15) Martin campaigns for the Fair Trade Campaign by writing catchwords like MTF (Make Trade Fair) and ‘=’ that can be seen by audiences on the backs of his hands and adorning his Piano during performances. He has also visited farmers in Ghana and Haiti to view the adverse effects of unfair trade practices first hand and is particularly forthright about the issue. Bono, the lead singer of U2, calls Martin his successor in the fight for Fair Trade.
16) On April 1, 2006, it was reported by the ‘Guardian’ that Chris Martin supported the Democratic Party’s David Cameron in the upcoming election and had written a song called ‘Talk to David’ for the democrats. This was later revealed to be an April fool’s jest.
17) Martin suffers from Tinnitus, which he has had for the last ten years, resulting from listening to loud music on headphones. He also suffers from Insomnia and has nightmares about his performances going awry. He has also undergone therapy for sleep problems.
18) Martin was raised as a Catholic, however he admits to having been through a period of spiritual confusion. Lately, he has taken to calling himself an ‘all-theist’, which is a term he has coined himself, meaning that he believes in ‘everything’.
19) Martin noticed a phone book, ‘The Yellow Pages’, lying close by while writing the song ‘Yellow’ and decided it fit nicely for a name. Later, he and his band members turned down a 9 Million Dollar deal from ‘Gatorade’ for use in a TV commercial.
20) Martin and his fellow band members claim their band has a fifth member called Phil Harvey who is never seen, and thus has earned the nickname of ‘the elusive 5th member’. Phil Harvey, according to the band remains invisible even in his own photos, where other band members cover his face.