More Coldplay Information

Compared favorably to Jeff Buckley, the Verve, Radiohead and turn of the millennium British pop darlings Travis, Coldplay began making a buzz after their 1998 appearance at Manchester's In the City Festival, a showcase for unsigned bands. The invite to perform in Manchester, had, in turn, come to them based on the strength of their self-financed demo EP, recorded in late 1997 and 1998. That demo was released as the Safety EP shortly after the Manchester festival, which got the notice of influential London music critic Simon Williams. Williams released another Coldplay single, 'Brothers and Sisters' on his Fierce Panda Records label. That single proved to be Coldplay's breakthrough. The song made it to the Top 100 on the UK charts (at number 99) and led to a major label record deal with Parlaphone records.

The band released yet another EP, 'Blue Room' on Parlaphone in 1999, while working on their first full length album. An appearance at 1999's Glastonbury, the UK's largest and most famous music festival, cemented their pop appeal and increased anticipation for the debut album. In June of 2000 the album's first single, 'Yellow,' raced up the UK and US charts, finally hitting number four stateside. By the time the album Parachutes was finally released in July of 2000, combined hype and anticipation shot it to number one. Critical and commercial success followed and continued throughout 2001, when the band took three British Music awards and played to sold-out crowds on their first American tour. However, instant fame also led to instant rumors - while Chris Martin was battling laryngitis and exhaustion, and the band canceled the dates and their European tour, the press was eager to predict the young band's demise. The rumors didn't last long, though, and Coldplay resumed touring in 2001 upon the release of their second hit single, 'Trouble.'