Chris Martin has admitted that he’ll struggle to move on from Coldplay when their recorded catalogue eventually ends.
The frontman is quoted by The Sun‘s ‘Bizarre’ column as saying: “I’m trying to let go of everything, but I still love my job. I love it and maybe that’s not good. I love all of it, even all of the nonsense. I’m so grateful.”
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Martin continued: “I love our band, I love what we do, I love the songs that come through, I love where we get to go, I love the view of the world that it gives us. We see the thing that connects humans more than most people see. I love it. So maybe that means I’m attached to it.
“I need to let go of feeling like I need that and just be able to appreciate it when it’s there – not to be attached to needing it. I’d like to just want it.”
The singer-songwriter concluded by saying he was “getting there” in terms of seeing a life beyond his time with Coldplay.
Speaking to NME around the release of Coldplay’s 10th and latest studio record, 2024’s ‘Moon Music’, Martin doubled down on the plan for the band’s catalogue to end after 12 albums.
“Yes, it is 12 albums for sure, but we’re going to be a bit later than [2025],” he explained.
“There’s one more thing, which is a musical. [That’s] album number 11, but that might have to come out after album 12 because of how long musicals take to animate.”
Martin went on: “Our last single is on this album [‘Moon Music’], and that’s called ‘All My Love’. That’s the last ‘single’ single. We have the musical thing, then an album just called ‘Coldplay’, which is the final one. I think that will be a year late – I know it will be.”
He insisted that the 12-album plan was “very real”, but assured fans that this didn’t mean Coldplay “won’t tour or finish some compilation things or outtakes or whatever”.
As for what this next phase of Coldplay could look like, Martin told NME: “Maybe it’s not always about trying to be in stadiums, but you can do small things where you try and play the odd songs. I think it would also be nice to help younger artists a bit.
“It’s like when someone becomes a football pundit and stops trying to score goals.”
However, Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman later told fans to take Martin’s comments about ending after 12 albums with “a pinch of salt”. He explained that “Chris is never going to stop writing”, before saying: “We’re still years away from any kind of retirement.”
Berryman added: “But I think you have to have a plan. If you’re running a marathon, you know you have to run 26 miles. But if somebody said to you, ‘OK, start running and just don’t stop’, it’s quite hard to motivate yourself.”
Meanwhile, Coldplay have only one show left of their record-breaking 10-night residency at London’s Wembley Stadium. It’ll take place this Friday (September 12). They recently rescheduled the final two dates due to planned industrial action.
The huge stint in the capital has seen Martin and co. pay tribute to Oasis and oversee a fan’s proposal, renuite onstage with Simon Pegg, and perform ‘Clocks’ with Ash’s Tim Wheeler.
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Coldplay played a pair of stadium gigs in Hull last month, following an intimate acoustic performance from Martin at a Yorkshire pub.
For Coldplay’s UK dates this year, 10 per cent of proceeds are being donated to the Music Venue Trust (MVT) to support grassroots venues. In quotes supplied exclusively to NME, the members explained why it was vital for them to help local spaces and emerging talent.
“Organisations like Music Venue Trust are even more important in this country since Brexit, because it’s so much harder for new artists to play in Europe,” said Martin. “I just know that I would always want people younger than us to have even more opportunity than we had, and certainly not less.”
Last week, The Molotovs played two surprise sets for Coldplay fans at Wembley Stadium on the Music Venue Trust stage.
