Coldplay

"We felt like the first three albums were a trilogy, and we finished that. So we wanted to do something different," Johnny Buckland, lead guitarist of renowned band Coldplay was quoted in talking about his band's newly released album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. For their fourth album, the band began working with legendary producer Brian Eno as early as December 2006. According to notes discussing the recording sessions for their record featured on the Coldplay website, their music for this album was meant to be "much more abstract, much more visual than before," and "less straight-forward, more oblique." The album does have Martin shying away from his signature falsetto and opting for a lower register. Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, which was recorded partly in Latin America and Spain, also has some world music influences in the general feel of the songs.

Within the first ten days of its release, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends sold 500,000 copies in the U.K. and 721,000 in the first week in the U.S. as well as becoming the number one selling album in 36 countries. By the end of June, their album had set a new record in the U.K. for the most-downloaded album ever. Not only did the album become a big hit but the title track alone, after being released on iTunes exclusively, has since become the band's first number-one on the Hot 100 and their first U.K. number-one based on download sales alone. The Viva la Vida Tour promoting this album began on June 16 with a free concert at Brixton Academy in London and will end December 21 in Dublin, Ireland.

Coldplay, consisting of Chris Martin, Jon Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman, began making music in 1996. As they were all studying at the University College London, the soon-to-be band members met in the halls of residence that they were all staying in. In 1998, they funded their first EP, Safety EP, only making 500 copies, which, after first handing them out to family and friends, only 50 were distributed around London. After this, the band played in Camden and were noticed by the co-founder of Fierce Panda Records, Simon Williams, who offered them a one-off deal and afterwards the band released the Brothers and Sisters EP.

The year 1999 proved to be an interesting year for the up and coming band. They not only graduated from UCL in this year, but also were named by NME as a band to watch. In April of the same year, Coldplay was signed to Parlophone Records and soon after recorded their first hit single, "Yellow." After a performance at the Glastonbury Festival, "Yellow" went to number four on charts and the title track of the album, "Parachutes," hit the charts a few weeks later at number one. "Parachutes" went multi-platinum in July of 2000 in several countries, giving Coldplay their first Grammy.

A Rush of Blood to the Head, in August of 2002 was released worldwide with a global tour following shortly afterwards. The hit song from the album, "The Scientist," became a regular radio rotation while the songs "Clocks" and "In My Place" won Grammy Awards.

X & Y, the band's third effort, was released in June 2005, topping charts around the world and selling more than eight million copies in the first year alone. Coldplay has also been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.

Coldplay is not just solely focused on music, but also make charity part of their priorities. In the early years, they claimed that ten percent of all the band's profits were given to charity. They have also done a great deal of work promoting various charities and humanitarian causes including Amnesty International and Make Poverty History. Coldplay truly continues to make their mark in music history.