Coldplay frontman Chris Martin revealed to People magazine that after the release of its 10th album Moon Music this Friday, the band will only make two more before retiring from music.
“We are only going to do 12 proper albums and that’s real. Yeah, I promise,” Martin told People. He pointed to some of the group’s musical heroes like the Beatles and Bob Marley, who had 12 and 13 studio albums respectively, and how setting a hard limit has upped the quality of the music. For a song to make it onto the album, “it’s almost impossible, which is great.”
Martin left the door open to future projects between him and bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and guitarist Jonny Buckland, as well as the group’s manager and creative director, Phil Harvey, often considered the fifth member of Coldplay. Outside of touring together, any creative collaboration will “be something different,” he said.
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Coldplay had their big break in 2000 with the song “Yellow” from their debut album Parachutes. The British rock band quickly rose to prominence, selling millions of albums and earning critical acclaim for their ability to create emotional resonance in musically complex tracks – aspects of Coldplay’s work that have remained consistent even as their sound has evolved in the decades since.
The indie darlings turned global superstars will be missed when they retire, although Martin is quick to emphasise the importance of setting limits. Having enjoyed such immense success, the band members could be “coasting” at this stage of their career, Martin told People, but “we’re trying to improve.”
While Martin reassured fans that he will continue making music even after Coldplay retires, he reflected that there was something special about the band. “I don’t know where the songs come from. I don’t know where the ideas come from,” he says, explaining that in the last few years, that same part of himself has been saying he has to finish this way. “I trust that just like I trust the songs.”
