Chris Martin is the front man for one of the most successful bands in the world, Coldplay. Along with his three band mates, the English band has had three hit albums and several hit singles. The other members of the band are Guy Berryman on bass guitar, Jonny Buckland on lead guitar, and Will Champion on drums. They were all friends who met at university, with a shared love of music. The band writes the music and Chris contributes the lyrics, citing their many musical influences as, among others, U2, Radiohead, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd.

Chris Martin is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow, and they have a two-year-old daughter named Apple and a baby boy named Moses, who was born in June of 2006. In addition to all his other achievements, Chris also did some television acting after Ricky Gervais invited him to do a cameo role in his comedy series Extras.

Some people accuse Chris Martin and the band for making bland records and not being having enough rock and roll to their music, but others enthuse about the craftsmanship of the songwriting and the live performances. Coldplay has declared itself a drug free band, and have a very clean-cut image. Perhaps this is why they reportedly clashed with Oasis leader Liam Gallagher, although it’s said they have since made up.

Chris Martin and the rest of the band are well known for their campaigning on behalf of causes such as Make Trade Fair and Amnesty International, and they appeared at the Live 8 concert organized by Bob Geldof. Chris had his friend Richard Ashcroft, (former member of English band, The Verve), come on as a guest singer during their act. Another band at Live 8 was Keane, whose member Tim Rice-Oxley is an old friend from university. The band that was to become Keane were then called Coldplay, a name that Rice-Oxley didn’t like, so he gave it away to Chris Martin’s band.

Other friends of Chris Martin’s on the music scene include Tim Wheeler, singer with the band Ash who also plays guitar on the flip side of The Scientist, and Danny McNamara who is front man with Embrace. In fact, Chris even wrote a song and gave it to Embrace to record. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. has recently recorded a duet with Chris to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Chris Martin has been an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq, and got involved in American politics by endorsing John Kerry in 2004, when he was the presidential candidate for the Democrats.

Chris Martin has stated that Coldplay will be less visible in the near future. After a grueling few years, they will be taking the opportunity to take stock and catch their breath. Meanwhile, fans await developments.

YUDDY