“Less is more”
Coldplay singer announces end of band – with a big but
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Coldplay are one of the biggest bands of our time, the Brits sell millions of albums and sell out the biggest arenas. But even the greatest careers are finite: Coldplay boss Chris Martin already has a specific expiration date in mind for his band.
They're harsh words for all Coldplay fans, but frontman Chris Martin may actually mean it this time. In an interview with New Zealand radio DJ Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the Brit once again spoke about the approaching end of his band. He revealed a very specific point in time. “We're only going to make twelve real albums,” Martin said. After that it will be over with Coldplay, he already promises that. It is important for him to set this limit. The reason: “Less is more and for some of our critics even less would be more!”
Coldplay are currently promoting their tenth studio album “Moon Music”, which will be released on October 4th. So two more will be released, after which Coldplay may disband completely. For Martin, at least it's a logical step: “There are only seven “Harry Potter” books. There are only twelve and a half Beatles albums and about the same number by Bob Marley, all of them our heroes,” Chris Martin continues.
The fact that he set this limit with Coldplay would also have a positive effect on their work, as it meant that the quality control for the individual songs was very high. This makes it “almost impossible” for one of their songs to ultimately make it onto the albums: “That’s great.”
“It will happen like this”
But there is still a little hope for all Coldplay fans: Martin explicitly did not rule out future side projects with his band colleagues Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion. But these would have to be very different from Coldplay. Incidentally, the “maximum twelve Coldplay albums” doctrine is not entirely new. Martin has also spoken about the magic number 12 in past interviews. Among other things, he told the music magazine “NME” some time ago that he was sure “that it will happen that way.”
However, in an interview with BBC Radio 2 in 2021, Chris Martin said something different. At that time he revealed that there would be no new Coldplay album from 2025 and that from then on the band would only go on tour. In order to combine these two different exit strategies, Coldplay would have to release two new albums next year. But that currently seems completely impossible. Which of the two variants will now occur apparently remains a little secret.
