Coldplay in 2010 Martin co-founded the band along with Jonny Buckland after they met during
orientation week at university in 1996. The pair spent the rest of the year planning a band and began writing their first songs together in early 1997, rehearsing nightly. Guy Berryman joined the group in the following months and the group recorded numerous demos without a drummer. By November, the trio was known as Big Fat Noises. Weeks later, the band settled on the name Coldplay,
Solo work Martin has written songs for a variety of artists, including
Embrace ("
Gravity") and
Jamelia ("
See It in a Boy's Eyes", co-written with frequent Coldplay producer
Rik Simpson). He has also collaborated with
Ron Sexsmith,
Faultline,
the Streets, and
Ian McCulloch. In 2004, he sang on the
Band Aid 20 single "
Do They Know It's Christmas?". In 2005, Martin worked with
Nelly Furtado on "
All Good Things (Come to an End)" for her album
Loose (2006). The two were once rumoured to be a couple after performing together at
Glastonbury Festival in 2002. Furtado joked about it, saying, "Yeah, he's my boyfriend—he just doesn't know it yet". festival in
Atlanta Martin's interest in
hip hop led to a collaboration with rapper
Jay-Z on the song "
Beach Chair" for the album
Kingdom Come (2006). Martin supplied chords and Coldplay producer Rik Simpson created the drum pattern; Jay-Z then brought in
Dr. Dre to mix the track. Martin and Jay-Z performed "Beach Chair" at
Royal Albert Hall on 27 September 2006. He also recorded the chorus for
Kanye West's "
Homecoming" on
Graduation (2007), following an impromptu jam session at
Abbey Road Studios the same year. In 2015, Martin collaborated with
Avicii during sessions for Avicii's album,
Stories (2015). Their first joint composition, "
Heaven", originated in that period, with
Simon Aldred of
Cherry Ghost providing early vocals. Martin also sang on "
True Believer". In 2017, he performed "
A Different Corner" at the
Brit Awards in tribute to
George Michael. Martin co-wrote "Homesick" for
Dua Lipa's self-titled debut album,
Dua Lipa (2017). In 2019, Martin was featured on Avicii's posthumous album,
Tim (2019); the song "Heaven" features vocals by Martin and was written by Avicii and Martin prior to Avicii's death in 2018.
Philanthropy In December 2012, Martin performed three songs for the
12/12/12: The Concert for Sandy Relief fundraiser, which aided
Hurricane Sandy victims. Two years later, he joined
Band Aid 30 to record a new version of "
Do They Know It's Christmas?" at
Notting Hill's
Sarm West Studios, helping raise money for the
2014 Ebola crisis in
West Africa; this marked his second contribution to the franchise, after
Band Aid 20. In September 2015, he became the creative director of the
Global Citizen Festival. InFocus, a charity dedicated to vision impairment and complex needs, launched and named
Exeter's Martin House after him in 2025; the place works as a residential care facility for young people.
Other projects Martin and Coldplay guitarist
Jonny Buckland made cameo appearances in the film
Shaun of the Dead as supporters of the fictional charity ZombAid. In 2006, Martin had a cameo role in series two, episode four, of the
Ricky Gervais and
Stephen Merchant comedy
Extras. He also appears singing in the closing credits of the 2009
Sacha Baron Cohen film
Brüno, alongside
Bono,
Sting,
Slash,
Snoop Dogg, and
Elton John. In March 2015, Martin attended the televised launch of
music streaming service
Tidal via a video link, and, along with other artists, was introduced as a shareholder. In June 2015, he performed "Til Kingdom Come" at the
funeral Mass of
Beau Biden, son of then
United States Vice President Joe Biden, after learning that Beau Biden had been a fan. In August 2017, Martin performed a solo piano rendition of "
Crawling" by
Linkin Park as a tribute to the band's singer
Chester Bennington, who had died the previous month. == Influences ==