Coldplay

British act Coldplay's signature brand of melodic, dreamlike pop-rock made them one of the biggest music acts of the 2000s, with numerous chart-topping albums and a slew of major music awards to their name in less than two decades.

Singer Chris Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckland formed the band in 1996 while both were students at University College London. The duo added percussionist Will Champion and bassist Guy Berryman to perform at local clubs and adopted "Coldplay" as its permanent moniker.

They signed with Fierce Panda Records to release the EP Brothers and Sisters the following year. Upon completion of their schooling in early 1999, the band members signed a five-album deal with Parlophone Records, which began with their EP Blue Room. A single, "Bigger, Stronger," earned airplay on BBC 1, which led to their first full-length album, Parachutes, in 2000.

Its debut single, "Shiver," rose to No. 35 on the UK singles chart, but its follow-up, "Yellow," became their first Top 5 UK Single, as well as their first entry on the U.S. Billboard 100. The success of "Yellow" helped to propel Parachutes to the top of the UK Albums chart, and paved the way for their slow-building popularity in America.

By 2002, Parachutes had reached double-platinum sales status in the U.S. and earned Coldplay its first Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. By this time, the band had already released its second album in the UK: A Rush of Blood to the Head debuted at No. 1 on the English albums chart and eventually sold over 2.4 million copies, while in America, the album marked their first entry into the Top 5 on the Billboard 100.

Blood would later earn three Grammys, including Record of the Year for the single "Clocks." After taking a break for much of 2004, Coldplay issued their third album, X&Y (2005), which became the best-selling album of that year with worldwide sales of more than 8 million, and the third fastest-selling album in UK chart history.

Live dates at most of the major world music festivals, including Coachella and Live 8, kept the band busy until 2006, when they recorded their fourth LP, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends with Brian Eno as producer. Upon its release in 2008, the album was another global bestseller, as well as the most downloaded album in digital music history up to that point.

It would earn Coldplay three more Grammys, including Song of the Year for its title track, and Best Rock Album. They spent much of the next three years touring and recording their fifth album, a concept LP called Mylo Xyloto that hinged on a dystopian storyline.

Though critical response was mixed, Coldplay continued to experience extraordinary worldwide sales, while the tech-heavy tour was the fourth highest-grossing live show of 2012. The massive worldwide tour was followed by a much smaller jaunt to promote their sixth album, the subdued Ghost Stories (2014); during this period, Martin was the subject of tabloid interest due to his divorce from actress Gwyneth Paltrow and brief relationship with actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Though the band played just six shows around the globe to promote the album, it still topped the charts in the U.S. and U.K. and netted two Grammy nominations. Following the release of their seventh album, A Headful of Dreams (2015)--which Martin claimed might be their final release as a group--the band performed at the 2016 Super Bowl, joined by Bruno Mars and Beyoncé.