Chris Martin (born Christopher Anthony John Martin, 02.03.1977)
Chris Martin is an English singer and musician best known for being the lead vocalist of Coldplay.
Childhood: Chris Martin was born in Whitestone, Exeter, Devon. His parents are Anthony Martin, a former accountant, and Alison Martin, a music teacher. He attended the pre-preparatory Hylton School and the preparatory Exeter Cathedral School before going on to board at Sherborne School and later enrolled at the University College London which he left with First Class honours in Greek and Latin. He formed his first band, The Rocking Honkies, at prep school with Nick Repton and Iwan Gronow. He met Phil Harvey at boarding school who would go on to manage Coldplay. He met his bandmates, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman, at university.
Musical career: Chris Martin formed Coldplay in 1998, though it was originally called Starfish. Their first song was 'Ode to Deodorant' and they achieved success with their debut album 'Parachutes' in 2000. He has been a songwriter for various artists including Embrace and Jamelia. He has also collaborated with Ron Sexsmith, Faultline, The Streets, Ian McCulloch, Nelly Furtado and on the Band Aid 20 single, 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' in 2004. In 2006, he collaborated with Jay-Z on his album 'Kingdom Come'. He continued his interest in hip hop in 2007 with a collaboration with Swizz Beatz on his song 'Part of the Plan'. He is a massive fan of U2 who was a big influence on Coldplay and he has previously said that they're the only band whose back catalogue he knows by heart. He has also always loved synthpop band a-ha.
Other career ventures: Chris Martin and guitarist Jonny Buckland made cameos in the zombie comedy 'Shaun of the Dead' in 2004 which also starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. His other movie/TV cameos include on Ricky Gervais' comedy series 'Extras' and Sacha Baron Cohen's 'Bruno'. He has been involved in campaigns supporting fair trade, particularly Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign. In 2009, he appeared in the Sound Relief benefit concert in Sydney for the devastating bushfires and flooding that had taken a toll.
Personal life: Chris Martin married Gwyneth Paltrow im 2003 and they have two children; a daughter, Apple, and a son, Moses. Simon Pegg and Jonny Buckland are Apple's godfathers. The marriage took place in a secret wedding ceremony that was so secret that no-one else was even invited. He doesn't smoke or drink and is a vegetarian. He suffers from insomnia and has previously had sleep therapy. He has also been suffering from tinnitus since he was a teenager. He supports the UK's Liberal Democrats.
Biography by Contactmusic.com
