Coldplay’s full-length debut Parachutes (2000) sold millions on the strength of Martin’s vocals and such singles as the bittersweet “Yellow.” Parachutes earned the band its first Grammy Award, for best alternative album, and paved the way for the more ambitious A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). The latter album earned the group two more Grammy Awards, and singles such as “Clocks” helped drive the band’s total album sales over the 20 million mark. Coldplay followed the concert album Live 2003 (2003) with X & Y (2005), a collection of guitar-driven, arena-friendly rock anthems (including the hit single “Speed of Sound”) that elevated the group to the rank of such “big bands” as U2 and Radiohead. Meanwhile, Martin’s 2003–16 marriage to American actress Gwyneth Paltrow earned him celebrity status independent of his musical achievements.
The band’s 2008 release, Viva la Vida, produced in part by Brian Eno, topped the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom, and the album’s title track, arguably Coldplay’s most radio-friendly effort yet, was the number one single on both sides of the Atlantic. That popularity was reflected at the 2009 Grammy Awards ceremony, where the band collected honors for song of the year, best rock album, and best pop performance by a group. Working again with Eno, Coldplay returned with the sleek Mylo Xyloto (2011), which notably featured a duet between Martin and pop singer Rihanna.
Later releases included the subdued Ghost Stories (2014), which yielded the hit singles “Magic” and “A Sky Full of Stars”; the upbeat A Head Full of Dreams (2015); and the EP Kaleidoscope (2017). To mark the release of Everyday Life (2019), Coldplay performed two livestreamed concerts, one at sunrise and the other at sunset, in Amman, Jordan. In 2021 Music of the Spheres appeared, and it became the band’s ninth consecutive studio album to reach the top spot of the British album chart.
rock, form of popular music that emerged in the 1950s.
It is certainly arguable that by the end of the 20th century rock was the world’s dominant form of popular music. Originating in the United States in the 1950s, it spread to other English-speaking countries and across Europe in the ’60s, and by the ’90s its impact was obvious globally (if in many different local guises). Rock’s commercial importance was by then reflected in the organization of the multinational recording industry, in the sales racks of international record retailers, and in the playlist policies of music radio and television. If other kinds of music—classical, jazz, easy listening, country, folk, etc.—are marketed as minority interests, rock defines the musical mainstream. And so over the last half of the 20th century it became the most inclusive of musical labels—everything can be “rocked.” Its popularity and traction persisted in the 21st century—despite the threat of a potentially outmoded business model—thanks largely to the flourishing live music sector.
Crucial rock musicians
For lexicographers and legislators alike, the purpose of definition is to grasp a meaning, to hold it in place, so that people can use a word correctly—for example, to assign a track to its proper radio outlet (rock, pop, country, jazz). The trouble is that the term rock describes an evolving musical practice informed by a variety of nonmusical arguments (about creativity, sincerity, commerce, and popularity). It makes more sense, then, to approach the definition of rock historically, with examples. The following musicians were crucial to rock’s history. What do they have in common?
