Coldplay fans will soon lose something they can’t replace.
In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the band’s front man, Chris Martin, confirmed that the seven-time Grammy Award-winning group will retire after the release of its 12th studio album.
“We are only going to do 12 proper albums and that’s real,” Martin told Lowe. “Having that limit means the quality control is so high right now and for a song to make it, it’s almost impossible, which is great. And so where we could be coasting, we’re trying to improve.”
The 12-album limit didn’t come out of nowhere — it was inspired by some of the band’s biggest influences, Martin said.
“There’s only seven Harry Potters. There’s only 12 ½ Beatles’ albums, there’s about the same for Bob Marley, so all our heroes,” Martin explained to Lowe.
Part of the reason the band has placed this limit on itself is because Martin wants his bandmates to be able to say “Viva la vida.”
He told Lowe, “To make an album great as a band, it’s such a lot of wrangling of people, and I want to give the others some of their life for themselves.”
While the band plans to call it quits after that impending 12th project, it doesn’t mean their collaboration will end definitively. Martin told Lowe that because he loves working on new music, he’ll likely continue to do so after the band retires. That could even involve side projects with his bandmates Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion.
The clocks are ticking for the arrival of Coldplay’s 10th album, Moon Music, on Oct. 4. After that, only two album releases would remain, according to Martin’s announcement.
The group just completed the European leg of their “Music of the Spheres” tour, which has grossed more than $1 billion since it kicked off in March 2022. It’s the first rock tour and the second tour ever to do so. Next up, Coldplay will continue their touring adventure of a lifetime with gigs in Australia and New Zealand late next month. In 2025, they’ll perform in Asia along with a slate of recently announced summer headlining shows in the U.K.
While their discography is set to end, the magic of the band will “everglow.”
