Coldplay to make history as they headline Glastonbury Festival for fifth time

The group are festival regulars, having headlined in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2016.

Chris Martin sits on stage with a drummer in the background

Grammy award-winning band Coldplay will make history when they take to the stage at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday.

The group – Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion – will become the first act to headline the music festival five times, according to festival organisers.

The band, who formed in the 1990s, played the Pyramid Stage in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2016, and also performed at Live At Worthy Farm in 2021, without an in-person audience, as the usual event had been cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Chris Martin of Coldplay on stage in front of a stadium audience — Coldplay on stage (Peter Byrne/PA)

Northern Irish musician Van Morrison has performed on the main stage eight times, according to the Victoria and Albert museum’s Glastonbury Festival archive, but not all of these were headline slots.

Coldplay was formed after the band members met at University College London (UCL) and they have cited U2, James, Travis and REM as musicians who have inspired them.

The Brit-award winning group has had two number one singles in the UK charts with Viva La Vida and Paradise and their other hits have included Clocks, Magic, Fix You and Yellow.

Since the release of their debut number-one record, Parachutes, in 2000, the band has had a streak of chart-topping studio albums.

These include; A Rush Of Blood To The Head (2002), X&Y (2005) Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends (2008), Mylo Xyloto (2011) and Ghost Stories (2014).

Chris Martin of Coldplay jumps as he performs at Glastonbury in 2011 — Chris Martin of Coldplay jumps as he performs at the Glastonbury Music Festival in 2011 (Yui Mok/PA)

There was also A Head Full Of Dreams (2015), Everyday Life (2019) and Music Of The Spheres (2021).

During a special BBC Radio 2 Christmas show with presenter Jo Whiley in 2021, Martin, 47, said the band will release their last record in 2025 and plan to “only tour” after that.

The group embarked on their most recent tour, Music Of The Spheres, in 2022, which is still ongoing.

Their shows have been supported by a “show battery”, supplied by BMW, which is recharged using solar power and generators powered by hydrotreated vegetable oil.

Their forthcoming album, Moon Music, will be released in October.