Coldplay Confirms Retirement After 2 More Albums

It has been a wild ride, that much Coldplay fans will readily attest to since the English pop-rock band debuted back during the turn of the new millennium with their breakthrough album, Parachutes. And after more than two decades of hits, Coldplay’s retirement appears to be imminent.

The news broke cover during an Apple Music interview with Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin. According to the 47-year-old, the hitmaking quartet will bow out after releasing their 12th album. “We are only going to do 12 proper albums and that’s real. Yeah, I promise,” he confirms.

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Coldplay confirms retirement after 12th album

On the cusp of launching their 10th release dubbed Moon Music, Martin stressed the importance of keeping their discography to only 12 studio albums with a ‘less is more’ approach. “For some of our critics, even less would be even more! It’s really important that we have that limit,”. By extension, he points out how other significant artistic bodies of work also come to a natural conclusion across finite numbers, whether it be the seven canonical Harry Potter books, to the 12 and a half Beatles albums.

“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,” he adds. This is further exacerbated by the amount of time and effort that goes into the gestation of a new album, which can prove taxing. “I don’t want to be, when we’re 60, be like, ‘Will [Champion], we need you. Come on!” Martin exclaims.

Of course, that isn’t to say that this would spell the end of the road, in spite of the Coldplay retirement announcement. If their recent record-breaking sell-out Music of The Spheres World Tour is any indication, the love and enthusiasm that fans have for the band will continue well into the next decade and beyond.

Thankfully, the group assures us that we can all expect several ‘side projects’ when they chart their separate paths post-Coldplay. Which is to say that if you haven’t already had the chance to see them live when they were last in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok, you may want to check on what remaining show dates they have internationally.

Feature and hero image credit: Coldplay/Instagram

This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Kuala Lumpur