Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has revealed the band’s plan to retire after releasing their 12th album, marking the end of their career in producing new music. In a candid interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Martin disclosed that the British band intends to complete “12 proper albums” before officially retiring.
“We are only going to do 12 proper albums, and that’s real,” Martin told Lowe, emphasizing the band’s decision to limit their discography. He added with a lighthearted tone, “Less is more, and in some of our critics, even less would be even more.”
When asked why they chose to stop at 12 albums, Martin referenced the band’s musical influences, citing iconic artists with similarly limited discographies. “There’s only seven Harry Potters. There’s only 12 ½ Beatles’ albums, and there’s about the same for Bob Marley, so all of our heroes,” Martin explained.
Martin believes this album limit has positively impacted their music’s quality. “The quality control is so high right now, and for a song to make it, it’s almost impossible, which is great. Where we could be kind of coasting, we’re trying to improve,” he shared.
Beyond the artistic reasoning, Martin also expressed his desire to give his bandmates—Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion—time to pursue personal interests outside of Coldplay. “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,” he said.
Despite their plans to retire from making new albums, Martin assured fans that Coldplay will still work on various creative projects, though not in the form of traditional studio releases. “If we do something together after that creatively beyond touring, it will be something different, or it’ll be a side thing, or it’ll be a compilation of things we hadn’t finished,” Martin hinted.
Coldplay is set to release their 10th studio album, Moon Music, on October 4, leaving only two more albums before they conclude their music-making journey.
The band recently visited the Philippines in January as part of their Music of the Spheres world tour, which began in March 2022 and is expected to continue through 2025. Some of their most beloved hits include “Viva La Vida,” “Fix You,” “Yellow,” “The Scientist,” and “A Sky Full of Stars.”