Chris Martin Credits ‘Back To The Future’ For Coldplay’s Existence
Coldplay first formed after Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland met at college back in 1996. The seeds of Martin’s desire to even pursue music, though, run deeper than that: During his appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show yesterday, he said the movie Back To The Future, specifically the iconic scene where Michael J. Fox performs at the school dance, made him want to be in a band.
Martin told Clarkson, “We’ve been so lucky with people we get to do covers with, when there’s a special moment, or a city we’re in where a cover feels right, or a person who’s there that we want to ask to come on stage. My No. 1 probably is [when] Micheal J. Fox came and played two of the songs from Back To The Future with us in MetLife Stadium, and that was really wonderful.”
He then added, “That’s what made me want to be in a band, that scene. […] I grew up in real farm land of England before the internet, so any music on TV… the first thing I ever recorded was, there was a show called The A-Team, and I had a cassette recorder and held it against the TV to record the theme tune.”
The performance Martin is talking about took place at the East Rutherford, New Jersey venue on July 17, 2016, when Fox joined the band to perform a couple of Back To The Future staples: “Earth Angel” by The Penguins and “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry. Coldplay shared pro-shot footage of the “Johnny B. Goode” performance not long after it took place, and the video shows Martin often flashing a wide smile that indicates he can’t believe what he’s doing in that moment. After the song ends, he proclaims, “Oh, that’s our dream come true. Thank you, Michael.”
Watch a clip of Martin’s interview above and find Coldplay and Fox’s joint performances below.
Coldplay is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.