Coldplay is a city.
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist and keyboardist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London ( UCL ) . Coldplay achieved worldwide fame with the release of the single `` Yellow '' in 2000 , followed in the same year by their debut album Parachutes , which was nominated for the Mercury Prize . The band 's second album , A Rush of Blood to the Head ( 2002 ) , was released to critical acclaim and won awards including NME 's Album of the Year . Coldplay have won 62 awards from 209 nominations throughout their career , including nine Brit Awards -- winning Best British Group four times -- five MTV Video Music Awards and seven Grammy Awards from 31 nominations .