Coldplay have covered The Proclaimers‘ classic track ‘Sunshine On Leith’ with Laura Mvula – watch the performance below.
Chris Martin and co. delivered a stirring and emotional rendition of the Scottish band’s 1988 single during a stripped-back performance for Radio 2’s Piano Room Month last night (February 3).
They were assisted on vocals by Mvula, who previously guested with Coldplay during their headline set at Glastonbury 2024.
Speaking about their choice of cover, Martin explained that bassist Guy Berryman had sent him ‘Sunshine On Leith’ – from The Proclaimers’ second album of the same name – “three days ago”.
He continued: “He said, ‘Listen to this song by The Proclaimers’, and I’d never heard it before, and it blew me away… I’d never heard it before and then I watched the Hibernian [FC] fans singing in the terraces and it just gets me so much, that song.”
Coldplay also performed their classics ‘Viva La Vida’ and ‘Paradise’ in the Radio 2 Piano Room, as well as three tracks from their latest album ‘Moon Music’: ‘The Karate Kid’, ‘feelslikeimfallinginlove’ and ‘All My Love’.
The set was recorded at the BBC Maida Vale studios in London. Watch ‘Sunshine On Leith’ and ‘All My Love’ here:
You can listen back to a portion of the session here via BBC Sounds. The full performance will be broadcast at 10:40pm GMT tomorrow (February 5) on BBC One.
In other news, last month saw Coldplay perform the biggest stadium show of the 21st century so far when they took to the stage in India on their huge ‘Music Of The Spheres’ tour.
The group are due to return to the UK this summer for a record-breaking 10-night run at London’s Wembley Stadium, and two massive concerts in Hull.
During an interview with NME last October, the frontman talked about whether Coldplay were still planning on ending their recorded catalogue after 12 albums.
“The 12 album thing is very real, and it’s a nice feeling,” he explained. “It doesn’t mean we won’t tour or finish some compilation things or outtakes or whatever. It just means that the main story is told. That’s just what feels really right. Just knowing that’s happening supercharges all the work we’re doing now.”
Elsewhere, Martin said this deadline has led to the members having “more hunger” in their creative approach, and determined to make sure they don’t “dilute” anything they put out. He reassured fans that by the time their 12th album is complete, “everything will make sense” in terms of Coldplay’s story.
In December, however, Guy Berryman said he was taking the 12-album plan “with a pinch of salt”.
Meanwhile, Martin paid tribute to Liam Payne, Marianne Faithfull and more at the Grammys 2025 last weekend with a moving version of Coldplay’s ‘All My Love’.
