Coldplay have teased the yet-to-be-announced next leg of their huge ‘Music Of The Spheres’ tour.
The band’s ongoing global trek kicked off in March 2022, and last year became the highest-grossing rock tour of all time. It has grossed over $1billion, becoming only the second tour ever to do so.
In January, Coldplay performed the biggest stadium show of the 21st century so far as part of the mammoth run.
Chris Martin and co. have only one show left of their record-breaking 10-night residency at London’s Wembley Stadium, scheduled for this Friday (September 12). These dates follow two stadium gigs in Hull last month.
During the penultimate Wembley concert last Saturday (September 6), frontman Martin revealed that the ‘Music Of The Spheres’ tour is far from over. “This tour has 138 more shows to go,” he told the crowd.
“We have a break coming up, and we’ll announce the shows for 2027 soon. But we only have two more this year, and then we’re gonna go and make this really special thing that we’ve been making for years and years, and it’s really good. But shush!.
“I’m telling you that because I want to tell you something I haven’t told anybody else. That’s what it is, OK?”
You can watch a fan-shot video of the moment below.
The “really special” project Martin hinted at is potentially the first of Coldplay’s final two studio albums.
Speaking to NME around the release of Coldplay’s 10th and latest studio record, 2024’s ‘Moon Music’, the singer doubled down on the plan for the band’s catalogue to end after 12 albums.
“Yes, it is 12 albums for sure, but we’re going to be a bit later than [2025],” he explained. This lines up with the group’s return to the road in 2027, and suggests that their next LP could arrive that year or in 2026.
Martin told NME that “album number 11” would be “a musical”. However, he said this record “might have to come out after album 12 because of how long musicals take to animate”.
He went on: “Our last single is on this album [‘Moon Music’], and that’s called ‘All My Love’. That’s the last ‘single’ single. We have the musical thing, then an album just called ‘Coldplay’, which is the final one. I think that will be a year late – I know it will be.”
Martin insisted that the 12-album plan was “very real”, but assured fans that this didn’t mean Coldplay “won’t tour or finish some compilation things or outtakes or whatever”.
Discussing what this next phase of Coldplay could look like, the frontman told NME: “Maybe it’s not always about trying to be in stadiums, but you can do small things where you try and play the odd songs. I think it would also be nice to help younger artists a bit.
“It’s like when someone becomes a football pundit and stops trying to score goals.”
Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman subsequently told fans to take Martin’s comments about ending after 12 albums with “a pinch of salt”. He explained that “Chris is never going to stop writing”, before saying: “We’re still years away from any kind of retirement.”
Berryman continued: “But I think you have to have a plan. If you’re running a marathon, you know you have to run 26 miles. But if somebody said to you, ‘OK, start running and just don’t stop’, it’s quite hard to motivate yourself.”
- READ MORE: Coldplay live at Glastonbury 2024 review: Worthy Farm’s house band become “100,004 people” strong
Coldplay’s massive stint in London has seen them pay tribute to Oasis and oversee a fan’s proposal, renuite onstage with Simon Pegg, and perform ‘Clocks’ with Ash’s Tim Wheeler. They recently rescheduled the final two dates due to planned industrial action.
Meanwhile, Martin has admitted that he’ll struggle to move on from Coldplay when their recorded catalogue eventually ends.
For Coldplay’s UK dates this year, 10 per cent of proceeds are being donated to the Music Venue Trust (MVT) to support grassroots venues. In quotes supplied exclusively to NME, the members explained why it was vital for them to help local spaces and emerging talent.
