Coldplay beam up new single 'Higher Power' to space

LONDON - British band Coldplay chose an out of this world way to mark the release of their latest single “Higher Power” on Friday - by beaming up into space.

The rock group, known for hit songs “Paradise” and “Viva la Vida”, linked up with the International Space Station (ISS) to speak with French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet about life in space.

They also shared a recorded outdoor performance of their new song, featuring colourful alien holograms dancing to the tune, to Pesquet, who played it on board the ISS.

“Right now we aren’t able to play for anybody on Earth, so we thought we’d just play for you,” lead singer Chris Martin to Pesquet during their chat, a video of which was shared on Friday. “It’s like our one-man concert.”

Last week, the band wrote on its Twitter page that the song, produced by Swedish songwriter and producer Max Martin, “arrived on a little keyboard and a bathroom sink at the start of 2020”.

Coldplay will open next week’s BRIT Awards, Britain’s pop music honours, with a performance of “Higher Power” on the River Thames near the ceremony’s O2 arena venue in London.

They are also set to perform at Glastonbury’s livestream concert on May 22 after the festival’s usual greenfield music event was cancelled again this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

-reuters-

Film, pop stars line up for global COVID-19 fundraising gig

LONDON - International music and film stars will headline a globally televised and streamed fundraising concert on Saturday to help fight COVID-19 as part of a joint initiative by the advocacy group Global Citizen and the European Commission.

The initiative, called “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future,” is aiming to raise billions of dollars in private and public donations to help lessen the impact of the pandemic on marginalised communities.

Speaking at an online panel ahead of the event, pop star Miley Cyrus said the pandemic was hitting the world’s poor and marginalised people the hardest. She urged donors committing funds for tests, treatments and vaccines to ensure they are developed in ways that everyone everywhere has access to them.

Researchers and drugmakers across the globe are working on more than 100 potential vaccines against COVID-19, which has so far killed more than 463,000 people.

Hosted by actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, the virtual concert will feature Cyrus, Chloe x Halle, Christine and the Queens, Coldplay and Shakira and others, and include actors Charlize Theron and Hugh Jackman as well as retired soccer star David Beckham.

“We need our world leaders to commit the billions of dollars needed to develop and equitably deliver testing, treatments and vaccines,” said Hugh Evans, Global Citizen’s chief executive.

European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen said the concert would coincide with a pledging summit, at which artists, scientists and world leaders will “commit to helping the world end coronavirus, while leaving no one behind.”

The EU is increasingly taking a role as a champion of global cooperation in efforts to control and end the pandemic of COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus, while the United States and China are focused more on national initiatives.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Peter Cooney)

-reuters-

WATCH: Ellen Adarna plays Coldplay's 'The Scientist' on the piano

MANILA – Ellen Adarna never fails to surprise her social media followers.

On Monday, the actress shared on Instagram a video of her playing Coldplay’s “The Scientist” on the piano.

With just 24-hours since the clip was posted, it has already earned over half a million views and more than a thousand comments.

View this post on Instagram

The Scientist - Coldplay #quarantimes

A post shared by EA (@maria.elena.adarna) on Apr 26, 2020 at 6:46pm PDT

Adarna earned praises from her followers with some saying she continues to amaze them with her talent.

Some even requested for the actress to make an appearance on “ASAP Natin ‘To” and do a production number on the variety show.

However, this request won’t probably happen in the near future.

After going on hiatus from showbiz for nearly three years, Adarna recently said in an interview that she has no plans of returning to the limelight anytime soon, as she embraces an important role behind the cameras.

"I don't want to say, like, forever, right? But definitely, not in the next seven years," she said.

Her reason? "I want to be with my son in his formative years. I'm a very hands-on mom."

Adarna, 32, became a first-time mom during her time away from the screen. She gave birth to her son, Elias, with her former co-star John Lloyd Cruz in June 2018.

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Coldplay no-tour plan highlights growing climate awareness

LONDON, United Kingdom—British band Coldplay on Friday won plaudits for shelving a new album tour over environmental concerns, in the latest sign of climate change activism in the music industry.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) praised the move, as the group released its latest album—"Everyday Life"—with only 2 gigs, both in the Jordanian capital Amman.

The performances, staged at sunrise and sunset without an audience, were broadcast free on YouTube.

"It is fantastic to see world famous artists stepping up to protect the planet," said the head of climate change at WWF, Gareth Redmond-King.

"We all have a responsibility to lead by example in the face of this climate and nature crisis—inaction is not an option if we are to preserve our planet for future generations."

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin told the BBC they would not tour until they had figured out how concerts could be more "sustainable."

He listed the amount of flying required and the use of items such as plastic water bottles as the band's primary concerns over touring.

Activists say international music tours impact heavily on the environment, with concern about the amount of electricity used to power stadiums to waste generated by concertgoers.

Coldplay played 122 shows around the world across 8 legs as part of the tour for their last album, "A Head Full of Dreams."

Martin said if the band do eventually hit the road for the new release, they hope the tour could be entirely carbon neutral.

The band is set to perform another one-off concert next Monday at London's Natural History Museum, with the proceeds donated to an environmental charity.

CLEANING UP THEIR ACTS

Coldplay's decision is the latest example of bands and the wider entertainment industry responding to growing concern about the climate crisis.

US teenage sensation Billie Eilish revealed last month that she had tried to make her world tour "as green as possible" with the help of a non-profit consultancy.

The singer told chat-show host Jimmy Fallon she had banned plastic straws and urged fans to bring their own refillable water bottles and to utilize recycling bins at venues.

On her next world tour starting in March, every site will feature an "eco-village" where concert-goers can learn about environmentalism, she said.

Meanwhile, The 1975, another British band, which this year collaborated with Swedish climate change icon Greta Thunberg, are also trying to move towards carbon-neutral touring.

It pledged in September to plant a tree for every ticket sold ahead of their upcoming tour of Britain and Ireland.

Teenage activist Thunberg refuses to fly because of the carbon emissions involved. In September, she traveled to a UN climate conference in New York by boat. She is currently sailing back to Europe.

In Britain, live music events account for 405,000 tons of greenhouse emissions, according to the campaign group Global Citizen, which stages its own zero-waste festivals.

Powerful Thinking, a think-tank focused on the festival industry, estimates the events generate some 23,500 tons of waste each year in the country.

This has led dozens of Britain's biggest festivals to try to clean up their acts, initiating everything from bans on single-use plastic to using renewable energy sources.

The UK Music umbrella group representing the industry said 3.9 million people attended festivals in Britain in 2016.

Glastonbury Festival, staged every June on a farm in western England, is partnering with charities such as Greenpeace, Oxfam and WaterAid to improve its sustainability.

Organizers even deployed portable toilets that utilize technology to convert urine into electricity at this year's festival.

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U2, Coldplay top Forbes list of highest-paid musicians

LOS ANGELES - Irish rock band U2 topped the 2018 Forbes magazine list of the highest-paid musicians on Tuesday thanks in part to the group's successful "Joshua Tree" world tour celebrating their classic 1987 album.

That tour helped the band collect $118 million in pre-tax earnings from June 1, 2017 to June 1, 2018, the magazine said. The performances featured well-known hits from "The Joshua Tree" album including "Where the Streets Have No Name," "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."

The band's earnings also included revenue from a new tour, "Experience + Innocence."

British band Coldplay finished second on the Forbes list with $115.5 million, mostly from its "A Head Full Of Dreams" tour.

Billions of streams helped 27-year-old British singer Ed Sheeran finish third with $110 million. He was followed by Bruno Mars with $100 million and Katy Perry with $83 million.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine Editing by Chris Reese) 

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Coldplay in Manila

Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, holds a banner with the word "Love" painted on it as the Philippine flag is displayed on the electronic billboard during the British rock band's highly anticipated concert, "A Head Full of Dreams," at Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday.

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Coldplay to play India as anti-poverty concert expands

NEW YORK -- Rockers Coldplay will play their first-ever show in India in a free performance as the anti-poverty Global Citizen Festival on Friday announced an expansion.

The festival, which distributes tickets in return for individual actions to fight extreme poverty, said it would release further details Monday.

But it confirmed Coldplay's participation and said the November 19 show in Mumbai would be free after press reports in India said the concert would be exorbitantly expensive.

The Global Citizen Festival, established in 2012, takes place each year in New York's Central Park on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to push world leaders to put anti-poverty efforts high on the agenda.

"Just like our annual festival in Central Park, tickets to the Indian festival will be free. Fans will earn them through taking actions in support of education, equality and sanitation campaigns," the festival said on its website.

It noted that the Mumbai concert would take place on World Toilet Day, which draws attention to sanitation problems.

While most Coldplay fans likely have indoor plumbing, around half of Indians do not have regular access to modern toilets, presenting a major public health hazard.

Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin serves as the creative director of the Global Citizen Festival.

India is not a new interest for Coldplay, whose video for "Hymn for the Weekend," released in January, was shot in the country, although critics said it presented stereotypical images.

The latest New York edition of the Global Citizen Festival, to take place on September 24, will feature R&B superstar Rihanna, metal greats Metallica and leading rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared at the festival in 2014 to lend his support to its goals.

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Beyonce, Bruno Mars heat up Coldplay's Super Bowl halftime show

SANTA CLARA, California - Coldplay headlined at Sunday's Super Bowl halftime show, but it was R&B super stars Beyonce and Bruno Mars who delivered the sizzle with a lively, upbeat production that paid homage to previous halftime performers.

Known mainly for mellow hits, British alt-rockers Coldplay amped up the energy, staging "Viva La Vida" on a colorfully illuminated floor surrounded by dancing violinists.

After Coldplay crowd-pleasers "Paradise" and "Adventure of a Lifetime," a black-leather-clad Mars, who headlined the halftime show in 2014, bounced through "Uptown Funk!," with producer Mark Ronson on DJ decks on stage.

But all eyes were on Beyonce, who gyrated her way through her latest single "Formation" -- a power anthem to race and feminism that made a surprise debut on Saturday.

The music video features powerful images of a flooded New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It also depicts graffiti that reads "stop shooting us," suggestive of the Black Lives Matter movement, which emerged in the wake of killings of unarmed black men, several at the hands of police.

Prior to the game, some fans speculated on social media that Beyonce would deliver a politically charged performance.

But, partnered with Mars on the football field, the tone of the performance was lighter than the video. They subtly conveyed the themes of "Formation" with female dancers dressed in black shorts, crop tops and berets, in what was perceived as an homage to the black nationalist Black Panther Party movement of the 1960s and '70s.

Cedric Betts of Millbrae, California, who saw the performance live at the game, said Beyonce's message was clear. "As black people we have to embrace these moments because it's not often we get them," he said.

An ad immediately following the show announced Beyonce's "Formation" world tour beginning in April, her first major tour in three years.

Before wrapping up one of the signature moments of America's biggest sporting event, Beyonce and Mars joined Coldplay frontman Chris Martin for a quick re-visit to "Uptown Funk!," ending on Coldplay's uplifting ballad "Fix You." Images honored past halftime performers including Stevie Wonder, Black Eyed Peas and the late Michael Jackson, whose military-style wardrobe inspired Beyonce's costume Sunday.

Even for music's biggest stars, the Super Bowl halftime show is the largest stage of their careers, drawing more than 100 million viewers to the live event and lighting up social media.

This year's halftime show garnered a total of 3.9 million tweets. Beyonce dominated the conversation on social media during the halftime performance, with 1.3 million tweets about the singer according to figures from Twitter. Coldplay followed with 774,000 tweets, while Mars garnered 341,000 tweets. The most-tweeted song was "Formation."

Last year, Katy Perry garnered 3 million tweets during her halftime performance.

All three acts of this year's performers quickly became top trends on Twitter, with sentiments towards Coldplay's halftime show measuring overall positive, according to social media analytics firm Zoomph, with twice as many positive tweets than negative tweets.

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