Shropshire Star

Chris Martin thanks famous faces who have ‘mentored’ him during his career

The Coldplay frontman said that mentors were often people you look up to ‘whether you know them or not’.

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Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin

Chris Martin has thanked a host of famous faces who have mentored him during his career and said he has worked hard to deal with negativity towards himself and his music.

The Coldplay frontman said that mentors were often people you look up to “whether you know them or not”.

He told BBC Radio 2’s Jo Whiley that his own mentors had included big names in music including Bruce Springsteen, members of U2 and rapper Jay-Z.

INVICTUS GAMES 2017
Martin joked that Springsteen would ‘probably describe me as someone who comes to his summer course’ rather than a friend (Danny Lawson/PA)

“I’ve been working really hard on not being imprisoned by the negativity out there towards our music,” he said.

“It’s a very British thing too, to feel like I can’t really be who I am because I’ve got to pretend to be fine and cool and everything.

“But I don’t really care about that anymore but it’s something I have to work on every day; the people who don’t like our music or might think I’m an idiot or whatever.

“Because if you think about that too much it really stops you talking and stops you being yourself.”

Martin said his raft of celebrity mentors included several non-musicians and that he was “so lucky” to have had people to help him “from the beginning”.

He said: “At first it was Danny (McNamara) from Embrace… just by being cool to me and being sweet and giving me some guidance.

“And Simon Pegg, often at that time it was males that were doing the same thing.”

Martin said Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien had been supportive, as had Bono and guitarist the Edge from U2.

He added: “Then it became Jay-Z. Still now I have people that I look up to (like) Bruce Springsteen.”

The Harder They Fall world premiere – BFI London Film Festival 2021
Martin said that US rapper Jay-Z had also been a mentor to him during his career (Ian West/PA)

He joked: “I don’t know if he’d call me his friend, he’d probably describe me as someone who comes to his summer course.

“Someone who occasionally says ‘er Bruce, what do I do about this’.

“(And) Nick Cave, I would say, I don’t know if he likes me admitting that he knows me but I love him with my heart.

“Nick is someone who, musically, not many people would put us together, but… we’ve become friends over the years and he’s older and wiser.

“I think if you look up to someone then they’re your mentor whether you know them or not.”

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