Born in Exeter, Martin went to University College London, where he formed Coldplay with Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman and Will Champion.

[3] The Independent and Evening Standard have cited Martin among the most influential figures in the United Kingdom,[4] while American Songwriter ranked him as one of the best male singers of the 21st century.

[16][17][18] Martin lived with his family in Zimbabwe when he was 10 years old,[19] later attending the Hylton and Exeter Cathedral schools, where he found his passion for music.

[26] The pair spent the rest of the year planning a band and started to write their first songs together in early 1997, practising every night as well.

[28] He originally considered it for his own band after finding a copy of Philip Horky's Child's Reflections, Cold Play (1997), but the idea was ultimately discarded.

Martin has written songs for a variety of acts including Embrace ("Gravity") and Jamelia ("See It in a Boy's Eyes", co-written with Coldplay producer Rik Simpson).

[32] Martin put some chords together for a song known as "Beach Chair" and sent them to Jay-Z who enlisted the help of hip-hop producer Dr. Dre to mix it.

Martin has also worked on a solo collaboration with Kanye West, with whom he shared an impromptu jam session during a 2006 concert at Abbey Road Studios.

[38] On 12 December 2012, Martin performed three songs, including "Losing My Religion" with Michael Stipe, as a part of the "12/12/12 Concert" which was held as a fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy relief.

[39] On 15 November 2014, Martin joined charity group Band Aid 30, performing alongside British and Irish pop acts on the latest version of the track "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

at Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill, London to raise money for the 2014 Ebola crisis in Western Africa — this was the second time Martin has contributed to a Band Aid recording having performed in the 2004 version.

[40] Martin became the creative director of the newly established Global Citizen Festival in 2015, a role he plans to fulfil for 15 years.

[41] Martin and Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland made cameo appearances in the film Shaun of the Dead as supporters of the fictional charity ZombAid.

He also appears singing in the closing credits of the 2009 Sacha Baron Cohen film Brüno, with Bono, Sting, Slash, Snoop Dogg, and Elton John.

[43] In March 2015, Martin attended the televised launch of music streaming service Tidal via a video link, and revealed himself, along with other notable artists, as a shareholder in the company.

The performance was a tribute to Linkin Park's lead singer Chester Bennington, who died by suicide the previous month.

In 2014, Martin inducted Peter Gabriel into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his solo career, and performed live with him.

The band stated: "This is our attempt at a video cover version, made out of love for Depeche Mode and the genius of Anton Corbijn".

[63] In a 2012 interview with the Daily Mirror, Martin revealed that he had been suffering from tinnitus since his early adult years, although he said that he had noticed the symptoms even as a teenager "while listening to loud music".

[64] As a result, Martin wears specially filtered earplugs or customised in-ear monitors while performing and has encouraged his bandmates to do the same as a preventive measure.

It contained a three-minute instrumental piece titled "Electric Thunder", which was composed by Martin, aged 12, at Exeter Cathedral School.

[72][73] According to one source, Martin previously had a relationship with live events producer Lily Sobhani around the Parachutes album release.

[77] Coldplay's "Speed of Sound" was also inspired by Martin's experience and awe at becoming a father, being the lead single for the band's X&Y album.

During the Teenage Cancer Trust show at London's Royal Albert Hall on 24 March 2003, he encouraged the sell-out crowd to "sing against war".

He supported Barack Obama for president in 2008, giving a shout-out at the end of a performance of "Yellow" on 25 October 2008 episode of Saturday Night Live.