Coldplay

Chris Martin–led band; Yellow and Clocks made early-2000s alternative a mass radio format.

Formed in London in 1996. Parachutes (2000) and A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) established delay-soaked guitars, piano hooks, and falsetto leads as arena grammar. Yellow (2000) is the debut-era marker. Later records lean on Brian Eno–style production and chart maximalism; the early catalog is the rock-chronicle hinge from Britpop hangover to 2000s stadium alternative.