Chris Martin: Hymns inspire me

Chris Martin says singing hymns at school inspired his music career.

The star's band Coldplay are well-known for their soaring choruses, which Chris says come from his days as a student. He grew up in the UK and enjoyed singing hymns during assembly, so that type of music had a huge influence on him.

'There was a lot of singing at school ' Yellow Submarine and hymns. I think that's what gives me such a passion for big chord changes. The best thing that happened to me when I was 15 was being put in this rhythm 'n' blues band, learning all the old school songs like [James Carr's] Dark End of the Street and [Otis Reading's] (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay. That, coupled with religious music, was quite a good education,' he explained.

'But I didn't really know sh*t about modern records until 1997. I was playing piano and dancing like a t**ser. So not much has changed there. That's where I originally learned to dance like a t**ser.'

Chris was interested in rock music when he was growing up. He loved Nirvana and the first show he went to was a band covering the American grunge group.

They were called Mr Obnoxious, but even as a youngster Chris had misgivings about them.

'They were a Nirvana covers band from Yeovil [in the UK]. So the first band I ever saw was really Nirvana, I would say if I was being cool,' he laughed to Q magazine. 'They had one of their own called F**king Sh*t Arse. Even then as a young person I thought, 'I'm not sure that's the best commercial move.''

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