Coldplay’s Chris Martin praised for ‘singing through’ Pride flag at Radio 1’s Big Weekend concert
Coldplay, fronted by Chris Martin, closed out BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Luton. (Getty)
Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin has been praised for waving the LGBTQ+ Pride flag during the headline performance at BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend in Luton (24-26 May).
During the song “People of the Pride”, Martin grabbed a large rainbow Pride flag from the back of the stage and began covering his face with it, even singing through the fabric.
People on social media praised Martin for “holding up the flag”, saying they had “big respect” for him for doing so.
This is not the first time Martin has brought out a Pride flag during his band’s performance of this song, as TikTok videos from the Music of the Spheres World Tour showed that previous performances dating back to 2022 also featured Martin holding up a rainbow Pride flag.
Many suggest that “People of the Pride” is an LGBTQ+ anthem, due to its lyrics about being “free to fall in love with who we want” and the word “pride” in the title of the song.
“People of the Pride” comes from Coldplay’s ninth and most recent studio album, Music of the Spheres. The song was repurposed from an early demo called “The Man Who Swears He’s God”, which the band never released.
Guy Berryman, Coldplay’s bassist previously told Apple Music: “We started the song over 10 years ago and couldn’t really finish it. Again, this was one which [Martin] really helped shape sonically. The way we had it before, it sounded a little bit old-fashioned, almost like glam rock. What [Martin] managed to do was take the energy and layer in a way which preserved that feel but also made it sound very modern at the same time.”
The song was sung about halfway through Coldplay’s set during BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend 2024 in Stockton Park, Luton.
Other songs in their set list included “Higher Power”, “Paradise”, “Viva La Vida”, “Fix You”, “Yellow”, and “A Sky Full of Stars”.
The band also brought US singer and actress Sabrina Carpenter on stage with them, who headlined the Main Stage earlier in the day before Coldplay closed the weekend, to sing “Magic”.
Coldplay also debuted a song called “Orange”, which was written and performed as a tribute to Luton Town football team and its supporters.
Justin Dealey, a presenter for BBC Three Counties radio, launched a campaign in March to change Coldplay’s song “Yellow” to “Orange” in a bid to avoid singing about Luton Town’s rivals Watford, who play in yellow.
During an interview with BBC Three Counties radio, Luton residents appealed to Martin to change the song, leading him to joke that Coldplay “should have called it orange in the first place” as “it’s a superior colour”.
After singing “Yellow” in its original form, Martin decided to grace Luton supporters with a new song about their love of football to end their set.
You can watch Big Weekend 2024 footage on iPlayer here.
