Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Who is Nigella Lucy Lawson?

Who is Nigella Lucy Lawson? The food critic word know Nigella Lawson as an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster. Lawson is the daughter of Nigel Lawson, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Vanessa Salmon, whose family owned the J. Lyons and Co. empire. After graduating from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, Lawson started work as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, later becoming the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times in 1986. She then embarked upon a career as a freelance journalist, writing for a number of newspapers and magazines. In 1998, Lawson brought out her first cookery book, How to Eat, which sold 300,000 copies and became a bestseller. She went on to write her second book in 2000, How to be a Domestic Goddess, winning her the British Book Award for Author of the Year.

In 2000, she began to host her own cookery series on Channel 4, Nigella Bites, which was accompanied with another bestselling cookery book. The Nigella Bites series won Lawson a Guild of Food Writers Award; however her 2005 ITV daytime chat show was met with a negative critical reaction and was cancelled after attracting low ratings. Lawson hosted the Food Network's Nigella Feasts in the United States in 2006 followed by a three-part BBC Two series, Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, in the United Kingdom. This led to the commissioning of Nigella Express on BBC Two in 2007. Her own cookware range, Living Kitchen, has a value of £7 million, and she has sold more than 3 million cookery books worldwide.
Renowned for her flirtatious manner of presenting, Lawson has been called the "queen of food porn". She is neither a trained chef nor cook, and has assumed a distinctly relaxed approach to her cooking.

Background

Nigel Lawson
Lawson was born 6 January 1960. Her given name originally being thought up by her grandmother,[3] Nigella Lawson is a daughter of Nigel Lawson, Baron Lawson of Blaby,[4] a Conservative MP, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Margaret Thatcher's cabinet, and Vanessa Salmon (1936–1985),[5] a socialite, "celebrated beauty"[6] and heiress to the J. Lyons & Co. fortune.[7] Her family kept homes in Kensington and Chelsea,[8] and were noted for their luxurious life-style.[9] In the 1960s, Peregrine Worsthorne wrote that Vanessa and her daughters looked "as if they had stepped straight out of a Visconti film set".[10] Lawson's parents divorced in 1980. They both remarried; her father in 1980 to a House of Commons researcher, Therese Maclear (to whom he was married until 2008,[11]) and her mother, in the early 1980s, to philosopher, Sir A.J. Ayer (they remained married until her mother's death).[7] With Lawson's father being a prominent politician, some of the things she found most frustrating were the many judgements and pre-conceptions made about her.[3] There was a time when Lawson did not get on with her father, mostly during her parents' divorce, and she became friendly with her mother only when she reached adulthood.[12] Being unhappy as a child has been attributed, by Lawson, partly to the problematic relationship she had with her mother.[8]
Lawson's school years were difficult; she had to move schools nine times between the ages of 9 and 18, spending some of her childhood in the Welsh town of Higher Kinnerton. "I was just difficult, disruptive, good at school work, but rude, I suspect, and too highly-strung", Lawson reflected.[13] Her father originally chose not to believe the reports of her disruptive behaviour and thought the school had the wrong person.[12] Lawson reluctantly attended a private school in the Midlands and later returned to London's Godolphin and Latymer School sixth form where she began to show skill academically.[12] She worked for many department stores in London,[14] and went on to graduate from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford[14] with a degree in mediæval and modern languages.[15] She also lived in Florence for a period.[16]
Lawson's mother died of liver cancer in Westminster, London, aged 48, when Lawson was 25.[7][16] Her full-blood siblings are her brother, Dominic, former editor of The Sunday Telegraph, a sister, Horatia and sister Thomasina, who died of breast cancer in 1993 during her early thirties;[13][17][18] She has a half-brother Tom, and a half-sister Emily, her father's children by his second wife. Lawson is a cousin to both George Monbiot and Fiona Shackleton through the Salmons.[19]
Taking part in the third series of the BBC family-history documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are?, Lawson sought to uncover some of her family's ancestry. She traced her ancestors to Ashkenazi Jews who originate from eastern Europe and Germany, leaving Lawson surprised not to have Iberian-Sephardi ancestry in the family as she had believed.[20] She also uncovered that her maternal great-great-great grandfather, Coenraad Sammes (later Coleman Joseph), had fled to England from Amsterdam in 1830 to escape a prison sentence following a conviction for theft.[20][21] It was his daughter, Hannah, who married Samuel Gluckstein, father-in-law and business partner of Barnett Salmon and father of Isidore and Montague Gluckstein, who together with Barnett founded J. Lyons and Co. in 1887.[20][22]

Career

Early work

Lawson originally worked in publishing, first taking a job under publisher Naim Attallah.[14] At 23, she commenced her journalism career after Charles Moore had invited her to write for The Spectator.[14] Her initial work at the magazine consisted of writing book reviews,[23][24] after which period she became a restaurant critic there in 1985.[13] She became the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times in 1986 at the age of 26.[13][25] Lawson occasionally drifted into the public's eye, attracting unwanted publicity in 1989 when she admitted voting for Labour in an election as opposed to her father's Conservative Party, and then criticised Margaret Thatcher in print.[7] Regarding her political relationship with her father, Lawson has stated, "My father would never expect me to agree with him about anything in particular. And, to be honest, we never talk about politics much."[26]
After her stint at The Sunday Times, Lawson embarked upon a freelance writing career, realizing that "I was on the wrong ladder. I didn't want to be an executive, being paid to worry rather than think".[8] In the United Kingdom, she wrote for The Daily Telegraph, the Evening Standard, The Observer and The Times Literary Supplement, and penned a food column for Vogue[27] and a makeup column for The Times Magazine,[8] as well as working with Gourmet and Bon Appétit in the United States.[28] After just two weeks working on Talk Radio in 1995, Lawson was sacked after she had stated her shopping was done for her, which was deemed incompatible with the radio station's desired "common touch".[7]

1998–2002: Cookery writing and Nigella Bites

Lawson had an established sense of cooking from her childhood, having had a mother who enjoyed to cook.[8] Lawson conceived the idea of writing a cookery book after she observed a dinner party host in tears because of an unset crème caramel.[29] How to Eat was subsequently written in 1998,[13] featuring culinary tips on preparation and saving time.[29] The book became a success and sold 300,000 copies in the UK;[23] The Sunday Telegraph dubbed it "the most valuable culinary guide published this decade".[30]
Lawson then wrote How to be a Domestic Goddess in 2000, which focused primarily on baking[16] and also became a bestseller. The Times wrote, regarding the book and Lawson's approach to its writing, "How To Be a Domestic Goddess ... is defined by its intimate, companionable approach. She is not issuing matronly instructions like Delia; she is merely making sisterly suggestions".[8] Lawson rejected feminist criticism of her book,[31] and stated, "Some people did take the domestic goddess title literally rather than ironically. It was about the pleasures of feeling like one rather than actually being one".[4] The book sold 180,000 copies in four months,[29] and won Lawson the title of Author of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2001,[23] fending off competition from authors such as J. K. Rowling.[32] One commentator suggested she won the award only because her husband was about to die of cancer.[23] Lawson retorted, "I am not against pity, but I have no desire to be tragic".[23] How to Eat and How to be a Domestic Goddess were published in America in 2000 and 2001.[33] As a result of the book's success, The Observer took on Lawson as a social affairs columnist.[13]
Lawson next hosted her own cookery television series, Nigella Bites, which ran from 2000 to 2001 on Channel 4,[34][35] followed by a Christmas special in 2001.[36] Victor Lewis-Smith, a critic notorious for his biting criticism, commended Lawson for being "formidably charismatic".[4] The first series of Nigella Bites averaged 1.9 million viewers,[37] and won her the Television Broadcast of the Year at the Guild of Food Writers Awards[38] and the Best Television Food Show at the World Food Media Awards in 2001.[39] The show yielded an accompanying bestselling recipe book, also called Nigella Bites,[40] for which Waterstone's book stores reported UK sales of over 300,000.[41] The book won a W H Smith Award for Lifestyle Book of the Year.[42]
The Nigella Bites series, which was filmed in her home in west London, was later broadcast on American television on channels E![43] and Style Network.[23] Lawson said of the US release, "In the UK, my viewers have responded to the fact I'm trying to reduce, not add to, their burden and I'm looking forward to making that connection with Style viewers across the US".[43] Overall, Lawson was well received in the United States.[26] Those who did criticise her often suggested she was too flirtatious; a commentator from The New York Times said, "Lawson's sexy roundness mixed with her speed-demon technique makes cooking dinner with Nigella look like a prelude to an orgy".[23] The book of Nigella Bites became the second bestselling cookery book of Christmas 2002 in America.[44] The series was followed by Forever Summer with Nigella in 2002 on Channel 4, the concept being, "that you cook to make you still feel as though you're on holiday".[26] Also in 2002, she began to write a fortnightly cooking articles for The New York Times,[5] and brought out a profitable line of kitchenware, called the Living Kitchen range, which is sold by numerous retailers.[27] Her range's value has continued to grow, starting at an estimated £2 million in 2003,[45] and increasing to £7 million in 2007.[46]

2003–2006: Nigella Feasts and BBC contract

In November 2003, Lawson oversaw the menu and preparations for a lunch hosted by Tony Blair at Downing Street for George W. Bush and his wife during their state visit to the UK.[47] Laura Bush is said to be a fan of Lawson's recipes and once included one of her soups as the starter for the 2002 presidential Christmas dinner.[44] Lawson's fifth book, Feast Food that Celebrates Life, released in 2004,[48] made sales worth £3 million.[49] In a positive review, London's Evening Standard wrote that the book "works both as a practical manual and an engrossing read. ... Nobody else writes so openly about the emotional significance of food".[50] Lawson appeared frequently on American television in 2004, conducting cookery slots on talk shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[51]
In the UK in 2005, Lawson started to host a daytime television chat show on ITV1 called Nigella, on which celebrity guests joined her in a studio kitchen.[21] The first episode debuted with a disappointing 800,000 viewers.[52] The show was met with a largely negative critical reaction,[53] and after losing 40 percent of its viewers in the first week, the show was cancelled.[54] Lawson later commented in an interview with Radio Times that on her first show, she was almost too frightened to come out of her dressing room.[55] Lawson further stated that having to pretend to be interested in the lives of the celebrities on her show became too much of an effort.[21] She also discovered, "I can't ever be a presenter, and won't do scripts".[56]
Her third food-based television series, called Nigella Feasts, debuted on the USA's Food Network in Autumn 2006 for a 13-week run.[54] Time magazine wrote a favorable review of the show; "the real appeal of Feasts ... is her unfussy, wry, practical approach to entertaining and quality comfort food. ... between the luscious camera shots and Lawson's sensual enjoyment of eating, Feasts will leave you wishing for an invite".[57] Since the American broadcasting, Lawson signed a £2.5 million deal for the series to be shown in ten other countries across the world.[58]
Lawson was next signed to BBC Two to host a three-part cookery show entitled Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, which began on 6 December 2006 and aired weekly. The first two episodes secured the second highest ratings of the week for BBC Two, with the first episode debuting with a strong 3.5 million.[59][60] The final episode went on to become the top show on BBC Two the week that it was aired.[59] Nigella's Christmas Kitchen won Lawson a second World Food Media Award in 2007.[61] Her influence as a food commentator was also demonstrated in late 2006, when after she had lauded goose fat as being an essential ingredient for Christmas, sales percentages of the product increased significantly in the UK. Waitrose and Tesco both stated that goose fat sales had more than doubled, as well as Asda's goose fat sales increasing by 65 percent from the previous week.[62] Similarly, after she advised using prunes in a recipe on Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, Waitrose had increased sales of 30 percent year on year.[63][64]

2007–2009: Nigella Express and Nigella's Christmas

Nigella's Christmas Kitchen led to the commissioning of a 13-part cookery series entitled Nigella Express.[65] The series began to air on BBC Two on 3 September 2007, suggesting ways of making simple and quick dishes.[66] Lawson admitted the recipes were not "particularly healthy",[67] although she added, "I wouldn't describe them as junk".[68] The show became another ratings success and one of BBC Two's top-rated shows each week.[69] The first episode debuted with 2.85 million viewers,[69] a high percentage above the channel's slot average.[70] The second episode's viewing figures rose to 3.3 million,[71] and the series peaked at 3.4 million on 22 October 2007.[72] Her influence with the public was again demonstrated when sales of Riesling wine increased by 30 percent in the UK after she had incorporated it into her Coq au Riesling recipe on Nigella Express.[73] Later on a separate occasion, a similar trend was seen in the sales figures of the liqueur Advocaat after Lawson had endorsed it on the show.[74]
The television series of Nigella Express was subject to criticism from the Daily Mail when it emerged that a bus Lawson was seen travelling on during the programme had been hired and filled with extras.[46] The producers responded by saying, "This series is a factual entertainment cooking show, not an observational documentary and it is perfectly normal procedure".[46] There was further controversy when it was revealed that the kitchens in which Lawson was seen cooking were in two separate locations; one in her home and the other in a London television studio.[46] Lawson also came under criticism when viewers complained that she had gained weight since the debut episode of the series.[75] Critics criticised the series for containing what they described as "scenes of gluttony not seen since the golden age of the Cookie Monster"[76] and commenting that her "largesse may have left her just that little bit larger."[76] The Guardian however, noted, "the food matches her appearance — flawless, polished and sexy".[77] The rights to Nigella Express have been sold to the Food Network in America,[46] and to Discovery Asia.[78] The series was nominated at the 35th Daytime Emmy Awards in the United States for Outstanding Lifestyle Program, and Lawson herself for the Outstanding Lifestyle Host.[79]
The accompanying book to Nigella Express was released in the UK in September 2007, America in November 2007,[46] and later in Australia in 2008.[80] Sharing the same name as the television series, the book became another bestseller in the UK,[81] and was outselling another television chef, Jamie Oliver, by 100,000 copies according to Waterstone's.[41] It was reported that over 490,000 copies had been sold by mid-December in the UK.[41] Furthermore, the book was number one for a period on Amazon UK's bestselling books,[41] and was ninth on their overall list of Christmas bestsellers in any category.[82] Paul Levy from The Guardian wrote that the tone of the recipes was "just right. One of the appealing things about Nigella's brief introductions to each of them is that she thinks not just as cook, but as eater, and tells you whether they're messy, sticky or fussy".[77] Lawson is now estimated to have sold more than 3 million books worldwide.[83] Her Christmas book was released in October 2008 and the television show in December of the same year. An American edition of the book "Nigella Christmas" with a different cover photograph was released in November 2009 with an accompanying book tour of several US cities and a special on the USA's Food Network.

Presenting style and image

Though Lawson has enjoyed a successful career in cookery, she is not a trained chef,[84] and does not like being referred to as a "celebrity chef".[3] Furthermore, she does not see herself as a cook or an expert in her field.[16] Throughout Lawson's television programmes,[85] she emphasises that she cooks for her own pleasure,[8] for enjoyment,[4] and that she finds cooking therapeutic.[16] When deciding upon which recipes to feature in her books, she takes the view of the eater, stating, "If it's something I don't want to carry on eating once I'm full, then I don't want the recipe... I have to feel that I want to cook the thing again".[16]
Lawson has adopted a casual approach to cooking, stating, "I think cooking should be about fun and family. ... I think part of my appeal is that my approach to cooking is really relaxed and not rigid. There are no rules in my kitchen".[84] One editor, highlighting the technical simplicity of Lawson's recipes, noted that "her dishes require none of the elaborate preparation called for by most TV chefs".[86]

Lawson has become renowned for her flirtatious manner of presenting, although she argues, "It’s not meant to be flirtatious. ... I don’t have the talent to adopt a different persona. It's intimate, not flirtatious".[21] The perceived overt sexuality of her presentation style has led to Lawson's being called the "queen of food porn".[12][87][88] Many commentators have alluded to Lawson's attractiveness, and she was once named as one of the world's most beautiful women.[16] She has been referred to as "stunningly beautiful, warm, honest, likeable and amazingly normal",[13] as well as being described as having "flawless skin, perfect white teeth, a voluptuous body, ample height and lots of lush, brown hair".[84] The media has also noted Lawson's ability to engage with both male and female viewers;[4][24][89] The Guardian wrote, "Men love her because they want to be with her. Women love her because they want to be her".[3] The chef, Gary Rhodes, spoke out against Lawson by suggesting that her viewers take preference to her smile rather than the cooking itself.[90] Despite often being labelled as a domestic goddess,[91] she insists that she exhibits very few of the qualities associated with the title.[24][26]
Lawson is also known for her vivid and adjective-filled food descriptions in both her books and television programmes,[92] as one critic summarized, "her descriptions of food can be a tangle of adjectives."[33] In a study conducted in 2007 on the readability of different recipes, the chatty and florid style of Lawson's recipes was judged to be confusing to readers with weak reading skills.[93] Lawson has also expressed her surprise at how many reviews in the United States have mentioned her class and posh accent.[7]
Comedians and commentators have taken to mocking Lawson's style of presentation, particularly in a regularly occurring impersonation of her in the BBC comedy series Dead Ringers, because they perceive that she plays overtly upon her attractiveness and sexuality as a device to engage viewers of her cookery programmes.[94] Impressions by Ronni Ancona that further parodied Lawson's presenting style have also been featured on the BBC One impersonation sketch show, The Big Impression.[26]

Personal life

Geoffrey Robertson
Lawson was in a relationship with human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC until 1988, when he left her for novelist Kathy Lette.[95] 
Lawson met journalist John Diamond in 1986, when they were both writing for The Sunday Times.[13] They married in Venice in 1992,[12] and had two children together, both born in Hammersmith, London: Cosima Thomasina (born 1994) and Bruno Paul (born 1996).[2][96] Diamond was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1997, and died of the disease in March 2001, aged 47.[23] One of his last messages to Lawson was, "How proud I am of you and what you have become. The great thing about us is that we have made us who we are."[4] His death occurred during the filming of Nigella Bites; "I took a fortnight off. But I'm not a great believer in breaks," Lawson explained,[4] but she did suffer a bout of depression.[3] After his death, Lawson kept all of the press clippings in what she called her "Morbidobox".[4]
Charles Saatchi
Lawson married art collector Charles Saatchi in September 2003,[97] having drawn disapproval when she moved in with him nine months after Diamond's death.[12] Lawson had also come under criticism when it was suggested she started her relationship with Saatchi before Diamond's death.[98] Saatchi is worth a reputed £100 million,[99] while Lawson is worth £15 million as of 2007, £8 million of which came from book sales.[58] It widely began circulating in the media in early 2008 that Lawson had been quoted as saying her two children should not inherit any of the fortune.[99] She strongly denied these plans in a statement on her personal website, which read, "Of course I have no intention of leaving my children destitute and starving — rather, this is a story that came from a comment I made about my belief that you have to work in order to learn the value of money".[100]
Although both of Lawson's parents are Jewish, Judaism has played no significant part religiously in her life, but she believes that she has developed a somewhat "Jewish character".[3] She was brought up without any religion and she considers herself an atheist.[12][101] In one of her newspaper articles, she has shown a liberal attitude to sexuality ("most [women] simply have, somewhere, a fantasy about having sex, in a non-defining, non-exclusive way, with other women").[102] She has said that she often partakes in watching football and is an avid supporter of Chelsea.[103]
Lawson is a supporter of the Lavender Trust which gives support to young women with breast cancer. She first became involved with the charity in 2002 when she baked some lavender cupcakes to be auctioned at a fundraising event, which sold for a significant amount of money. She subsequently featured the recipe in her book, Forever Summer with Nigella.[104]
It was revealed by leaked Whitehall documents in 2003 that Lawson declined an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II in 2001.[105] As the daughter of a life peer, Nigella is entitled to the courtesy title of "The Honourable" and is thus styled The Hon. Nigella Lawson. However she does not use this courtesy title.
In December 2008, Lawson caused major controversy and was featured in various newspapers for publicly advocating wearing fur. Lawson also remarked that she would love to kill a bear and then wear it.[106][107]
Lawson was featured as one of the three judges on the special battle of Iron Chef America, titled "The Super Chef Battle", which pitted White House Executive Chef Christeta Comerford and Iron Chef Bobby Flay against super chef Emeril Lagasse and Iron Chef Mario Batali, which was originally broadcast on January 3, 2010.
In January 2011, Lawson and her husband Charles Saatchi moved from Belgravia to Chelsea.[2]

Television credits

Year↓ Programme↓ Episodes↓ Duration↓
2000 Nigella Bites 5 episodes, Series 1 30 minutes
2001 Nigella Bites 10 episodes, Series 2 30 minutes
2001 Nigella Bites Christmas Special 1 episode 60 minutes
2002 Forever Summer 8 episodes 30 minutes
2005 Nigella 20 episodes 60 minutes
2006 Nigella Feasts 13 episodes 30 minutes
2006 Nigella's Christmas Kitchen 3 episodes, Series 1 30 minutes
2007 Nigella Express 13 episodes 30 minutes
2008 Nigella's Christmas Kitchen 3 episodes, Series 2 30 minutes
2009 Top Chef (season 6) 1 episode 42 minutes
2010 Iron Chef America: Super Chef Battle 1 episode 120 minutes
2010 Nigella Kitchen 13 episodes 30 minutes
2011 MasterChef Australia Season 3 1 episode 60 minutes

Awards

  • 2000: British Book Award — Author of the Year for How to be a Domestic Goddess
  • 2001: WH Smith Book Award — How To Be A Domestic Goddess shortlisted for Lifestyle Book of the Year
  • 2001: Guild of Food Writers — Television Broadcast of the Year for Nigella Bites
  • 2001: World Food Media Award — Gold Ladle Best Television Food Show for Nigella Bites
  • 2002: WH Smith Book Awards — Lifestyle Book of the Year for Nigella Bites
  • 2007: World Food Media Award — Gold Ladle Best Food And/Or Drink Television Show for Nigella's Christmas Kitchen

Bibliography





 



























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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Who is Christopher Anthony John Martin?

Who is Christopher Anthony John Martin? The entertainment and music world knows Chris Martin  as an English singer-songwriter, who is the lead vocalist, pianist and rhythm guitarist of the band Coldplay. He is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

Early life

Chris Martin was born 2 March 1977 in Exeter, Devon, England and is the eldest of five children. His father, Anthony Martin, is a retired accountant, and his mother, Alison Martin, is a music teacher.[1][2] Martin started his education at the preparatory Exeter Cathedral School.[3] It was at the prep school that Martin formed his first band, The Rocking Honkies, with Nick Repton & Iwan Gronow. Their debut performance was met with boos from the crowd.[4] After Exeter Cathedral, Martin boarded at Sherborne School, a boys' independent school in Dorset. He also met future Coldplay manager Phil Harvey at the school.[5] Martin continued his studies at University College London, staying at Ramsay Hall where he read Ancient World Studies and graduated with First Class honours in Greek and Latin.[2][6] It is here he met future Coldplay bandmates Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman [7]

Recording career

Coldplay

While studying at University College London, Martin met Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman. In January 1998, they formed the rock band Coldplay. The band has had internationally recognised fame and success since their debut album, Parachutes, in 2000. Since then, they have released several further albums/EP's including: A Rush of Blood to the Head, Live 2003, X&Y, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, and Prospekt's March.

Solo work


As a solo artist, 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). Martin has also collaborated with Ron Sexsmith, Faultline, The Streets, and Ian McCulloch. He also sang a part of the vocals for the Band Aid 20 single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" at the end of 2004. In 2005, Martin collaborated with Nelly Furtado on the track "All Good Things (Come to an End)", for her 2006 album, Loose. The two were once rumoured to be a couple, after they both performed at Glastonbury in 2002. Furtado joked about the situation, saying that "Yeah, he's my boyfriend — he just doesn't know it yet".[8]
Martin's fascination with hip hop was shown in the summer of 2006 when he collaborated with rapper Jay-Z for the rapper's comeback album Kingdom Come after the two met earlier in the year. 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 (contrary to popular knowledge it was Coldplay producer Rik Simpson and not Dre who conceived and performed the drum beats). The song was performed on 27 September 2006 by the two during Jay-Z's European tour at Royal Albert Hall. In 2007, Martin appeared on a track titled "Part of the Plan" for Swizz Beatz' debut solo album One Man Band Man. 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.[9] He performed the chorus of "Homecoming", from West's album Graduation.

Influences

Martin's primary influence is the British rock band Radiohead. In a 2008 Rolling Stone interview Martin stated: "Sometimes I feel like they [Radiohead] cleared a path with a machete, and we came afterward and put up a strip mall. I would still give my left [testicle] to write anything as good as OK Computer." Martin is very vocal about his love for Norwegian new wave/Synthpop band a-ha. In 2005 he stated the following in an interview: "I found myself in Amsterdam the other day and I put a-ha's first record on. I just remembered how much I loved it. It's incredible songwriting. Everyone asks what inspired us, what we've been trying to steal from and what we listened to as we were growing up – the first band I ever loved was a-ha."[10] Martin has also performed live together with Magne Furuholmen of a-ha.
U2 has been an important influence on Martin both musically and politically,[11] in which he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time",[12] in the section on U2, saying: "I don't buy weekend tickets to Ireland and hang out in front of their gates, but U2 are the only band whose entire catalog I know by heart. The first song on The Unforgettable Fire, "A Sort of Homecoming", I know backward and forward – it's so rousing, brilliant, and beautiful. It's one of the first songs I played to my unborn baby." Martin also comments on Bono's effect on his own charity and political involvement he is even known to joke with friends referring to himself as "Crono".[11]
He is known to be a fan of artists such as Manchester rock band Oasis, Irish pop group Westlife,[13] British pop groups Girls Aloud[14][15] and Take That,[16] and Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. Solo artists Martin likes include Leona Lewis,[17] Noel Gallagher, and Kylie Minogue.[18]

Other endeavours

Martin and Coldplay guitarist Jon Buckland made cameo appearances in the film Shaun of the Dead as supporters of the fictional charity ZombAid.[19] Martin has a second cameo in this film as a Zombie.[19] In 2006 Martin had a cameo role in the second series episode four of the Ricky Gervais- and Stephen Merchant-created comedy Extras. He also appears singing in the closing credits of the 2009 film Brüno alongside Bono, Sting, Slash, Snoop Dogg, and Elton John.[20] Martin also played one gig with the "Sid James Experience".
Martin has been particularly outspoken on issues of fair trade and has campaigned for the charity Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign. He traveled to Ghana and Haiti to meet farmers and view the effects of unfair trade practices.[21] When performing he usually has variations of "Make Trade Fair", "MTF" or an equal sign written on the back of his left hand and the letters "MTF" can be seen emblazoned on his piano.
He was a vocal critic of President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Martin was a strong supporter of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, most notably during his acceptance speech for the 2004 Grammy Awards Record of the Year, accepting for "Clocks". Martin also supported the Democratic Party candidate for President in 2008, giving a shout-out to Barack Obama at the end of a performance of "Yellow" on 25 October 2008 episode of Saturday Night Live.[22]
On 1 April 2006, The Guardian reported that Martin was backing the British Conservative Party leader David Cameron and had written a new theme song for the party titled "Talk to David".[23][24] This was later revealed to be an April Fool's joke. Whilst touring Australia in March 2009, Martin and the rest of Coldplay were the opening act at the Sound Relief benefit concert at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, for the bushfires and floods in Victoria and Queensland. Whilst performing the final song "Fix You", Martin leapt off the stage and proceeded to run through the crowd with thousands of fans chasing him. The song had finished well before he made it back on stage but he managed to sing the final refrain under exhaustion. He was so tired that he let the crowd sing it for him as well. At the end of the performance he was quoted to saying 'I hope no-one got hurt'. He reportedly had to lie down for half an hour back stage and was suffering from heat exhaustion. The band then played a sold-out gig in Sydney that night.

Personal life

Martin met American actress Gwyneth Paltrow in 2002 backstage at a Coldplay gig after the death of the actress's father, Bruce Paltrow. The couple married a year later on 5 December 2003.[25] Their daughter, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, was born on 14 May 2004 in London.[26] Their second child, Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, was born on 8 April 2006 in New York City.[27] Simon Pegg and Martin's bandmate Jonny Buckland are Apple's godfathers.[28][29] Martin is a longtime friend of Pegg, having met him in 2001, and appears in Shaun of the Dead,[19] one of Pegg's movies.
Martin does not smoke or drink alcohol.[30]
In a 2005 Rolling Stone magazine interview, Martin said of his religious views: "I definitely believe in God. How can you look at anything and not be overwhelmed by the miraculousness of it?"[31] In the same interview he spoke of going through a period of spiritual confusion, stating "I went through a weird patch, starting when I was about sixteen to twenty-two, of getting God, religion, superstition, judgement all confused".[31]

Filmography

Television

Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes↓
2006 Extras Himself "Chris Martin" (Season 2: Episode 4)
2010 The Simpsons Himself "Million Dollar Maybe" (Season 21: Episode 11)

Films

Year↓ Title↓ Role↓ Notes↓
2004 Shaun of the Dead Himself Cameo appearance
With Jon Buckland
2009 Brüno Himself Cameo appearance

Solo discography

See Coldplay discography for his work with said group.
Year Song(s) Artist Album Role
2002 "Where Is My Boy?"
"Your Love Means Everything, Pt. 2"
Faultline Your Love Means Everything Featured vocals
"Gold in Them Hills" Ron Sexsmith Cobblestone Runway Featured vocals
2003 "Sliding", "Arthur" Ian McCulloch Slideling Piano, backing vocals
"See It in a Boy's Eyes" Jamelia Thank You Co-writer, backing vocals
2004 "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" Ash Orpheus Backing vocals
"Gravity" Embrace Out of Nothing Writer
"Do They Know It's Christmas?" Band Aid 20 Featured vocals
2006 "All Good Things (Come to an End)" Nelly Furtado Loose Co-writer, background vocals
"Beach Chair" Jay-Z Kingdom Come Producer, featured vocals
2007 "Homecoming" Kanye West Graduation Co-writer, featured vocals, piano
2009 "Lukas", "Fun", "Want" Natalie Imbruglia Come to Life Co-writer
2009 "Dove of Peace" Brüno Brüno Featured vocals
2010 "Most Kingz" Jay-Z Featured vocals
2010 "Me and Tennessee" Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw Country Strong Writer

 













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