📍Whitestone, near Exeter, Devon, UK
1977 – 1990“Chris Martin was born in Exeter in March 1977, the eldest of five children, and grew up in Whitestone, a small village in the green, hilly Devon countryside just west of the city. His father, Anthony, was a chartered accountant who ran the family's long-established caravan and motorhome business, Martins of Exeter, and his mother, Alison, was a music teacher. Theirs was a comfortable, close and churchgoing family, and his mother's love of music, and the piano at home, set the course of his life. He began learning piano as a small boy and was soon playing by ear and making up songs. At Exeter Cathedral School, where music was central and the cathedral's choir and organ were part of daily life, he found his passion and formed his first band with friends. He was a sensitive, enthusiastic boy who loved singing, and Devon's quiet lanes and his large family kept him grounded. At thirteen he went away to board at Sherborne School in Dorset, where he started a blues band called the Rockin' Honkies and met Phil Harvey, who would later become Coldplay's manager and creative director. In 1996 he went to University College London to study ancient world studies, graduating with a first in Greek and Latin. There, in his first week, he met Jonny Buckland, and with Guy Berryman and Will Champion they formed Coldplay. Their first album, Parachutes, came out in 2000. The love of melody he found at his mother's piano in Whitestone has run through every Coldplay record since.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today