Coldplay's Chris Martin: 'I Ripped Off Jeff Buckley'

Coldplay's Chris Martin has admitted that the band's 2000 single "Shiver" was essentially a Jeff Buckley rip-off.

The star was speaking on the Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 today (December 18) when he made the admission.

"It's a blatant Jeff Buckley attempt," he told Moyles. "Not quite as good, that's what I think. We were 21 and he was very much a hero, and as with those things it tends to filter through."

The frontman also revealed that he thinks the band's recent London gigs should have been better. The band played the UK capital's O2 Arena earlier this week (December 14, 15).

When Moyles asked the singer how he thought the London gigs went, Martin replied, "I would give them a three out of ten".

However, the frontman did admit afterwards that he was notoriously difficult to please, saying that the score was "good for me".

Thanks for the report to Nme.com.

Comments

[shoebox_of_lies]

Anyone else a little confused by Chris Martin? Is he sure he wants to add more names to that list?

[Axl_Explosion]

First, and hmm...that's interesting. Yet another instance, this time blatantly admitted to, of Coldplay ripping off another artist. Sure glad these guys are so good and so creative on their own...

This is definitely gonna kill them when they go to court from Satch. I hope Satch bleeds them dry.

[ready2breakdown]

Ummm... Is this supposed to get them some sympathy points or something? They are on the chopping block for stealing songs aren't they? And mentioning that he didn't like their performance just seems irrelevant. Any good band is never completely satisfied with their show, they always wanna get better. And some bands have off nights, who cares!

This was pretty pointless, I was expecting them to tie this into the Satch case with them. And Jeff Buckley SUCKS!

[corey3815]

ready2breakdown wrote:

And Jeff Buckley SUCKS!

wrong.

[HELLAWAITS88]

yes, yes, yes...bleed em dry satch. BlEED THEM DRY!!!

[kryzay311]

so then why the **** would anyone believe that they didn't steal the Joe Satriani song?

[Empathica1928]

Wow, Martin's an even bigger idiot than I initially thought for admitting this.

I mean, I'll be honest, I had never heard If I Could Fly before this Satch-Coldplay suit came up, and that one YouTube video of them played together really convinced me since IICF came out first. But then I listened to both songs and I gotta say, if I recall correctly, that melody is pretty much used only once in the Satriani song, whereas the entire Coldplay song is based off of it. Yes, the chord progressions may be the same, but you can't copyright a chord progression at a certain tempo. Whether or not they consciously copied the melody, I don't know, but I don't think it's as blatant a ripoff as many other cases.

Not to say Coldplay is innocent or any less douchey than before. Just my thoughts.

[Gormanilius]

kryzay311 wrote:

so then why the **** would anyone believe that they didn't steal the Joe Satriani song?

that is what i am trying to figure out. But at least Chris is adnmitting this one lol

[pigmaggots]

I personally think that he is taking the mickey out of the whole situation and most likely the nature of the music business when the word 'plagiarism' arises.

[GuitarSymphony]

Too bad Jeff Buckley can't sue them too.

[The Eyebrow]

He really is missing the big issue here...

[AEnima18]

stupid thing to say when your'e getting sued for plagiarism by joe satriani anyway...

[AEnima18]

you're*

[dacunni1]

OK, he didn't say it was a 'rip off' as the title misleads. He said "blatant attempt," which is completely different. Creating a song that might sound like another artist's style is not the same as 'ripping off' of that artist.

[lutfish]

ready2breakdown wrote:
And Jeff Buckley SUCKS!

Not more than your mainstream emoshit music.
...Snap.

And as I see it he didn't say that he ripped off Jeff Buckley... More that he was inspired in doing a song in a Jeff style.

[thedude7]

the same riff in both viva and if i could fly sounds alot like 'heaven' by cat stevens, which was made quite awhile before both of these songs. just thought i'd throw that out there.

[jammyninja]

Lol, knew there would be Satch fans in here. He said it was influenced substantially by Buckley. I have a magazine containing an interview with Satriani saying how he tried to emulate Hendrix in his early days, but that doesn't mean he should get sued by Hendrix's family. I respect Satch as a guitarist immensely but some of his fans (like some fans of all bands/movies/tv shows) need to grow up.

[clasp]

he's not helping his case

[emidog]

I used to be a big fan of Coldplay. But this Chris needs to just be quiet for a while.I always thought that they sounded like a weak version of Radiohead. But with this whole Satriani thing and now Jeff Buckley. They need to find their own sound.

[viento]

tell me something i didnt know!
coldplay= pedazo du merda!

[ready2breakdown]

lutfish wrote:

ready2breakdown wrote:
And Jeff Buckley SUCKS!
Not more than your mainstream emoshit music.
...Snap.

And as I see it he didn't say that he ripped off Jeff Buckley... More that he was inspired in doing a song in a Jeff style.

Emo Music? What the hell makes you think I listen to emo music? Did you even think to look at my profile?

[stumaster18]

dacunni1 wrote:

OK, he didn't say it was a 'rip off' as the title misleads. He said "blatant attempt," which is completely different. Creating a song that might sound like another artist's style is not the same as 'ripping off' of that artist.

Finally, someone with intelligence.

[Anjohl]

All Coldplay were initially, when they were the alterna-rocker grrls favorite band, was radiohead without synthesizers...and now all they are is a terrible boy band masquerading as a rock and roll band.

And one that rips off everyone elses songs.

[skinneh]

ready2breakdown wrote:

Emo Music? What the hell makes you think I listen to emo music? Did you even think to look at my profile?

Emo!!

[acade365]

ready2breakdown wrote:
And Jeff Buckley SUCKS!

You suck.

stumaster18 wrote:

dacunni1 wrote:

OK, he didn't say it was a 'rip off' as the title misleads. He said "blatant attempt," which is completely different. Creating a song that might sound like another artist's style is not the same as 'ripping off' of that artist.

Finally, someone with intelligence.

+1

[xcmasta91]

corey3815 wrote:

ready2breakdown wrote:

And Jeff Buckley SUCKS!

u my friend hav absolutely no taste whatsoever jeff buckley is one of the greatest singers to hav ever lived

wrong.

[Jau_Peacecraft]

Coldplay's Chris Martin: 'I Ripped Off Jeff Buckley'

Because saying "It's a blatant Jeff Buckley attempt" is the exact same as "I ripped off Jeff Buckley".

Sputnikmusic has more credible journalism, & that's saying something. Good job, UG.

[cmac32]

ready2breakdown wrote:
And Jeff Buckley SUCKS!

You sir, are an idiot.

[papersun87]

Any musician who claims he's never ripped off a favorite artist is a liar.

[Cresspo]

Darn this is like the defence of bob marley in his case:

Police: So you shot the sherrif but you didn't shoot the deputy?

Or in coldplays case:
Jury: So you stole the song from Jeff, but you didn't steal the song from Satriani?

[StratStar21]

While i hate coldplay and hope Joe Satriani wins his case, i cant help but agree the title is kinda misleading

[Black Hole Sun]

papersun87 wrote:

Any musician who claims he's never ripped off a favorite artist is a liar.

In a sense that's true. But you worded it so strongly, it's hard to agree with you.

[acshadow25]

EVERY SINGLE COLDPLAY SONG IS A F***ING RIP OFF

[Ironpriest]

Sputnikmusic has more credible journalism, & that's saying something. Good job, UG.

hahaha sputnik is full of weekend music critics.

[Dingoman]

Dear Joe Satriani....

[newbie08]

Um, this is kinda a bad time to admit to this isn't it?

[Thefallofman]

papersun87 wrote:

Any musician who claims he's never ripped off a favorite artist is a liar.

You are a wise soul.

[GuitarSymphony]

Hey everyone let's rip-off Coldplay now.
This will be the best game of tag ever.

[Cyggy]

I rip off you, you rip off me

we're all a bunch of corporate stick men who want more money.

[antareus]

Why does every Coldplay article turn into juvenile insults along the lines of, "HAY GUYS THEY SUCK LOL I JUST THOUGHT I'D TELL YOU" crap?

[Jau_Peacecraft]

antareus wrote:

Why does every Coldplay article turn into juvenile insults along the lines of, "HAY GUYS THEY SUCK LOL I JUST THOUGHT I'D TELL YOU" crap?

Because human beings as a whole do no realize the futility & idiocy of arguing over subjective concepts.

This also explains a lot of screw ups by the human race, as of late, btw.

[Timehbgood]

ten years later when someone rips off Coldplay, I will laugh, hard.

[Otnip]

You guys are a bunch of jerks, don't even tell me you've never tried to write like one of your hero's or played liked them accidentally before. Double standards galore apparently, because you can't get your head above not deliberately picking on a band because your personally don't like them. Buzz off.

[Lvt36]

Axl_Explosion wrote:

First, and hmm...that's interesting. Yet another instance, this time blatantly admitted to, of Coldplay ripping off another artist. Sure glad these guys are so good and so creative on their own...

This is definitely gonna kill them when they go to court from Satch. I hope Satch bleeds them dry.

Fuck Oath

[Loco23]

wtf??
Chris didnt admit that he stole the song?
He said it was a blatant Jeff Buckley attempt, therefore that obviously means that they were trying to write a song and they must have been inspired by Jeff Buckley at the time

Which idiot wrote this article?

[duzit89]

skinneh wrote:

ready2breakdown wrote:

Emo Music? What the hell makes you think I listen to emo music? Did you even think to look at my profile?

Emo!!

Damn i had to laugh hard at that one

[oiiopo]

Coldplay's done heaps of homage songs before, Hardest Part was a homage to Losing my Religion, I think it was talk that used another riff, they've borrowed off Muse, Radiohead, lots of other artists, but they never said their work was 100% original, and I doubt too many other artists have too. But this was way back when they were trying to go mainstream and taking a basis off other bands is one of the easier ways.

[morello#2]

Axl_Explosion wrote:
....This is definitely gonna kill them when they go to court from Satch. I hope Satch bleeds them dry.

haha me too

[Higgzy]

Lol oh no Chris..

[Black Star]

ready2breakdown wrote:

lutfish wrote:

ready2breakdown wrote:
And Jeff Buckley SUCKS!
Not more than your mainstream emoshit music.
...Snap.

And as I see it he didn't say that he ripped off Jeff Buckley... More that he was inspired in doing a song in a Jeff style.

Emo Music? What the hell makes you think I listen to emo music? Did you even think to look at my profile?

Jeff Buckley is better than every band mentioned on your profile, except for maybe 2 of them. News flash: Listening to Slipknot doesn't make you cool.

This is DEFINITELY going to hurt them when it comes to the Satch case.

[fitterhappier34]

First of all, Chris Martin never said the words "I ripped off Jeff Buckley."

It was an attempt at his style. Besides, if they can admit to this one, why wouldn't they admit to Joe Satriani.

It bothers me how UG hates Coldplay.

[SlashWannabe1]

I think Coldplay Ripped Satch off knowingly but I think Satch is going overboard and taking his artistic lisence too far.

I can see if Chris Martin took his whole song and laid his own lyrics but I think the real issue is that Satch is a dried up Guitar player who doesn't get a whole lot of air play and he is more of a novalty so I can see why he would be jelious of Cold Play taking his song and going mainstream with it. I feel Cold Play should admit to him they made a concious attempt to steal it and I think Joe should have been more low key and tried to settle this thing out of court.

[SlashWannabe1]

by the way I hate Cold Plays music.

[ndrummerc]

Corrrection: Chris Martin tried to rip off Jeff Buckley, and FAILED!

[Cobrevolution]

That's because nobody really can rip off Jeff and get away with it, he was just too good.

There is nothing wrong with getting inspiration from an artist, but to try and emulate their sound to leech off the success...I hate that.

[stopshank]

Anjohl wrote:

All Coldplay were initially, when they were the alterna-rocker grrls favorite band, was radiohead without synthesizers...and now all they are is a terrible boy band masquerading as a rock and roll band.

And one that rips off everyone elses songs.

[stopshank]

stopshank wrote1ck Head

Anjohl wrote:

All Coldplay were initially, when they were the alterna-rocker grrls favorite band, was radiohead without synthesizers...and now all they are is a terrible boy band masquerading as a rock and roll band.

And one that rips off everyone elses songs.

[BUSTEDlip8]

if they admitted to this they would have admitted to the satch thing, so i don't think they ripped satch off, he's barely even known outside the guitar world

[Kuzak]

i don't get why everyone here hates coldplay. probably because 85% of this website consists of tone deaf metal heads who think the only thing that makes music good is nasty riffs and shredding solos.

[Sleazeball]

Kuzak wrote:

i don't get why everyone here hates coldplay. probably because 85% of this website consists of tone deaf metal heads who think the only thing that makes music good is nasty riffs and shredding solos.

Don't stereotype, faggot

[Serial Rocker]

Chris Martin : "I ripped off Jeff Buckley"
Big deal ! Everybody does !