Coldplay Sued by Former Manager Dave Holmes

Coldplay is sued.

According to legal documents recently filed in the U.K., the four members of the multi-platinum-selling British rock band Coldplay are being sued by their former manager Dave Holmes.

A Coldplay representative confirms to Variety that the band and Holmes discreetly split up 12 months ago after collaborating for 22 years, or almost the entirety of the group’s career. 

They are still being managed by the group that worked with Holmes for many years—Phil Harvey, Mandi Frost, and Arlene Moon.

Although sources tell Variety that the case involves a contractual issue, the rep declined to make any other comments. 

The legal documents had not yet been made public at the time this article was published, thus more information was not immediately available.

In 2021, just before the release of their most recent studio album, the Max Martin-produced “Music of the Spheres,” the band extended its contract with Warner Music’s Parlophone (in the U.K.) and Atlantic (in the U.S.) labels as well as Wasserman Agency. Since the publication of its debut, “Parachutes,” in 2000, the group has sold over 100 million CDs worldwide and received 7 Grammy Awards.

Coldplay’s four members—frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer Will Champion—met while attending University College London. The band was formally founded in 1997. 

Speaking to Variety in 2018 about the debut of the Coldplay documentary “Headful of Dreams,” Holmes recalled gifting his mother a copy of “Parachutes” in 2000. He recalls saying to the woman, “I just started working with this band, and they’re going to be as big as U2.” he added, “I knew it. I just knew.”