RELEASED FOR RECORD STORE DAY

COMIC SERIES TELLING STORY BEHIND MYLO XYLOTO ALBUM

ALSO NOW AVAILABLE VIA APPLE’S iBOOKSTORE

Coldplay have today announced a special release for Record Store Day in the UK on Saturday, 20 April. The limited edition release will contain Issue One of the band’s Mylo Xyloto Comic Book Series alongside a special 7-inch vinyl picture disc, featuring Hurts Like Heaven and Us Against The World (Live). To give fans worldwide a chance to buy the package, a limited number will also be sold via Coldplay.com from Saturday, 27 April, plus selected independent record stores worldwide.
 

The band have also announced that the Mylo Xyloto Comic Book Series is now available digitally exclusively on Apple’s iBookstore for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The first three issues are available to download now worldwide, with Issue One currently available for free as the iBookstore’s Book of the Week. Get Mylo Xyloto Issue One for free now exclusively on the iBookstore at itunes.com/ColdplayComics.

The Mylo Xyloto Comic Book Series reveals the story behind Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto album, which has sold over six million copies since its October 2011 release. The story was conceived and written by Coldplay with Academy Award-nominated writer and director Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda, MORE, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie), and the Mylo comic books are published by Matt Groening's celebrated Bongo Comics Group. The six-part series is being released monthly, until July.

The physical Mylo Xyloto comic books are also available to order either individually or as a series from the Coldplay Shop at www.coldplay.com.

The shows were already rescheduled from the 'Fix You' stars' 2012 live schedule, but have now been completely cancelled with the band citing "circumstances beyond our control" as the reason for the change of plans.

Coldplay posted a message to their official website recently confirming the bad news: "Dear friends in Latin America, We're sad to say that, due to circumstances beyond our control, we're unable to reschedule the postponed 'Mylo Xyloto' tour dates in 2013."

"For this we're very sorry. It may seem small consolation now but we'll definitely have your corner of the world at the front of our minds when the time comes to do it all again. Thank you for your incredible patience and support."

Earlier this month, the band's hit single 'Clocks' was named the best release of the past 10 years by BBC 6 Music listeners.

Watch Coldplay perform 'Clocks' at a concert from the end of 2012 below:

The company bought Parlophone for the incredible sum of £487 million ($765,221,100) and it was revealed that the closing of the transaction is expected to take place later this summer subject to EU regulatory approvals and consultations with employees.

Chairman and founder of Access Industries - owner of Warner Music Group, Len Blavatnik, said: “This is a very important milestone for Warner Music, reflecting our commitment to artist development by strengthening our worldwide roster, global footprint and executive talent.”

Stephen Cooper, CEO of Warner Music Group, also weighed in on the business transaction and added: “Having the Parlophone Label Group become part of our family represents a unique opportunity for us to join with legendary record labels and artists that are highly complementary to our existing organization from a creative, geographic and strategic standpoint."

"We are committed to making this a great outcome for Parlophone’s artists and employees, who will find in WMG a similar spirit and culture that is dedicated to providing the most supportive and innovative home for recording artists. The continuation of the Parlophone legacy and brand are central to the future success of this combination, and we are proud to have them join us.”

Parlophone's current artist roster includes some huge acts, such as Coldplay, Daft Punk, David Guetta, Kylie Minogue, and Tinie Tempah. 

Watch Coldplay perform 'Paradise' live during their 2012 Mylo Xyloto tour here:

The poll was created to celebrate the radio station's tenth anniversary and saw the 'Mylo Xyloto' hitmakers come out on top, beating the likes of Arctic Monkeys' 2005 hit 'I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor' (No.2) and Elbow's 'One Day Like This' (No.3).

Speaking about Coldplay's win, presenter and host Steve Lamacq confessed that it wasn't surprising because of the band's popularity: "It's a good result for Coldplay, who were clearly one of the biggest bands of the decade."

The other songs that completed the Top 5 were The National's 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' at 4, and The Killers' 'Mr Brightside' right behind at 5.

The full Top 10 is as follows:

1. Coldplay - 'Clocks'
2. Arctic Monkeys - 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'
3. Elbow - 'One Day Like This'
4. The National - 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'
5. The Killers - 'Mr Brightside'
6. The White Stripes - 'Seven Nation Army'
7. The Flaming Lips - 'Do You Realize??'
8. Johnny Cash - 'Hurt'
9. British Sea Power - 'Remember Me'
10. Radiohead - 'There There'

Watch Coldplay perform 'Clocks' during last year's Olympics here:

The British quartet announced today (October 16) that they will hold a special exhibition in London between November 29 and December 2.

It will take place at the Proud Galleries in Camden and will feature, amongst other items, three paintings by the band and the graffiti which was used as the artwork for their 2011 album 'Mylo Xyloto'.

All of the items will go on sale and proceeds will be donated to children's charity Kids Company, who have also organised for youths to help contribute a painted wall to the exhibition.

Speaking about the exhibition, Coldplay mainman Chris Martin said: "Kids Company is a phenomenal organisation that is very close to our hearts. While we were making the last album we did quite a lot of painting with our friend Paris. We built a special wall in our studio and sprayed it, wrote on it and threw things at it until it eventually became the artwork for Mylo Xyloto. This exhibition will be the first time that the wall has appeared in public."

Kids Company founder/CEO Camila Batmanghelidjh added: "The support Coldplay have given us over the years has been amazing. Art plays a major role in Kids Company’s work with vulnerable children: kids who have experienced trauma often find it easier to express themselves using art materials rather than words. Our recent award-winning exhibition in partnership with the Royal Academy demonstrated this very powerfully and poignantly."

The Festival has been running alongside the London 2012 Olympic Games and has showcased a number of music events.

Coldplay are performing at the Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony on September 9 but earlier in the day they will be honoured by musicians across the country.

Bandstands across Britain at 2pm will feature musicians playing 'Vida La Vida', with performances set for places such as Inverness and Penzance.

Speaking about the project, Coldplay's Chris Martin said: "It's a great honour for us to be part of the celebrations for the Paralympic Games and it should be a great moment when the bandstands of Great Britain strike up in unison."

Ruth Mackenzie, director of the London 2012 Festival, added: "The Bandstand Marathon is encouraging local music groups to showcase their talents and be part of the London 2012 Festival."

In a post on their official website, the band said that they came up with the idea of a character called Mylo Xyloto three years ago.

Xyloto eventually become the "backdrop" to their 2011 album of the same name - but they are reverting back to the original idea to create a six-part comic series. They said:

"Three years ago we had an idea with our friend Mark Osborne about a character called Mylo Xyloto - 'xylo' as in xylophone, 'to' as in toe. Gradually Mylo's story and universe came together and this ended up providing the backdrop for the album and tour. Now we're proud to announce that early next year the story is going to come out as a six-part comic. We hope you like it. It was fun making it."

Mark Osborne, who collaborated on the project and is the director of films such as Kung Fu-Panda, said:

"The whole band has been approving things all along, especially at the stage when I was developing the visual look of the universe and the 'bible' for the project. The real serious story collaboration on the movie started with just me and Chris, with him at a piano sometimes (which was f****** crazy cool) and with both of us writing and sketching ideas out."

The first issue of the comic will be unveiled at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International event in July and the following issues will be available from February 2013.

The British band and the Bajan beauty previously teamed up on the track 'Princess of China', which featured on Coldplay's 2011 album 'Mylo Xyloto'.

Speaking to ET Canada, Martin rated Rihanna as the third best lady in the world - after wife Gwyneth Paltrow, who took up No.1 and No.2, of course.

However, Rihanna's got competition from Beyoncé and Cameron Diaz, who take joint third. Martin said:

"I think she's the third most attractive lady in the world. My first and second is the same person [Gwyneth], she gets two. Rihanna's a distant third. Cameron Diaz is up there as well, she's third. There's a few thirds, Beyoncé is third as well? Naming all these great ladies. This is a silly conversation! This is going to be the headline, I've just screwed up the whole interview."

Martin poked fun at the name whilst appearing on Good Morning America, suggesting that he regrets the name choice of their 2011 album because it seemed to confuse people.

However, the Coldplay star tweeted to clarify that he in fact loves the name 'Mylo Xyloto' and is disappointed that his joke got misinterpreted. He said:

"No regrets at all about Mylo Xyloto as album title. We love it. Only regret attempting JOKE on early morning TV. CM"

As previously reported, Martin recently claimed that Coldplay only won the Best British Group award at this year's BRITs because the likes of Oasis weren't in business anymore.

The album, which was released in 2011, features a title which Chris Martin calls "two words that you couldn't even Google."

Despite the confusing name, the album went on to receive widespread commercial success - but Martin told Good Morning America that the band are beginning to regret the title. He said:

"It's just something that we thought looked really good but everywhere we go around the world people pronounce it in the most crazy ways and we're beginning to regret it now."

As previously reported, modest Coldplay have put their recent Best British Group BRIT Award win down to purely "still being together" - citing the demise of bands such as Oasis as the reason for their own success.