Jonny Buckland

Buckland playing the guitar during Viva la Vida Tour in 2009. The band change their costume and instrument designs according to each album.[14]

Buckland was responsible for co-founding the band along with Martin; they met each other during UCL's orientation week in 1996.[15] Both resided at the university's Ramsay Hall,[16] where Champion mentioned there were "a lot of musicians and a lot of show-offs", but "Jonny was not one of those show-offs", he further added that "the bloke who turned out to be the best guitarist out of all of us was the bloke who had his guitar hidden in his cupboard and who never got it out or was pushy about his guitaring".[17] Martin stated meeting Buckland was "like falling in love".[7] They began to practise and write songs together in early 1997.[7] Berryman had already joined them by November of that year, with the trio being called Big Fat Noises.[18] Champion then completed the performing line-up in 1998.[lower-alpha 2]

The previous group name was dropped when Champion scheduled their debut live performance at The Laurel Tree only a few days after he became part of the band, with Starfish being chosen "in a panic".[20] In Coldplay, Buckland is usually regarded as quiet, friendly, unassuming and "the wise owl" of the group.[21] During an interview, Martin commented spending his "entire life trying to drag him out of the shadows, because I know that he is a guitar hero – to me anyway".[22] The band used his bedroom for rehearsals in their early years, being near the neighbors who "were able to tolerate the noise".[23] They stated in 2019 that Buckland is usually the first to either disapprove or give his input on Martin's initial song ideas,[24] although he was responsible for starting tracks like "Adventure of a Lifetime" on his own, which was released as the lead single for their seventh album A Head Full of Dreams (2015).[25] Despite not being the group's most prominent backing vocalist, he can be heard in many songs and provided lead vocals in "Don't Panic", the opening track of Parachutes (2000).[26]

Buckland guest starred on Ian McCulloch's third album, Slideling (2003), by playing guitar in the songs "Sliding" and "Arthur".[27] In the following year, he made a cameo appearance on the comedy horror film Shaun of the Dead (2004) along with Martin.[28] They later recorded "Beach Chair" for Jay-Z's ninth album, Kingdom Come (2006),[29] and were featured in Slashed (2010), an independent horror film directed by Northern Irish band Ash.[30] He is also known to support food and wine magazine Noble Rot and became an investor in their namesake restaurants.[31] In October 2019, the guitarist assisted Jodie Whittaker in her cover of "Yellow" for BBC's Children in Need album along with Champion.[32]

Buckland usually uses a Fender 72' Telecaster Thinline, which is known to have a fuller sound compared to the usual models.[33] He is occasionally seen with Jazzmaster, Jaguar and Gibson ES-335 guitars as well; the latter was used when Coldplay recorded A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002).[34] While he has two Fender Hot Rod DeVille amplifiers, there are conflicting reports on whether they are the 2x12 or 4x10 version.[35] His pedals include Fulltone OCD, which is used for boost; the Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, Pro Co RAT (vintage model) and Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, which are combined for distortion; the BOSS RV-3 for reverb; and BOSS TR-2 for tremolo.[35] He also makes extensive use of the Line 6 DL4 pedal, while a MXR Phase 90 model can be heard in "Fix You".[35] His favourite Coldplay guitar riff is "Hurts Like Heaven".[36]

Noted for sparse and delicate arrangements,[37] Buckland affirmed that "I've never gone in much for the solos. I was always more interested in atmospherics. Listening to bands like Mercury Rev, My Bloody Valentine, or even the Verve, the way those guitarists played. There's no Van Halen in me".[7] His use of slide bar have a stylistic chiming and ringing timbre which has led to comparisons to the Edge,[38] who commented during an interview at Glastonbury that "Jonny is an inspiration to guitar players everywhere, I am proud to know that I was one of his main influences. It makes me feel like a real rock star".[7] In 2020, he shared on social media playlists with some of his favourite tracks and artists from each decade, including the Velvet Underground, Carole King, Joy Division, Talking Heads, Kate Bush, Donna Summer, Björk, Beastie Boys and various others.[39]