Members of Coldplay are reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the band’s 2002 sophomore album, A Rush of Blood to the Head.
Speaking with Zane Lowe on Apple Music Hits, drummer Will Champion remembers being unsure whether the song “Clocks” should be included on the album.
“I said, ‘Yeah, this is not a song,'” Champion recalls. “And then someone else, our manager at the time, was saying, ‘If that’s a hit, I’ll eat my hat,’ that kind of thing.”
Of course, “Clocks” became one of Coldplay’s biggest hits and most beloved songs, and even won a Grammy for Record of the Year.
While there was some disagreement about “Clocks,” everyone was immediately onboard with a different Rush single, “The Scientist.”
“Chris [Martin] says, ‘I’ve got this song to play to you,'” bassist Guy Berryman shares. “Just on the little upright piano, he just played and sang the whole song from beginning to end, and it was kind of finished. We were like, ‘Oh wow. OK. That’s really great.'”
“I can see everything about that moment, clear as day in my head, when I heard it for the first time,” Champion adds. “Just, like, ‘OK, that’s going to be one we’re going to play forever, for sure.'”
Meanwhile, Coldplay’s longtime creative director and “fifth member” Phil Harvey has posted a statement on the band’s Twitter marking Rush‘s milestone.
“Happy 20th birthday to A Rush of Blood to the Head, the album that almost broke us but ended up making us,” Harvey writes. “I’m so grateful that we’re still the same gang of five brothers.”
The anniversary celebration continues with a 4K upgrade of “The Scientist” video, streaming now on YouTube.
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