Coldplay christened Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena last night, and Chris Martin took the opportunity to pay homage to the city’s hometown heroes Pearl Jam by covering their Vitalogy song “Nothingman.”
“So, ‘cause we’re here in Seattle, we wanted to pay tribute to one of the bands we fell in love with when we were just young teenagers in the ‘90s,” he explained to the crowd before urging fans not to upload footage to YouTube because this was not going to a pristine rendition of the 1994 track. “This is a 44-year-old man remembering how much he fell in love with Pearl Jam in 1991. If you told that kid he’d be here singing this song, he would’ve said ‘You sure that’s a good idea?’ And I’d say ‘Maybe not, but I’m doing it.’”
Martin then brought up drummer Will Champion to play piano (he taught him the song 25 minutes prior to their set) while he sang and played acoustic guitar. “If Eddie ever hears this, I love you, man,” he said after the performance. “Thanks for being so kind to our band.”
Of course fans couldn’t resist sharing the cover on YouTube, so you can watch it below.
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This isn’t the first time Martin has performed “Nothingman.” In 2018, he sang the song with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder at the Global Citizens Live Festival.
Coldplay are going on an eco-friendly world tour next year. Check out the full list of dates here.
