Coldplay frontman Chris Martin can’t help but gush about his love for BTS, even months after the K-pop group and English rock band’s Billboard Hot 100-topping collaboration, “My Universe,” was released. Martin appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in a clip published Wednesday (Jan. 26) to discuss how the track came to be, and cracked a joke about looking much older than their Korean pop star counterparts.
“Someone said to me, ‘BTS asked you to do a song with them. … At the time, I was like, ‘That’s never going to work, ever. How are we going to fit these two things together?’” the Coldplay singer recalled. “Then the idea started to seem really attractive in its weirdness, and then one day the right song arrived and I just knew at time, ‘OK, this is the song I’m supposed to do with BTS and it’s about people who can’t be together or told they shouldn’t be together or forced to live in separate places.’ Then it felt really natural.”
He continued, “It’s quite a bizarre … We look like their gym teachers, but we love them. For something that could have seemed so artificial, it turned out being one of the most real feelings. We genuinely love those people.”
“My Universe” was a success for both groups. The track hit the No. 1 spot on Hot 100 chart and marked BTS’ third No. 1 single on the chart in 2021 following “Butter” and “Permission to Dance.” The collaboration was also Coldplay’s second song to lead the chart, following 2008’s “Viva La Vida.”
The seven-time Grammy winner also took a moment to touch on Coldplay’s future retirement plans, which consists of the rock group putting out three albums before 2025. “That’s what feels right to us, we’ll keep touring and we’ll always be together as a group of musicians and friends, but I think the story of our albums ends then,” Martin said.
Watch Martin on The Ellen DeGeneres Show below.
