When most people picture Chris Martin, they think of bright stadium lights, colorful confetti and massive singalongs with Coldplay. But before he became one of the world’s biggest rock stars, Martin was a church kid from Devon, England, growing up in a strict evangelical household that shaped his early years in unexpected ways.
Born in 1977, Martin grew up in Exeter as the oldest of five kids. His family was deeply involved at Belmont Chapel, a conservative evangelical church that played a central role in their daily life. Sundays were dedicated to church, and Christian teachings reached far beyond Sunday mornings.
Music was always around Martin’s house — his dad worked as a chartered accountant and his mom was a music teacher — but it came with some strict guidelines. In a 2021 interview with Howard Stern, Martin shared that he avoided certain songs completely as a kid because he believed they were dangerous.
“I couldn’t sing ‘Paint It Black,’ for example, by the Stones, because I thought it was evil,” he said.
He described this as part of “a lot of strange indoctrination” that shaped his worldview growing up.
“There was also a lot of strange indoctrination,” he told Stern. “Not even deliberately. But yeah, there was.”
Martin called these early beliefs a “method of coping,” something that gave him structure as a kid but later became something he needed to move past.
“Any method of coping with something is a strength when you develop it,” he said. “But then later in your life, it might not necessarily serve you anymore.”
As Martin got older and started performing, he began questioning the faith framework he had known. By the time Coldplay was playing arenas in the early 2000s, he had already started moving away from traditional Christianity.
In a 2008 interview with the Irish Independent, he described his spiritual perspective with a term he came up with himself: “alltheist.”
“God is just a nice word to sing,” he said. “But it isn’t any specific god. It’s more … alltheistic.”
He explained further in his conversation with Stern that his understanding of God had changed over time.
“My God, for me, is all things and all,” he said. “God is everywhere and everyone and it’s also the unknowable, the vast majesty behind everything. And it’s just the point where you get to the place where you can’t think any further, that’s where I think God is. I don’t think that God is a man in the sky with a gray beard.”
Even as his beliefs shifted, Martin has said that growing up surrounded by hymns and church music left a mark on his sound. Coldplay’s big, soaring melodies and emotional build-ups reflect the influence of church music he heard as a kid.
Biblical references also show up in Coldplay songs, including “Viva La Vida,” which mentions missionaries and religious imagery. Martin hasn’t always directly tied these lyrics to his upbringing, but he has acknowledged that those stories were part of the world he grew up in.
In 2024, Coldplay released a song called “We Pray” that included lines echoing Psalm 23. Some fans wondered if it meant Martin was returning to his Christian roots, but he clarified that his views hadn’t changed. He described himself as someone who believes in “God everywhere in everyone,” not tied to any specific religious tradition.
Martin has said that his faith story wasn’t about cutting ties completely but about shifting perspectives.
“There was a lot of strange indoctrination,” he said again on Stern. “But I don’t think anyone meant harm. It’s just what it was.”
His comments show a gradual process rather than an overnight change. His upbringing gave him a foundation that he later reexamined as he experienced more of the world.
Today, Martin still explores spiritual themes in his music while holding onto his own broad understanding of faith. His story highlights a lifelong journey of questioning, learning and reshaping beliefs — without fully leaving behind the influence of where he started.
