Jonny Buckland

Jonathan Mark Buckland (born 11 September 1977) is an English-born Welsh musician and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Coldplay. Raised in Pantymwyn, he began to play guitar from an early age, being influenced by acts such as My Bloody Valentine, the Stone Roses and U2. Noted for sparse and delicate arrangements, he uses slide bars and delay pedals with a stylistic timbre that has led to comparisons to the Edge.

Jonny Buckland
Buckland performing with Coldplay in 2023
Born	Jonathan Mark Buckland (1977-09-11) 11 September 1977 (age 46) London, England
Alma mater	University College London
Occupations	Musician songwriter
Years active	1997–present
Spouse	Chloe Lee-Evans ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Origin	London, England
Genres	Alternative rock pop rock post-Britpop pop
Instruments	Guitar keyboards vocals
Labels	Parlophone Atlantic Capitol
Member of	Coldplay
Website	coldplay.com
Signature

Buckland has a 2:1 degree in astronomy and mathematics from University College London, where he formed Coldplay along with Chris Martin, Guy Berryman and Will Champion. The band signed with Parlophone in 1999, finding global fame after release of Parachutes (2000) and following records. He has won seven Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards as part of Coldplay. Having sold more than 100 million albums worldwide as of 2021,^[a] they are the most successful group of the 21st century.^[3]

Early life

Jonathan Mark Buckland was born on 11 September 1977 in Islington, London, England.^[4] He is the second child of John Buckland, a former teacher at Holywell High School, and his wife Joy.^[5] The family moved to Pantymwyn, Flintshire, Wales when he was four years old.^[6] He attended primary school at Ysgol y Waun and learned his first guitar notes and chords there.^[7] His secondary education was then held at Alun School, where he took A-level music lessons.^[6] Teacher Margaret Parr said it was a "pleasure teaching him", since he was "always extremely interested" on the subject.^[8] She also commented Buckland had particular strength for composition.^[8]

During his youth, the guitarist listened to many Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton records owned by his parents.^[7] He was then encouraged to attain further experience on the guitar by his brother Tim, who introduced him acts like George Harrison, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Sonic Youth, the Stone Roses and U2.^[7] Following the former's reunion in 2011, Buckland declared at a press conference it was "fair to say that their first album was the reason I started playing a guitar".^[9]

He used to have piano lessons when he was seven years old, but did not enjoy them.^[10] At 10 years old, the guitarist was part of a rap group and experimented with computer music by using beats consisted of dog barks.^[10] Buckland then joined the Scouts when he was 11 years old and mentioned still liking the uniform in 2008.^[11] Moreover, the guitarist stated that in one night when his friends were playing on a field, they had an encounter with an angry sheep and he was attacked multiple times.^[11] The experience caused him to not wear any wool or eat lamb since then.^[11] In 2019, he remembered taking a holiday job at Daily Post, placing photos of houses for sale in the pressings.^[12] His education was continued at University College London, where he attained a 2:1 degree in astronomy and mathematics and formed Coldplay with Chris Martin, Guy Berryman and Will Champion.^[13]

Career

Coldplay

Main article: Coldplay

 

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.^[b]

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]

Other projects

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]

Musical style

Equipment

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]

Influences

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]

Personal life

According to The Times, Buckland has an estimated wealth of £113 million as of May 2022.^[40] He is a lifelong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.^[41] After being vegetarian for a few years, he gave up while traveling to Japan, where he was not able to communicate his options to the waiters and was served beef, finding out "he really liked it".^[42] However, he still does Meat Free Mondays along with his bandmates.^[43] In 2007, his older brother Tim founded alternative rock group The Domino State, which opened for Coldplay on Viva la Vida Tour (2008–10).^[5] He married jewelry designer Chloe Lee-Evans in November 2009.^[44] The couple have two children.^[45]

The family currently resides in the Hampstead area of Camden, London, but they own two apartments in Manhattan, New York as well.^[45] Buckland purchased the first of them for $3.4 million in 2008, while the second was bought for $4.5 million in 2016.^[45] He is godfather to Martin's daughter Apple along with English actor Simon Pegg.^[46] During an interview for BBC Radio 2, he mentioned that his favourite non-musical activity is reading books.^[47] His great-grandfather formed a band named Vic Buckland's Dance Orchestra between the late 1910s and early 1920s, a photograph of them was used as an inspiration for the album cover and vintage aesthetics seen on Everyday Life (2019).^[48]

Discography

With Coldplay Main articles: Coldplay discography and songs Parachutes (2000) A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) X&Y (2005) Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008) Mylo Xyloto (2011) Ghost Stories (2014) A Head Full of Dreams (2015) Everyday Life (2019) Music of the Spheres (2021)

Solo credits "Sliding" (2003) – guitarist "Arthur" (2003) – guitarist "Beach Chair" (2006) – guitarist

See also

• List of people associated with University College London
• List of British Grammy winners and nominees
• List of best-selling music artists
• List of highest-grossing live music artists
• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-ones by British artists

Notes

1. The term "records" is for album and single sales combined.^[1] Coldplay, however, sold 100 million copies in albums alone, while Parlophone have not disclosed the amount of records.^[2]
2. Overall, the fifth and final member was manager and creative director Phil Harvey.^[19]

References

1. "What's The Difference Between A Record And An Album? 5 Things To Know". The Sound of Vinyl. 30 March 2021. from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
2. "Coldplay Re-Ups with Warner Music Group for Long-Term Deal Via Parlophone". Variety. 6 October 2021. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
3. "Coldplay, Wembley Stadium, Review: Chris Martin's Infectious Joy Is Impossible To Resist". The Telegraph. 13 August 2022. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
4. . Capital FM (Press the "View More" button on the "Facts" column). 2023. Archived from the original on 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
5. "No Coldplay Split, Says North Wales-Based Mum of Guitarist". North Wales Live. 28 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
6. "Jonny Buckland Gives Coldplay Disc To Pantymwyn Village Hall Restoration Fund". BBC News. 26 April 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
7. (Wild & Croft 2018, pp. 110–113)
8. "Coldplay Guitarist Jonny Buckland of Pantmwyn". North Wales Live. 19 April 2013. Archived from the original on 30 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
9. "Coldplay Hypnotised by Brian Eno During Making of Mylo Xyloto". NME. 27 October 2011. from the original on 31 December 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
10. Beginnings of Coldplay – Full Documentary Bigger Stronger BBC Radio 1 Steve Lamaq. 9 March 2020. from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022 – via YouTube.
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18. (Wild & Croft 2018, pp. 13–16)
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39. Coldplay [@coldplay] (8 April 2020). "Hi everyone. Hope you're all doing ok. I made a playlist of (mainly) 1960s songs to give you something to listen to while we're (mainly) all stuck at home. JB" (Tweet). from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022 – via Twitter.
    • Coldplay [@coldplay] (28 April 2020). "Hi everyone. I've made another playlist for you, this time with some of my favourite 1970s songs" (Tweet). from the original on 6 May 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2022 – via Twitter.
    • Coldplay [@coldplay] (13 May 2020). "Hi everyone. I've reached the 1980s with my playlists. Quite tricky to make something coherent for such a seismic decade in music" (Tweet). from the original on 15 May 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2022 – via Twitter.
    • Coldplay [@coldplay] (21 May 2020). "Here's my 90s playlist. (Surely it's time for an Electronic reunion?) JB" (Tweet). from the original on 21 May 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2022 – via Twitter.
40. "The 40 Richest Musicians In The UK". The Times. 20 May 2022. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
41. . NME. 23 October 2008. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
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44. "Interview With Chloe Lee Evans". Taryn Cox The Wife. 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
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Further reading

• Wild, Debs; Croft, Malcolm (2018). Life in Technicolor: A Celebration of Coldplay. ECW Press. ISBN 9781787391093.
• Roach, Martin (2011). Viva Coldplay: A Biography. Music Sales. ISBN 9780857125941.
• Spivack, Gary (2004). Coldplay: Look at the Stars. Pocket Books. ISBN 9780743491969.
• Roach, Martin (2003). Coldplay: Nobody Said It Was Easy. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780711998100.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jonny Buckland.

• Jonny Buckland at AllMusic  
• Jonny Buckland discography at Discogs  
• Jonny Buckland at IMDb  
• Jonny Buckland discography at MusicBrainz