A Rush of Blood to the Head is the second studio album by British alternative rock band Coldplay. Released on 26 August 2002 in the UK through the label Parlophone, the album was produced by the band and British record producer Ken Nelson. Recording started after the band became popular worldwide with the release of their debut album, Parachutes, and one of its singles in particular, "Yellow". Attitudes to songwriting were affected by the September 11 attacks in the United States, which occurred the week before recording started. The songs featured in the album have a greater use of piano and electric guitar than its predecessor.
The album was made available in August 2002, two months after its original planned release date. It was released on 27 August in the United States through Capitol Records. Capitol released a remastered version of the album in 2008 on a 180-gram vinyl record as part of the "From the Capitol Vaults" series. The album debuted and continued their huge commercial legacy, an ongoing pattern that began with Parachutes which made Coldplay one of the best-selling bands worldwide. It topped the UK Album Charts upon its first week of release in the United Kingdom, and became the eighth biggest-selling albums in the 21st century in the UK. The British Phonographic Industry has since certified the album 9x platinum for its accumulated sales of over 2.7 million units in Britain and over 15 million worldwide. The album spawned the hit singles "In My Place", "The Scientist", "Clocks", and "God Put a Smile upon Your Face".
A Rush of Blood to the Head has been critically acclaimed, and it won the band the 2003 Grammy for Best Alternative Album for the second time in a row, successive to their previous win in the same category, and the 2004 Grammy for Record of the Year for the song "Clocks". In 2003 it was ranked number 473 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.A Rush of Blood to the Head is the second studio album by British alternative rock band Coldplay. Released on 26 August 2002 in the UK through the label Parlophone, the album was produced by the band and British record producer Ken Nelson. Recording started after the band became popular worldwide with the release of their debut album, Parachutes, and one of its singles in particular, "Yellow". Attitudes to songwriting were affected by the September 11 attacks in the United States, which occurred the week before recording started. The songs featured in the album have a greater use of piano and electric guitar than its predecessor.
The album was made available in August 2002, two months after its original planned release date. It was released on 27 August in the United States through Capitol Records. Capitol released a remastered version of the album in 2008 on a 180-gram vinyl record as part of the "From the Capitol Vaults" series. The album debuted and continued their huge commercial legacy, an ongoing pattern that began with Parachutes which made Coldplay one of the best-selling bands worldwide. It topped the UK Album Charts upon its first week of release in the United Kingdom, and became the eighth biggest-selling albums in the 21st century in the UK. The British Phonographic Industry has since certified the album 9x platinum for its accumulated sales of over 2.7 million units in Britain and over 15 million worldwide. The album spawned the hit singles "In My Place", "The Scientist", "Clocks", and "God Put a Smile upon Your Face".
A Rush of Blood to the Head has been critically acclaimed, and it won the band the 2003 Grammy for Best Alternative Album for the second time in a row, successive to their previous win in the same category, and the 2004 Grammy for Record of the Year for the song "Clocks". In 2003 it was ranked number 473 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.false2025-11-08 04:10:56A Rush of Blood to the Head20022002-08-272002-08-2763Alternative Rock1112392109614d324a8e7-d44a-3c9d-a515-7d5a2a012a8ecc197bad-dc9c-440d-a5b5-d52ba2e14234120c786d-a3b2-3c19-b4ff-2b7b3b4435bf/media/data/media5/Music/Coldplay/A Rush of Blood to the Head/folder.jpgColdplayColdplayColdplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1996. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University College London and began playing music together from 1996 to 1998, first calling themselves Pectoralz and then Starfish.
After independently releasing an extended play, Safety (1998), the band signed with Parlophone in 1999. Their debut album, Parachutes (2000), included their breakthrough single "Yellow" and received a Brit Award for British Album of the Year, a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album and a Mercury Prize nomination. Their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002), won the same accolades and included the singles "The Scientist" and "Clocks", with the latter winning a Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Troubled production of the band's third album, X&Y (2005), saw them explore new musical territory with their fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008); both were the best-selling albums of the year worldwide in 2005 and 2008 respectively, topping the charts in over 30 countries. Viva la Vida also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album and the band's first Album of the Year nomination, while its title track became the first single by a British group to top the charts in both the United Kingdom and United States in the 21st century.
Since then, Coldplay further diversified their sound with the subsequent releases Mylo Xyloto (2011), Ghost Stories (2014), A Head Full of Dreams (2015), Everyday Life (2019) and Music of the Spheres (2021). Each album presented a unique theme and added new musical styles to the band's original repertoire, including electronica, ambient, pop, R&B, funk, classical, jazz fusion, and progressive rock. They are also known for "euphoric" live performances, which NME noted are when the band "come alive and make the most sense". To celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2018, a career-spanning documentary directed by Mat Whitecross was premiered at selected cinemas, featuring previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage.
With 100 million albums sold worldwide, Coldplay are the most successful band of the 21st century and one of the best-selling music acts of all time. According to Fuse, they are also the sixth-most awarded group in history. Other notable achievements include the sixth-highest-grossing tour of all time, three of the 50 highest-selling albums ever in the United Kingdom, the most number-one records in the country without ever missing the top, most nominations and wins for a band in Brit Awards history, and becoming the first British group to debut at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. Coldplay are considered one of the most influential bands of the 21st century as well, with Forbes describing them as the standard for the current alternative scene. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included A Rush of Blood to the Head on their "200 Definitive Albums" list and the single "Yellow" is part of their "Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll" exhibition for being one of the most successful and important recordings in the industry. In spite of their popularity and impact, Coldplay have earned a reputation as polarizing music icons.