A tragic and fatal accident back in February ended the very promising careers of young British band Viola Beach. But over the weekend at Glastonbury, Coldplay gave them a chance to headline the UK music festival.
During Coldplay’s performance yesterday, Chris Martin and company offered a touching tribute to the band, who were killed along with their manager after their tour van crashed in Scandinavia after a gig. Martin told the Glasto crowd that Viola Beach “reminded us of ourselves in our early days,” and reflected on Coldplay’s time as a young band on the brink of attention and fame.
“Instead of playing ‘Heroes’ tonight, we’re gonna create Viola Beach’s alternative future for them and let them play Glastonbury for a song,” Martin tells the crowd. “This is maybe what would have been [Viola Beach] in 20 years. We hope we do your song justice.”
Viola Beach were shown up on the big screen behind the stage, performing their track “Boys That Sing”, and midway through, Coldplay joined in for a touching collaboration.
Viola Beach’s debut album, meanwhile, will be posthumously released on July 29. Pre-order it here.