2023 is looking like a busy year for Coldplay. Right now, the band is gearing up for the next leg of their Music Of The Spheres, which will kick off in March in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In the meantime, the iconic UK band took to the Saturday Night Live bands, to perform some fan favorites.
In their first performance of the night, Coldplay performed “The Astronaut,” their collaboration with BTS’ Jin. During the performance, the band’s lead vocalist Chris Martin was joined by performers dressed in alien masks and colorful helmets, carrying vibrant light-up orbs. As the performance progressed, the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers joined the band onstage, adding equally colorful harmonies. Actress Natasha Ofili offered interpretation for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.
Jin himself was not in attendance, as BTS is currently serving in the Korean military for their mandatory enlistment. Last October, Jin performed “The Astronaut” in Chile with Coldplay. During this performance, Martin recalled how the song came together. His account was captured in a fan-shared video.
“About six months ago, one of [BTS’] members called me up,” said Martin, “and he said, ‘I have to leave the band in December [to join] the army in Korea because that’s the rules there. And he said, ‘I need a song that says goodbye to everybody for a little while, and tells them that I love them… And so I said, ‘Okay, we’ll do a song together.’ And instead of being worried about it, I feel so excited about it, so grateful for this relationship that we have with BTS. And then this song arrived, and I was like, ‘This is one of our best songs – let’s give it to this gentleman.’”
You can check out the SNL performance of “The Astronaut” above.