Chris Martin played a vital role in organising One Love Manchester.
The Coldplay frontman was one of the first acts to sign up for the fundraiser – which was staged to raise money for the victims of a terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in the English city last May – and the ‘Side to Side’ hitmaker’s manager, Scooter Braun credited the ‘Fix You’ singer for helping him "understand the sensibilities of Manchester".
Not only was Chris – who performed Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ with Ariana and the group’s ‘Live Forever’ with their former frontman Liam Gallagher at the concert – the first to sign up after Justin Bieber and Katy Perry, he was on hand to offer advice and urged Scooter to press ahead with the plans after another attack took place in London the day before One Love Manchester was scheduled.
Scooter admitted he considered cancelling but "before [he] could even think about it, Chris Martin texted, ‘Please don’t cancel the show, it’s more important than ever.’ "
A host of huge global stars, including Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, and Niall Horan also took to the stage for the concert last June, but Scooter admitted he had to turn down many more names who wanted to participate, asking them for video messages instead.
Speaking at the Midem conference, he said: "It’s a weird thing when you’re telling huge artists, can you send a video?.
"[It’s the] most important show I’ve ever been a part of."
He also hailed Ariana a "hero" for undertaking the benefit just two weeks after the attack and praised all of the acts involved in the show for paying their own travel and accommodation expenses.
He said: "The fact that she took on the burden of coming back and carrying that show two weeks on? She’s my hero… And every single one of those people on that stage covered their own flights, their own hotels…
"Right now with the state of the world, we have an opportunity to start stepping up and being part of the narrative, and start changing the interactions we’re having with one another."
After the attack, which killed 23 and left over 100 injured, Scooter was initially more angry than upset.
He recalled: "I was p***ed off. When it happened, I didn’t really get upset at first. ‘They came at the wrong one: I’m going to fight back!’"
Chris Martin had key role in One Love Manchester
