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 The Stone Roses, My Bloody Valentine and U2. Noted for sparse and delicate arrangements, he uses the slide bar and delay pedal with a stylistic chiming and ringing timbre that led to comparisons with the Edge.

Buckland has a degree in mathematics and astronomy at University College London, where he formed Coldplay with Chris Martin, Guy Berryman and Will Champion. The group signed with Parlophone in 1999, finding global fame through the release of ''Parachutes'' (2000) and subsequent records. He won seven Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards as part of Coldplay. The band have sold over 100 million albums worldwide as of 2021, making them the most successful group of the 21st century.

Early life

Jonathan Mark Buckland was born on 11 September 1977 in Islington, London, England, being the second child of high school teacher John Buckland and his wife Joy. The family moved to Pantymwyn, Flintshire, Wales when he was four years old. He attended Ysgol y Waun primary school, while secondary education was held at Alun School, learning guitar notes and chords in the former and taking A-level music lessons on the latter. His teacher, Margaret Parr, mentioned that Buckland was "always extremely interested" on the subject and had particular strength for composition. He listened to numerous Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton records owned by his parents during his childhood, being encouraged to attain further experience on the guitar by his brother Tim, who introduced him to My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, The Stone Roses, George Harrison, U2 and other similar artists.

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

Career

Coldplay

Buckland was responsible for co-founding the band along with Martin, they met each other during their orientation week in 1996. Both resided at the university's Ramsay Hall, 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". Martin said that meeting Buckland was "like falling in love". The pair spend the rest of the year planning a band, which led to the formation of Pectoralz. They began to write their first songs together in early 1997 and practised every night. Berryman and Champion joined them in the following months.

The previous group name had already been dropped by 1998, with Starfish being chosen "in a panic" after Champion scheduled their live debut at The Laurel Tree only a few days after he became part of the band. In Coldplay, Buckland is frequently regarded as quiet, friendly, unassuming and "the wise owl" of the group. 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". The band used his bedroom for rehearsals in their early years, being near the neighbors who "were able to tolerate the noise". They stated in 2019 that Buckland is usually the first to either disapprove or give his input on Martin's initial song ideas, 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). 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).

Other projects

Buckland guest starred on Ian McCulloch's solo album ''Slideling'' (2003) by playing in the tracks "Sliding" and "Arthur". He also made a cameo appearance along with Martin on the comedy horror film ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004). Both of them were featured in '' Slashed'' (2010), a low budget independent horror film directed by Northern Irish rock band Ash. In October 2019, he assisted in Jodie Whittaker's "Yellow" cover recording for BBC
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