Coldplay released their first studio album, "Parachutes", on 10 July 2000 in the United Kingdom by their record label, Parlophone. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was released on 7 November 2000 by record label Nettwerk in North America. The album has been made available on various formats since its initial release; both Parlophone and Nettwerk released it as a CD in 2000, and it was also released as a cassette by newfound US label Capitol in 2001. In the following year, Parlophone issued the album as an LP. The band released a limited-edition CD of "Trouble", the third single off the album, which features a remix of "Yellow". It was pressed to 1,000 copies, and was issued only to fans and journalists. Both "Yellow" and "Trouble" earned regular radio airplay in the UK and US.
"Parachutes" was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in September 2000. Having found success in Europe, the band set their sights on North America, released the album there in November 2000, and started the "U.S. Club Tour" in February 2001. Although "Parachutes" was a slow-burning success in the United States, it eventually reached double-platinum status. The album was critically well-received and earned a Best Alternative Music Album honours at the 2002 Grammy Awards. Chris Martin claimed after the release of "Parachutes" the album's success was intended to achieve the band's status as the "biggest, best band in the f...ing world."
After the success of "Parachutes", Coldplay returned to the studio in September 2001 to begin work on their second album "A Rush of Blood to the Head", once again with Ken Nelson producing. The band started recording the album in London a week after the September 11 attacks in the United States. Since the band had never stayed in London before, they had trouble focusing. They decided to relocate in Liverpool, where they recorded some of the songs on Parachutes. Once there, vocalist Chris Martin said that they became obsessed with recording. "In My Place" was the first song recorded for the album. The band released it as the album's lead single because it was the track that made them want to record a second album following a "strange period of not really knowing what we were doing" three months after the success of Parachutes. According to Martin "one thing kept us going: recording 'In My Place'. Then other songs started coming."
The band wrote more than 20 songs for the album. Some of their new material, including "In My Place" and "Animals", was played live while the band were still touring "Parachutes". The album's title was revealed through a post on the band's official website. The album was released in August 2002 and spawned several popular singles, including "In My Place", "Clocks", and the ballad "The Scientist". The latter was inspired from George Harrison's title track to "All Things Must Pass", which was released in 1970.
Coldplay toured from June 2002 to September 2003 for the "A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour". They visited five continents, including co-headlining festival dates at Glastonbury Festival, V2003 and Rock Werchter. Many concerts showcased elaborate lighting and individualised screens reminiscent of U2's "Elevation Tour" and Nine Inch Nails' "Fragility Tour". During the extended tour, Coldplay recorded a live DVD and CD, "Live 2003", at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion.
In December 2003, readers of "Rolling Stone" chose Coldplay as the best artist and the best band of the year. At that time the band covered The Pretenders' 1983 song "2000 Miles" (which was made available for download on their official website). "2000 Miles" was the top selling UK download that year, with proceeds from the sales donated to Future Forests and Stop Handgun Violence campaigns. "A Rush of Blood to the Head" won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2003 Grammy Awards. At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Coldplay earned Record of the Year for "Clocks".
Coldplay spent most of 2004 out of the spotlight, taking a break from touring while recording their third album. "X&Y" was released in June 2005 in UK and Europe. This new, delayed release date had put the album back into the next fiscal year, actually causing EMI's stock to drop. It became the best-selling album of 2005 with worldwide sales of 8.3 million. The lead single, "Speed of Sound", made its radio and online music store debut on 18 April and was released as a CD on 23 May 2005. The album debuted at number one in 20 countries worldwide, and was the third-fastest selling album in UK chart history. Two other singles were released that year: "Fix You" in September and "Talk" in December. Critical reaction to "X&Y" was less enthusiastic than that of its predecessor, with "New York Times" critic Jon Pareles describing Coldplay as "the most insufferable band of the decade" Comparisons between Coldplay and U2 became increasingly common, although critical reaction to the album was still largely positive. Chris Martin later revealed that the negative remarks made him feel "liberated".
From June 2005 to July 2006, Coldplay went on their "Twisted Logic Tour", which included festival dates like Coachella, Isle of Wight Festival, Glastonbury and the Austin City Limits Music Festival. In July 2005, the band appeared at Live 8 in Hyde Park, where they played a rendition of The Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony" with Richard Ashcroft on vocals. In September, Coldplay recorded a new version of "How You See the World" with reworked lyrics for War Child's "" charity album. In February 2006, Coldplay earned Best Album and Best Single honours at the BRIT Awards. Two more singles were released during 2006, "The Hardest Part" and "What If". The sixth and final single, "White Shadows" was released in Mexico during June 2007.
In October 2006, Coldplay began work on their fourth studio album, "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends", with producer Brian Eno. Taking a break from recording, the band toured Latin America in early 2007, performing in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. After recording in churches and other venues in Latin America and Spain during their tour, the band said the album would likely reflect Hispanic influence. The group spent the rest of the year recording with Eno.
Martin described "Viva la Vida" as a new direction for Coldplay: a change from their past three albums, which they have referred to as a "trilogy". He said the album featured less falsetto as he allowed his voice's lower register to take precedence. Some songs, such as "Violet Hill", contain distorted guitar riffs and bluesy undertones. "Violet Hill" was confirmed as the first single, with a radio release date of 29 April 2008. After the first play, it was freely obtainable from Coldplay's website from 12:15 pm (GMT +0) for one week (achieving two million downloads), until it became commercially available to download on 6 May. "Violet Hill" entered the UK Top 10, US Top 40 (entering the Top 10 in the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart) and charted well in the rest of the world. The title track, "Viva la Vida", was also released exclusively on iTunes. It became the band's first number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and their first UK number one, based on download sales alone.