Tom Chaplin and Tim Rice-Oxley became friends when very young. Chaplin's father David was the headmaster of Vinehall School in Robertsbridge, East Sussex, (owned by Chaplin's family) for 25 years, the school all three attended until the age of 13. They later attended Tonbridge School in Kent, where Rice-Oxley met Dominic Scott; both of them discovered rapidly their liking for music. Richard Hughes, Keane's future drummer, also attended Tonbridge. Chaplin had also learned to play the flute but none of them considered music as a proper career at the time. In 1995, while studying at University College London for a degree in classics, Rice-Oxley formed a rock band with Scott, and invited Hughes to play drums. The band, named "Lotus Eaters", started as a cover band, playing songs by the members' favourite bands, including U2, Oasis, and The Beatles, and rehearsing at home. After listening to Rice-Oxley's piano playing during a weekend at Virginia Water, Surrey in 1997, Chris Martin invited him to join his newly formed band Coldplay. However, Rice-Oxley declined because he did not want to leave "The Lotus Eaters", stating, "I was seriously interested, but Keane were already operational and Coldplay's keyboard player idea was dropped." Because of Martin's offer, and although Hughes and Scott were originally opposed to it, Chaplin joined the band in 1997, taking Rice-Oxley's place as vocalist and adding himself as the acoustic guitarist. Chaplin's recruitment also marked a change of name from "The Lotus Eaters" to "Cherry Keane", after a friend of Chaplin's mother, whom Rice-Oxley and Chaplin knew when they were young. She took care of them and would tell them to go for their dreams. At her death from cancer, she had left money for Chaplin's family. Chaplin commented: "I used some of the money to see me through the harder times with the music." The name was shortened to Keane soon afterward. Chaplin departed for South Africa in the summer of 1997 to work as a volunteer during his gap year. Chaplin's early experiences there would later be reflected in the band's position for the Make Poverty History campaign. Returning a year later, in July 1998, following a meeting with friend David Lloyd Seaman, Hughes' first words when the band picked up Chaplin at the airport were, "we've got a gig in ten days." With original material, Keane made their debut live appearance at the "Hope & Anchor" pub on 13 July 1998. In this same year, Chaplin went to Edinburgh University to study for a degree in art history. However, he later quit his degree and moved to London in order to pursue a full-time musical career with his friends. After their debut performance, the band went touring London's pub gig circuit throughout 1998 and 1999.

Answer this question "Did he join" by extracting the answer from the text above.
Rice-Oxley declined because he did not want to leave "The Lotus Eaters",