Coldplay have reportedly paid a seven-figure sum to their former manager Dave Holmes after he sued the band for £10m.
The band parted ways with Dave in 2022 after more than two decades, sparking a dramatic and protracted legal battle.
In 2023, Dave claimed he was owed £10 million in unpaid commissions for Coldplay’s yet-to-be-released tenth and eleventh albums.
However, the band, led by frontman Chris Martin, have counter-claimed for £14m, alleging that Holmes lost control of the budget for their Music of the Spheres tour and overspent by £17.5m.
Documents filed with the High Court in London, obtained by Sunstated that Coldplay agreed to an undisclosed seven-figure settlement to prevent private details from becoming public in court.
Coldplay are reportedly set to pay a seven-figure sum to their former manager Dave Holmes after he sued the band for £10 million.
A source added: “Chris and the band are happy to have called it quits, but it has come at a price. The deal has cost them millions. They just want to move on.”
Since Dave’s departure, Chris’s best friend Phil Harvey, who helped finance his first recording and was then known as the band’s fifth member, stepped in to lead his management team.
MailOnline has contacted representatives for Coldplay for comment.
Last year, Coldplay’s legal battle with their former manager took a dramatic turn when Dave accused the band of “making up” stories of mishaps and “ethical lapses.”
Holmes told MailOnline she believes the British group led by Chris Martin “knew they were in trouble” after filing a £14m counterclaim.
Responding to the order, a spokesperson for Holmes told MailOnline in October: “Coldplay are aware that they are in trouble with their defence.
‘Accusing Dave Holmes of non-existent ethical misconduct and other fabricated misconduct will not divert attention from the real issue: Coldplay had a contract with Dave, they are refusing to honour it and they must pay Dave what they owe him.’
Coldplay felt their tour costs had skyrocketed because of Mr Holmes.
The band parted ways with Dave (pictured left in 2011) in 2022 after more than two decades, sparking a dramatic and protracted legal battle.
In 2023, Dave claimed he was owed £10 million in unpaid commissions for Coldplay’s tenth and eleventh albums, but the band counterclaimed for £14 million, citing excessive spending on their tour.
The band’s lawyers argued that “if Mr. Holmes had exercised reasonable care and skill in the performance of his obligations,” the band would never have had to incurred costs of at least £17.5m.
Examples given include: ’16 custom-made stage towers’ for lighting and video costing €10.6 million and which proved too expensive to use.
The documents also accused Holmes of authorizing the purchase of a $9.7 million “visual project known as Jet Screen” that was too large and was only used for ten Buenos Aires concerts on the 165-concert world tour.
People familiar with the dispute on Holmes’ side said any suggestion that Dave was responsible was “totally false and misleading.”
Coldplay also said Holmes used “his position” to secure $30 million in loans at preferential rates from concert giant Live Nation.
“To the best of our knowledge, Mr. Holmes used the money obtained through the loan agreements to finance a real estate development project in or around Vancouver, Canada,” the band states in its filing.
“It can be inferred that Mr. Holmes was only able to acquire loans totaling $30 million at a fixed annual interest rate of 2.72 percent from Live Nation by virtue of his position as Coldplay’s manager,” the lawsuit states.
Live Nation said in a statement to The Times that it “has a strong and long-standing relationship with Coldplay,” adding: “Any past dealings with their management team were considered an extension of this relationship.”
Coldplay believed the deal may have led to poor decisions about their Music of the Spheres tour, which Holmes negotiated with Live Nation.
“That could potentially or actually conflict with its obligations to secure the best possible terms for (Coldplay),” the lawsuit says.
Holmes had “a vested interest in maintaining the best possible relationship with Live Nation to ensure he had leverage should he require any form of leniency with regard to the terms of the loan,” Coldplay said.
A source close to Mr Holmes said: “Regardless of what this legal filing may imply, the interest rates on the loan Dave obtained from Live Nation were entirely consistent with those available everywhere in the US at the time.”
Dave Holmes was the band’s manager for more than 22 years before the group fired him in 2022, despite agreeing to extend his contract to collaborate on their 10th and 11th albums, according to the legal filing. He also began preparations for their 2024-25 tours.
Holmes claimed the band (frontman Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion) claimed they never agreed to a contract extension and refused to pay him for the work he contributed to the album and tour arrangements.
Coldplay’s representatives said Holmes’ management contract expired at the end of 2022, “at which point they have decided not to enter into a new one.”
The band took home the award for most memorable moment of Glastonbury 2024, when they performed a surprise duet with Hollywood legend Michael J. Fox during their Saturday night headlining set.
Coldplay took home the award for most memorable moment of Glastonbury 2024, when they performed a surprise duet with Hollywood legend Michael J. Fox during their headlining set.
Miguel He played the guitar from his wheelchair, in the midst of his battle with Parkinson’s, for the band’s songs Humankind and Fix You, before an excited crowd of 100,000 people.
And it was a full circle moment for frontman Chris, 47, who revealed how his global chart-topping band wouldn’t exist without the Back to the Future star, 63.
Chris previously spoke about how watching Michael playing Johnny B. Goode in an iconic scene from 1985’s Back to the Future was his inspiration to become a musician and form his band at University College London in 1996.
“That’s what made me want to be in a band, you know? That scene,” he told Kelly Clarkson on her talk show in 2022.
And Chris movingly told the Glastonbury crowd on Saturday night: ‘The main reason we’re in a band is because we watch Back to the Future.’
‘So thank you to our eternal hero and one of the most wonderful people on Earth, Mr. Michael J. Fox. Thank you so much, Michael.’
The British band made making their debut at the iconic festival in the New Bands Tent in 1999, before going on to headline in 2002, 2005, 2011 and 2016.
