NEWS
Coldplay, Doja Cat, J Balvin, and Tems headlined the FIFA Club World Cup final halftime show last night (July 13) – watch footage of the performance below.
Sunday’s final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain saw a surprise performance from Coldplay on the MetLife Stadium’s upper stands, on a stage crafted by frontman Chris Martin and Global Citizen.
Placing the stage in the stands was done to avoid damaging the freshly planted grass on the field, and also had the benefit of avoiding the timing changeover issues that made Shakira’s 2024 performance at the Copa America final so divisive.
The 15-minute set opened with J Balvin’s ‘Mi Gente’, which saw him joined by dancers and drummers, and was followed by Tems’ ‘Love Me JeJe’ before Balvin returned to deliver ‘Reggaeton’.
Doja Cat then performed 2021 track ‘Woman’, with Coldplay closing out the set with a surprise appearance. Martin, joined by singer-songwriter Emmanuel Kelly, performed “A Sky Full of Stars’ joined by all the performers of the evening in a rousing finale.
Organisers have shared aims that this July’s crowning of the first official FIFA club world champion will reach the largest global audience ever for a club football competition, with the show supporting the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.
The initiative looks to raise $100million to provide children around the world with access to quality education as well as football, with one dollar from every ticket sold for FIFA Club World Cup matches in the US this summer to be donated to the fund.
“This show will be unforgettable,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino previously. “Not just for its spectacle on a landmark night, but also for the lasting impact it will make.”
As for Coldplay’s own charity efforts, their upcoming UK stadium shows – which include a record-breaking 10-night run at Wembley – will see 10 per cent of the band’s profits going to the Music Venue Trust.
The charity have been campaigning for a mandatory levy for £1 of every ticket sold to a gig at arena level and above to go back into the grassroots, at a time when the scene faces “disaster” with around two venues closing per week in the UK. “The band’s support really will stop venues closing, make tours happen and bring the joy of live music to thousands of people,” said MVT CEO Mark Davyd.
When sitting down with NME last year ahead of the release of ‘Moon Music‘, Martin discussed the importance of live venues and how they helped shape the band. “Playing live is an important connection,” he said. “It doesn’t bother me that there might not be another Coldplay, but it does bother me that there might not be acts that are free to start on the bottom rung and work all the way up – so that by the time they get to stadiums, they are really good.”
NEWS
Brad Paisley has called Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding “one of the least pretentious weddings he’s ever seen”.
The country star attended the ceremony alongside his actress wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley. They joined around 1,000 guests at New York City’s Madison Square Garden earlier this month as the global pop icon married the American football star.
Although the celebration attracted enormous attention and involved tight security and a stunning makeover of the famous arena, Paisley said the occasion never came across as excessive.
“Ironically, (it) was one of the least pretentious weddings that I've ever seen or ever will see,” Paisley told The Associated Press during an interview. “It meant a lot to be (invited). It was, kind of, a big thank you from her to invite us.”
Paisley, who chose Swift as an opening performer for his tour when she was a teenager in 2007, said he was delighted to be included in what many considered the biggest celebrity wedding of the year.
“They were very clear with the invite, and I took this personally when I got the invite, because in the invite, it said, ‘If you're getting this, you mean a lot to us,’” he revealed.
The musician also explained that guests were not told the wedding’s exact location until the date drew nearer.
“It was really fun to watch the cat and mouse game of, like, ‘We can tell you roughly where it's going to be, we're not gonna say what building... and here's the date. If you're in, we'll tell you more,’” he continued. “I went to my wife, I said, ‘Want to go?’ and she said, ‘Absolutely, we gotta be there!’ So, we did it, it was RSVP yes.”
Other famous attendees included Brad Pitt, Gigi Hadid, Bradley Cooper, Ed Sheeran, Sabrina Carpenter, Hugh Grant, Haim and Tom Hanks.
