Sue battle spawns up between Coldplay and former manager Dave Holmes
On the 16th of August 2023, reports of a potential court dispute between Coldplay’s former manager, and the band hit the net, and although not yet in the court vicinity, the case of Chris Martin’s Coldplay and former manager, Dave Holmes is steaming up and will only take a little time before it does end within the four walls of a courtroom.
Dave Holmes, who is now the ex-manager of the popular British group, sued the band in the middle of August for more than $12 million for unpaid commissions and damages.
In a statement made by Dave’s lawyer, the band is refusing to comply with Dave in paying him for his services which included making arrangements for their current world tour, “Music of Spheres World Tour,” and the future ones.
Chris Martin’s Coldplay band is currently touring the world for the 8th time, “Music of Spheres World Tour,” amidst their sue battle with their former manager, and even though the case has not received special attention yet from any court, their failure to comply to Dave’s terms soon might result in a high-court session which we believe might affect the success of their tour this year, and the next.
Coldplay has headlined 7 tours with the 8th one being “Music of Spheres World Tour.” And even though they are now in disagreement with each other, Dave Holmes is believed to have steered the 4-man band through a successful track after working with them for 22 consecutive years.
Amidst the saga, the band has kept up with appearances, meeting up with their concerts and making the purchases of tickets incredibly competitive. Luckily, few marketplaces are bent on making the whole process of getting Coldplay tickets easy for you.
Dave Holmes – Coldplay’s Former Manager
Up until now, a lot of people never heard of Dave Holmes and only a few knew he was the manager of the “Cry Cry Cry” singers since he does not make stage appearances with them.
The potential legal battle that is about to unfold between him and his former team has made him top the headlines these past few weeks and even though he is not individually popular as Coldplay’s Chris Martins, or Guy Berryman, Dave Holmes has managed to do well for himself and Coldplay is one of such evidence of how good and passionate he is with work.
When Dave Holmes started working with Chris Martin’s Coldplay, he was so excited that he broke the news of his newly found job to his mother by giving her a copy of “Parachutes” as a gift, and telling her that he recently just started working with the band and he is sure they will go places.
Since he engaged with Coldplay back in 2000, Dave has managed to carry the weight of the band on his shoulders, making plans and also arranging deals that the Band needed to succeed at that time.
Some of Dave’s duties as the manager of Coldplay back then included purchasing equipment to be used on tour and liaising with required music producers for the production of the Band’s songs.
Dave also stated in his filing that he had to license samples that were used by the band, aside from managing logistics and the cost of recordings among other things.
Coldplay has dropped 7 successful albums under the management of Dave Holmes, and he also oversaw the success of 6 tours including their biggest tour ever, “Music of Spheres World Tour.”
According to recent gatherings, Dave Holmes’ contract ended with the band in 2022, and the band, even though they initially agreed to extend Dave’s contract until the release of their 10th and 11th studio album of which Dave had already started making arrangements for as usual, refused to honor their end of the bargain forcing Dave to sue them for damages, commissions for the 10th and 11th yet to be released studio albums, and also unpaid royalties.
Chris Martin’s Coldplay’s Side of the Story
Coldplay in response to the suit filed by their former manager Dave Holmes, has counter-sued him for $17 million with a case of “careless spending.”
It was stated in their filings that, “Expensive equipment was ordered or bought that was not fit for purpose, including a $9.7m video screen that was so big it could not be brought on tour as well as 16 bespoke stage pylons that cost €10.6m (£9m) and were found to be unusable.” ~ Coldplay
The 4-man band also stated that their former manager, Dave Holmes used his status to secure a loan from Live Nation worth $30 million which has an annual interest rate of 2.72%.
They alleged that Dave used this money to foresee the development of his personal property which is located in Canada.
The 7 times Grammy-winning band also expressed their concerns about the fact that Dave Holmes, who is indebted to Live Nations, may have been compelled to make unfair deals for their current tour, “Music of Spheres World Tour” because of his affiliation with the organization.
Even though Dave Holmes claims that Coldplay agreed to extend his contract so that he could help with the preparations and release of their 10th and 11th studio album, alongside preparing for their 2024 and 2025 tours, which he had already begun, the band cleared his claims and denied agreeing to extend the contract.
What the World Thinks About the Coldplay Case
Some of the people who have been acquainted with Dave Holmes do not believe all the claims made by Coldplay against him.
A lot of people feel the band, Coldplay, is trying to play a fast one on their former manager by refusing to pay him what they owe him. The fact that Phil Harvey, the manager who left the band years ago is now back in the picture, re-taking the position he once abandoned to Dave Holmes raises a suspicion that Chris Martin and his bandmates are trying to get rid of Dave Holmes for good.
Dave’s lawyer tells Variety that Coldplay knows they are in trouble for refusing to honor whatever agreement they had with Dave and that is why they are beating around the bush trying to find faults in Dave where there are none.
The easiest way out for the band considering the current level which the case has attained is to end things peacefully by compensating Dave Holmes. Failure to do so might result in the case being handled in the high court and that will take a toll on the touring schedules of the band.
Coldplay did mention ending their recordings by 2025. With just 2 more years to go on the road, they might be trying to cut off certain ties and relationships before the road ends for them.
It has been an interesting music journey for the band which started in the 90s. Even though before their emergence there were great bands already rocking the world, Coldplay members managed to stamp their names in the hearts of everyone who enjoys good music.
Feelings are high, but it would be great if the band exited the spotlight with no dispute.
The editorial unit
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