See Chris Martin Cover Prince’s ‘Raspberry Beret’ With Eighth Graders
Chris Martin performed alongside a band of teenagers called the A-Sides at a Santa Monica benefit concert Sunday, and as it was the Coldplay singer’s first “gig” since Prince‘s death, Martin and the young group paid tribute to the music icon with a concert-closing performance of “Raspberry Beret.”
Prior to the cover, Martin jokingly told the audience that his 14-year-old bandmates had never heard Prince’s music before his death on April 21st. “Well, I said, ask your grandfather, he’s probably my age,” Martin said. After a three-hour rehearsal, the group was ready to play the Around the World in a Day classic.
Martin’s side gig happened at the Chords 2 Cure benefit gig at San Monica’s New Roads School, with all proceeds benefitting pediatric cancer research; Jaxon Blumenthal, the teenager who bravely sings the first verse of “Raspberry Beret,” was diagnosed with pediatric liver cancer at 11. His friends and fellow A-Sides bandmates organized the event to raise $10,000 to “make a difference for the children afflicted with cancer.”
(Martin isn’t the only famous Chris that the A-Sides have played with: In January, the teenage band teamed up with Foo Fighters’ Chris Shiflett at another benefit concert.)
Coldplay also paid tribute to Prince by tweeting a photo of the artist’s “love symbol” constructed out of rocks on the beach.
— Coldplay (@coldplay) April 23, 2016
In addition to the “Raspberry Beret” cover, the A-Sides also performed Coldplay’s X&Y track “Twisted Logic” at the Chords 2 Cure benefit: