Philip "Phil" Christopher Hammond Harvey is the creative director and former manager of Coldplay. He is also their fifth band member. Harvey attended Sherborne School alongside Chris Martin from 1990 to 1995, where he was the second academic scholar in his year group, he then proceeded to get a degree in Classical Studies at Trinity College, Oxford.
Coldplay[]
In 1998, when Martin complained to Harvey about the vice-like grip one of the Camden promoters had on the band, he suggested that they put on their own event at Dingwalls. It was where they managed to sell the first fifty copies of the Safety E.P., which Phil himself had helped fund along with his father, Christopher Harvey, and his Oxford roommate.[1] It is generally considered this was when he could first be described as the band's official manager.
Harvey eventually dropped out his Oxford University studies to dedicate himself entirely to Coldplay, he carried out the role more or less single-handedly until early 2001, when the stress of an occupation that usually requires a team of people forced him to take a prolonged break. He has since stated that the 21st Brit Awards was his lowest point: "I was feeling like death when I should have been on top of the world. The band picked up awards for Best British Band and Album and all I could think about was how much I wanted to be in bed. It was two days later that my doctor phoned to say she was worried I might be about to slip into a coma."
After Coldplay finished recording their second studio album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, in 2002, he left the band. Initially, Estelle Wilkinson and Dave Holmes jointly became managers for the record's promotion, but as of 2006, Holmes took over the role completely. Harvey went to travel across the world in the meantime, which led him to end up going to university in Australia, where he finished his degree. After the X&Y promotion campaign was done, Harvey was back to North London and re-joined Coldplay as their creative director, getting heavily involved in its output ever since, which can be seen in the liner notes for the albums Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Mylo Xyloto, Ghost Stories, A Head Full of Dreams, Everyday Life, and Music of the Spheres.
This membership was stressed by the rest of the band in a direct appeal to Wikipedia on their website in 2008, pleading fans and "Wikipedia Enthusiasts" to rectify a few errors on their page. It was stated that "Coldplay officially have five members, with mysterious Mr. Phil Harvey making up the quintet."[2] He was described as "The wise, handsome, frightening one who tells us what to do" on the band's official Myspace and Facebook pages. Phil has also made cameo appearances in multiple Coldplay music videos, including "Life in Technicolor II" as one of the men carrying a video camera and "Christmas Lights", as one of the Elvises. He played one of two zookeepers chasing the runaway elephant in the video for "Paradise" and is featured in a koala suit in "A Sky Full of Stars".