Chris Martin 'neurotic' before meeting Jay-Z

Chris Martin says his friendship with hip hop mogul Jay-Z helped make him less neurotic. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin says his friendship with Jay-Z has made him less neurotic.

The Paradise singer has been close pals with the hip-hop superstar since they met at a charity event in 2003 and he admits he has learnt a lot from the rapper's confident and calm personality.

In an interview with The Sunday Times magazine, he said: "When you're lucky enough to spend time with Jay, you just learn from his calmness in dealing with a problem. That's what I really love about it: if there's a problem, you just fix it. He doesn't worry in a neurotic way.

"I'm a complete neurotic. But I think I'm learning to worry about what you can do rather than what you can't."

Another thing Chris has changed about his life is that he is no longer so forceful about the charities he supports.

The 34-year-old musician often performs live with variations of "Make Trade Fair" or "MTF" or an equal sign written on the back of his left hand to show his support to the charity but he has now made the decision to stop being so blatant with his "campaigning".

He explained: "The word 'campaigning' makes me uncomfortable. At the time I was writing things on my hand, we were definitely campaigning. Now we do it more subtly. You can see who we support at a concert or on our website, but we don't like to shove it down people's throats. I want to scale it back. I'd rather it's like, if you want to know what we think, then you can find it, rather than, 'Here's what I think!' "

Meanwhile, Coldplay have announced a mini-UK tour in December.

The band will play three concerts which will take place in Glasgow, Manchester and London following the release of their new album Mylo Xyloto on October 24.

- BANG! Showbiz