Chris Martin was born in Exeter, Devon and is the oldest of five children. His father, Anthony, was a Chartered Accountant, and his mother, Alison, was a music teacher. Martin was raised in Whitestone, Devon and attended Exeter Cathedral School. It was at the prep school that Martin formed his first band. After Exeter Cathedral, Martin boarded at Sherborne School, a boys' independent school in Dorset. At Sherborne, Martin started a blues band called The Rockin' Honkies. Their debut performance was met with boos from the crowd. He also met future Coldplay manager Phil Harvey at the school. Martin continued his studies at University College London, staying at Ramsay Hall where he read Ancient World Studies and graduated with First Class honours in Greek and Latin.

While studying at University College London, Martin met Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Guy Berryman. In 1997, they formed the rock band Coldplay. The band has had internationally recognised fame and success since their debut album, Parachutes, in 2000. Since then, they have released six further albums/EP's: A Rush of Blood to the Head, Live 2003, X&Y, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Prospekt's March, and LeftRightLeftRightLeft.

As a solo artist, Martin has written songs for a variety of acts including Embrace ("Gravity") and Jamelia("See It in a Boy's Eyes"). Martin has also collaborated with Ron Sexsmith, Faultline, The Streets, and Ian McCulloch. He also sang a part of the vocals for the Band Aid 20 single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" at the end of 2004. In 2005, Martin collaborated with Nelly Furtadoon the track "All Good Things (Come to an End)", for her 2006 album, Loose. The two were once rumoured to be a couple, after they both performed at Glastonbury in 2002. Furtado joked about the situation, saying that "Yeah, he's my boyfriend — he just doesn't know it yet".

Martin's fascination with hip hop was shown in the summer of 2006 when he collaborated with rapper Jay-Z for the rapper's comeback album Kingdom Come after the two met earlier in the year. Martin put some chords together for a song known as "Beach Chair" and sent them to Jay-Z who enlisted the help of hip hop producer Dr. Dre to add the drum line to complete the track. The song was performed on 27 September 2006 by the two during Jay-Z's European tour at Royal Albert Hall. In 2007, Martin appeared on a track titled "Part of the Plan" for Swizz Beatz' debut solo album One Man Band Man. Martin has also worked on a solo collaboration with Kanye West with whom he shared an impromptu jam session during a 2006 concert at Abbey Road Studios. He performed the chorus of Homecoming of Graduation.

U2 has been an important influence on Martin both musically and politically, in which he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", in the section on U2, saying: "I don't buy weekend tickets to Ireland and hang out in front of their gates, but U2 are the only band whose entire catalog I know by heart. The first song on The Unforgettable Fire, "A Sort of Homecoming", I know backward and forward -- it's so rousing, brilliant, and beautiful. It's one of the first songs I played to my unborn baby." Martin also comments on Bono's effect on his own charity and political involvement he is even known to joke with friends referring to himself as "Crono".

Martin is open to all kinds of music. He is known to be a fan of artists such as Irish pop group Westlife British pop groups Girls Aloudand Take That American bands, Eisley and This Allure, as well as Canadian band, The Arcade Fire. Solo artists Chris Martin likes include Leona Lewis and Kylie Minogue

Martin and Coldplay guitarist Jon Buckland made cameo appearances in the film Shaun of the Dead as supporters of the fictional charity ZombAid. Martin has a second cameo in this film as a Zombie. In 2006 Martin had a cameo role in the second series episode four of the Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant-created comedy Extras. He also appears singing in the closing credits of the 2009 film Brüno alongside Bono, Sting, Slash, Snoop Doggand Elton John. Martin also played one gig with the "Sid James Experience"

Martin has been particularly outspoken on issues of fair trade and has done a great deal of campaigning for the charity Oxfam's Make Trade Fair campaign. He personally traveled to Ghana and Haiti to meet farmers and view the effects of unfair trade practices. When performing, he usually has variations of "Make Trade Fair", "MTF" or an equal sign written on the back of his left hand and the letters "MTF" can be seen emblazoned on his piano.

He was a vocal critic of President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Martin was a strong supporter of Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, most notably during his acceptance speech for the 2004 Grammy Awards Record of the Year, accepting for "Clocks". Martin also supported the Democratic Party candidate for President in 2008, giving a shout-out to Barack Obamaat the end of a performance of "Yellow" on 25 October 2008 episode of Saturday Night Live.

On 1 April 2006, The Guardian reported that Martin was backing the British Conservative Party leader David Cameron and had written a new theme song for the party entitled "Talk to David". This was later revealed to be an April Fool's joke. Whilst touring Australia in March 2009, Martin and the rest of Coldplay were the opening act at the 'Sound Relief' benefit concert at the SCG in Sydney, for the horrific bushfires and floods in Victoria and Queensland. Whilst performing the final song 'Fix You', Martin leapt off the stage and proceeded to run through the crowd with thousands of fans chasing him. The song had finished well before he made it back on stage, but he managed to sing the final refrain under exhaustion. He was so tired that he let the crowd sing it for him as well. At the end of the performance, he was quoted to saying 'I hope no-one got hurt'. He reportedly had to lie down for half an hour back stage and was suffering from heat exhaustion. The band then played a sold-out gig in Sydney that night.

Martin met American actress Gwyneth Paltrowin 2002 backstage at a Coldplay gig after the death of the actress' father, Bruce Paltrow. The couple embarked on a whirlwind romance that saw them wed a year later on 5 December 2003. Their daughter, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, was born on 14 May 2004 in London. Their second child, Moses Bruce Anthony Martin, was born on 8 April 2006 in New York City. Simon Pegg is one of Apple's godfathers. Martin is a longtime friend of Pegg, having met him in 2001, and appears in Shaun of the Dead, one of Pegg's movies. Apple's other godfather is guitarist Jonny Buckland.

Martin is a vegetarian and practices yoga. He does not drink alcohol or smoke.

In a 2005 Rolling Stone magazine interview, Martin said of his religious views: "I definitely believe in God. How can you look at anything and not be overwhelmed by the miraculousness of it?" In the same interview he spoke of going through a period of spiritual confusion, stating "I went through a weird patch, starting when I was about sixteen to twenty-two, of getting God, religion, superstition, judgment all confused". In an interview with NME, he also stated "I'm always trying to work out what 'He' or 'She' is."

Martin was arrested for attacking a photographer's car in Australia during a 2003 world tour. He reportedly "lost it" after he was photographed at a public beach by a paparazzo.