Less than two months after Dave Holmes sued the band over a contractual dispute, the band is now responding by countersuing him. According to a source, the band asserts that Holmes owes them over £14 million in damages and that he allegedly borrowed money from Live Nation without their knowledge. The group asserts that Holmes obtained a loan from the promoter for around £16.3 million (about $17 million) in 2015 and a second credit for about £8.1 million (roughly $10 million) in 2018. The band stated in their statement with the High Court in London, England, “To the best of [our] knowledge, Mr. Holmes used funds obtained by the loan agreements to fund a property development venture in or around Vancouver, Canada.” According to the lawsuit, “Mr. Holmes was only able to obtain loans totaling $30 million from Live Nation at a fixed annual interest rate of 2.72 percent by virtue of his position as Coldplay’s manager.” This might have “potentially or actually [conflicted]” with Holmes’ commitments to negotiate with the promoter for Coldplay’s 2021 Music Of The Spheres world tour, according to the petition. It also alleged that Holmes owed Live Nation about $27.1 million.
Holmes eventually parted relations with Coldplay in 2022 after managing the band for more than 20 years. In August 2023, Holmes first brought legal action against Coldplay, claiming that he was never paid a percentage of the millions of dollars in advances for the band’s unreleased 10th, 11th, and 12th albums. Additionally, he stated that the group tried to switch him from manager to head of touring. Prior to the release of Coldplay’s self-titled first album in 2000, Holmes first met lead singer Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer Will Champion. Shortly thereafter, Holmes was hired as the band’s manager. Arlene Moon, Mandi Frost, and Phil Harvey, who spent many years working with Holmes and Coldplay, are the band’s current managers. The North American leg of Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres world tour came to an end on Sunday, October 1 at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. Asai, which begins on Monday (November 6) in Tokyo, Japan, will be the first stop on the band’s next tour. The band is expected to finish the tour in February 2024, take a vacation for a few months, and then reunite in June 2024 to begin the sold-out European leg of their tour.
