Chris Martin Sings “Viva la Vida” With London Busker Who Didn’t Recognise Him

A brief performance in Trafalgar Square on Friday turned into an accidental encounter with one of British rock’s most recognisable frontmen. South Korean busker Hanny Junee was mid-set when he offered his small audience a choice between Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” and a song by The Script. The crowd picked Coldplay.

As Junee began singing, a man stepped up to the microphone and joined him for a verse. Junee, a Coldplay fan, later told BBC News that he didn’t recognise the singer. “I thought: ‘This guy has amazing energy, nice vibe and a really good voice, he sounds really similar to Chris Martin,’” he said. “But I thought: ‘Come on, Hanny, don’t be ridiculous, of course it’s not him, Chris Martin doesn’t roam the streets of London.’”

Only after the duet ended did onlookers tell Junee he had been singing with Martin. “It was amazing, it was like we connected purely through music, not fame,” he said. The moment was captured on video.

The appearance fits a pattern of unannounced performances from Martin, who has previously played “A Sky Full of Stars” in a British pub and surprised a newlywed couple’s first dance. Here, the encounter was brief enough to stay unconfirmed until Martin had already left — leaving a street performance, a phone recording, and a story that depends less on stardom than on being in the right place for one verse.