Roger Federer Joins Coldplay's Chris Martin On Stage for a Surprise Performance in Zurich

Just before the 2023 Wimbledon began, recently retired 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer surprised fans all over as he took to the stage with British rock band Coldplay to perform a song during the band’s concert in Zurich, Switzerland, on Saturday.

Coldplay have invited a wide variety of special guests to join them on stage over the past year during their massive ‘Music of the Spheres’ global tour. Artists ranging from Lupe Fiasco to Craig David, Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry and Bruce Springsteen have joined Coldplay during a special segment that takes place on a small satellite stage in the middle of the stadium floor.

But on Saturday at the Stadion Letzigrund in Zurich, the Swiss tennis superstar stepped back into the spotlight when he huddled with the band backstage.

Social media was abuzz with fans eagerly sharing their thoughts and emotions upon seeing their favourite tennis star share the stage with one of the world’s most popular bands.

In a video posted by Coldplay on Instagram, the band’s frontman Chris Martin is seen teasingly introducing the Swiss tennis ace as “an original band member who left the band and became the greatest Tennis player of all time”.

A post shared by Coldplay (@coldplay)

Martin then went on to say that “the band’s back together”, before Federer joined them, playing the shaker, in front of his home country crowd for a very special version of “Don’t Panic” from the band’s 2000 debut album, Parachutes.

At one point during the song, Martin asked the rest of the band to go quiet and urged Federer to continue with his shaker solo.

Federer, too, dropped photos from the performance and the whole experience on Instagram calling it the “adventure of a lifetime”. He also posted photos with his wife, Mirka, and the band members off-stage.

A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer)

Federer retired last year after winning Wimbledon’s men’s singles eight times, a record, that Novak Djokovic may try to break this year. Djokovic is currently one ahead of the injured Rafael Nadal — and three ahead of the retired Federer — for the most singles majors won by a man, with 23.