Selena Gomez and H.E.R Join Coldplay for Special Performance of ‘Let Somebody Go’ in Los Angeles
Selena Gomez surprised Coldplay‘s Los Angeles audience on Sunday evening with a special performance of their collaboration “Let Somebody Go.” The singer hit the stage a few verses into the song, evoking loud cheers from the crowd after frontman Chris Martin’s expert fake-out.
At the beginning of the song, Martin welcomed two fans — a pair of sisters — to the stage. The younger of the two had brought a fan sign requesting that the song be added to the setlist. “Right now, you two represent the whole audience,” he told them.
“This song you’ve chosen, we used to play it a bit. But when we recorded it, we recorded it with Selena Gomez,” he added. “She was very gracious when she came to the studio and made the song so much better, but we never get to sing it with her. Please forgive me if it doesn’t sound quite as good as the record.”
The audience helped Coldplay out as Martin performed the song on the keyboard before Gomez emerged in a black gown to cover her own verses. To sweeten the deal, H.E.R. also joined Coldplay and Gomez during the performance, shredding through an electric guitar solo and providing backing vocals.
Soon, collaborations might be the only new source of Coldplay music for their devoted fanbase. In late 2021, Martin revealed that the band’s “last proper record” will arrive in 2025. Following its release, the group only plays on touring.
“Let Somebody Go” was released as the third single from Coldplay’s ninth studio album, Music for Spheres, in February 2022. It followed “My Universe,” which featured BTS, and “Higher Power.”
“It’s just a really lovely ballad. And quite early on we realized it needed a female counterpart to the vocal. And we were very grateful that when we asked Selena to sing on it, she loved the song and was happy to do so,” Martin told Apple Music about the single. “Collaborations in general are something that we’ve done more of recently. We never really used to do it before. When we were younger, we kind of locked ourselves in a room and felt we had to prove everything ourselves. But I think as time has gone on, it’s become more interesting for us to work with other people from different parts of the world, different genres. It just adds color and character to the music.”