"Yellow" is a song by the British alternative rock band Coldplay. The band wrote the song and co-produced it with British record producer Ken Nelson for their debut album, Parachutes (2000). The song's lyrics are a reference to the band's lead singer Chris Martin's unrequited love.

The song was recorded in March 2000, and released in June that same year as the second single from Parachutes, following Shiver, and the lead single in the United States. "Yellow" reached number four in the UK Singles Chart, giving Coldplay their first top-five single in the United Kingdom. Helped by heavy rotation and usage in promotions, the song thrust the band into popularity. "Yellow" has since been covered by various recording artists worldwide, and remains one of the band's most popular songs.

"Yellow" was written in a Rockfield studio in Wales called the Quadrangle, where Coldplay began working on their debut album, Parachutes. One night after finishing recording "Shiver", the band took a break and went out of the studio. Outside, there were few lights on and the stars in the sky were visible and "just amazing", according to the song's co-producer, Ken Nelson. He told the band to look at the stars, which they did. Lead singer Chris Martin was inspired by the sight and the song's main melody, consisting of a chord pattern, popped into his head. At first, Martin did not take it seriously "as he relayed the tune to the rest of the band in his worst Neil Young impersonation voice". Martin has said, "The song had the word 'stars' and that seemed like a word you should sing in a Neil Young voice." The melody "started off a lot slower", according to drummer Will Champion, and it sounded like a Neil Young song. Not long after, despite not taking the song seriously, Martin's idea worked out when he had developed the tempo of the verse. When guitarist Jonny Buckland started playing it and supplemented it with his ideas, they had created the riff, "and it sort of got a bit heavier".

...
Wikipedia