Coldplay’s Yellow turns 25 and Pantone just gave Wembley a tonal glow-up

Two and a half decades ago, Coldplay released Yellow, a track that would go on to become one of the most loved and recognisable songs in modern music. Fast forward to 2025, and the song isn’t just echoing through playlists it’s now splashed across 58 steps in one of London’s busiest pedestrian spots.

Wembley Park × Pantone present: YELLOW 25

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Pantone, for those outside the design bubble, is the global authority on colour, best known for its Pantone Matching System, a standard used by designers, printers, and brands to ensure exact colour consistency worldwide. It’s also the same Pantone that declares the much-anticipated “Color of the Year” every December.

The YELLOW 25 installation was commissioned by Wembley Park and created by the Pantone Color Institute to mark Yellow’s 25th anniversary as well as Coldplay’s return to Wembley Stadium for their Music of the Spheres tour.

Why Wembley? Located in north-west London, Wembley Stadium is one of the world’s most iconic sports and music venues, with a seating capacity of 90,000. Known primarily as the home of English football, it has also hosted some of the biggest concerts in history from Queen’s legendary Live Aid performance to BTS, Ed Sheeran, and Beyoncé.

The Spanish Steps, a wide pedestrian staircase linking Wembley Stadium to the OVO Arena (one of London’s largest indoor venues)  now serve as a massive, walkable tribute to the song that taught us all that the stars shine for you.

For YELLOW 25, the 58 steps have been transformed into a cascading gradient, from the soft, pale hues of early morning sunshine to deep, golden tones worthy of an arena encore. Each step carries its own Pantone shade, reflecting the song’s slow-build-to-euphoria structure.

Shaped like a giant Pantone chip, the installation invites passers-by to walk, sit, and quite literally step into a piece of music history. Situated between two major performance venues, it’s a natural focal point for the nearly one million fans expected during Coldplay’s ten-night run starting 22 August.

The installation will remain in place until 30 September, adding a vivid splash of colour  and a dose of nostalgia to Wembley Park’s urban landscape during Coldplay’s milestone year.

Coldplay, the British rock band behind arena-filling anthems like Fix You, Viva La Vida, and Sky Full of Stars, is known for its emotive lyrics, soaring melodies, and immersive live shows. The band has a large fan base in India and performed in the country in January 2025, with shows in Mumbai and Ahmedabad.