Coldplay and BTS‘ highly anticipated collaboration is finally here. The British rock group and K-pop superstars dropped their new single, “My Universe” on Friday (Sept. 24). After the song’s arrival, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin gave an acoustic performance of the tune on The Kelly Clarkson Show — and even sang two of BTS’ verses in their native Korean.
Appearing on the show for Clarkson’s “I Love NY Week,” Martin joined the talk-show host above New York City’s Central Park to sing an abridged version of “My Universe.” His vocals soared over the song’s chorus and first verse of the song, before seamlessly transitioning into the pre-chorus for Jungkook’s portion of the lyrics in Korean. According to Genius, the Coldplay singer sang “I fly to you every night/ Forgetting that it’s just a dream/ I meet you with a smile” in Korean.
Martin also delivered V, RM, and Jimin’s verse from “My Universe” in Korean, which translated to, “Darkness used to be more comfortable for me/ Within the long shadows/ And they said that we can’t be together/ Because, because we come from different sides.”
When the rocker first delivered a verse in Korean, Clarkson, smiling widely, pulled her hair over her mouth and said, “Go ahead!” At the end of his brief performance, she exclaimed, “Oh my god!” and gave him a standing ovation as the audience cheered.
Speaking to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Martin described how the song came to be. Originally, former manager and “fifth member” Phil Harvey and producer Max Martin wanted to give the song to BTS, but instead suggested that Coldplay should hold on to the song and later work on it with BTS.
“We started communicating with BTS and then went to Korea,” Martin explained. “The concept of, it’s a song about love difficult or it’s forbidden or you can’t quite get it together … it felt like really cool to have two bands that, it’s a difficult love story, but it works in the end.”
Martin — much like ARMY — is now big fan of BTS. “I love them, and we love them, and it’s been such a joy … anytime there’s actual communication or music between us, it just feels so good,” he said. “I unabashedly and unashamedly feel really grateful for the song, grateful for the person that inspired the song, and grateful for the people we sing it with.”
“My Universe” is from Coldplay’s upcoming album, Music of the Spheres, due out Oct. 15.
Watch Martin sing “My Universe” below.