Watch Coldplay Perform Soda Stereo's 'De Música Ligera' in Argentina

Coldplay’s Chris Martin sang the beloved Argentine rock group Soda Stereo's song “De Música Ligera” in Spanish – and a sold-out crowd of over 45,000 people sang along – on Tuesday night (Nov. 14) during a concert in La Plata, Argentina, the last stop on Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams Tour. Martin has said the song "defines Latin America.” 

The surprising and, for the Argentine audience, very emotional, cover came during a set that included "Hymn for The Weekend", "Fix You", "Viva La Vida" and "Adventure of a Lifetime." Coldplay’s tour is set to conclude on Wednesday night (Nov. 15) with another concert at La Plata Stadium, where the band kicked off the trek on March 31, 2016.  

During a press conference in Mexico, Martin called “De Música Ligera” “the song that defines Latin America.”  

Soda Stereo drummer Charly Alberti, who has never met the members of Coldplay personally, told Billboard that Martin recently connected with him through star polo player Nacho Figueras, a mutual friend, to let him know about the band’s plan to perform the song.  

“I think it was fantastic that they did it,” Alberti said from Paraguay, where he was working on behalf of his environmental organization, R21. “To have a band that doesn’t speak your language, that they rehearse it, they learn the words, that they make the decision to do it a show as important for them as the end of their world tour, it is an honor beyond anything I could expect, more so because Coldplay is a band that I really like, so the honor is even bigger.”

The song, written by Soda’s late frontman Gustavo Cerati and the trio’s bassist Zeta Bosio, was released in 1990 on the album Canción Animal. It became an anthem throughout Latin America. During the concert, the band also performed a tango they called “Amor Argentina” for the first - and maybe the last - time, joked Martin.

Although Buenos Aires newspaper La Nación called Martin’s Spanish, which he spoke throughout the show,  “forced,” the band’s love affair with Argentina is definitely mutual, as evidenced by the euphoric crowd caught on video at the concert. Coldplay also paid tribute to the five Argentines who were killed in the terrorist attack in New York City on Halloween. “We are going to send them a prayer and a lot of live,” Martin said before the band played the song “Everglow.”