Coldplay and Jay-Z to Welcome New Year at Barclays Center

Frontman Chris Martin will lead his band Coldplay as they ring in the New Year with a series of shows in the United States. The group is set to put up three-night concerts with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z co-headlining their December 31 stint at New York's Barclays Center.

Coldplay's upcoming concerts mark the band's first shows in New York since 2005. They have spent most of the year going on an international tour and are very much looking forward to their return in the States.

On the other hand, rapper Jay-Z has long been a collaborator and friend of Martin. The New York show is the rapper and record producer's second time in three years to celebrate the New Year with the rock band. They both performed a New Year's Eve concert back in 2010 at the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas and were recently together in London for the 2012 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony.

"We're from very different backgrounds. But we love the same stuff everyone else loves," the 34-year old Martin told online music magazine Pitchfork during an interview.

In addition to the December 31 gig, Coldplay are going to be on stage at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on December 29 and are going to perform solo at the Barclays Center on December 30. Opening for the rock group on these play dates are R'n'B/Pop group Naturally 7.

Tickets for the Barclays Center shows will go on sale starting November 17. Coldplay are also set to release their live album, "Live 2012", on November 19.