formed a rock band with Scott

In 1995, while studying at University College London , Rice-Oxley formed a rock band with Scott and invited Hughes to play drums. The band, named Lotus Eaters, started by playing covers of songs by the members’ favourite bands. After listening to Rice-Oxley’s piano playing during a weekend at Virginia Water , Surrey, in 1997, Chris Martin invited him to join his newly formed band Coldplay , but Rice-Oxley declined because he did not want to leave The Lotus Eaters. He stated “I was seriously interested, but Keane were already operational and Coldplay’s keyboard player idea was dropped.” However, because of Martin’s offer, and despite the opposition of Hughes and Scott, Chaplin joined the band in 1997 to take Rice-Oxley’s place as vocalist, and also to be an acoustic guitarist. Chaplin’s entry led to a change of the band’s name, from the Lotus Eaters to Cherry Keane, which was the name of a friend of Chaplin’s mother, whom Rice-Oxley and Chaplin knew when they were young, who had left money for Chaplin’s family after her death from cancer. Chaplin commented: “I used some of the money to see me through the harder times with the music.” The name was shortened to Keane soon afterward.