Coldplay have revealed that Rihanna was always the band's first choice for the female vocal on their track 'Princess of China'.
Speaking to Bauer Radio, drummer Will Champion explained that frontman Chris Martin had the 'Where Have You Been' singer in mind right from the start of the writing process.
[Rihanna and Coldplay's Chris Martin perform 'Princess of China' at the Grammy Awards, February 2012]
Champion said: "When we went into recording the album, all we went in with was an idea that we wanted to try as many different things as possible. We had never done any collaborations with anyone before so it was something we were open to.
"Chris had written that song quite a long time ago and he had always had it in his head that Rihanna was going to be singing the female part of the song.
Champion continued: "We questioned whether we should have anyone sing on our album because we hadn't done it before, is it cool to do that? Or is it cool to get somebody who's got such a huge profile to be the other half of the duet? Or should we get somebody that has a great voice that is completely unknown?
"We all love Rihanna and we came to the decision that if we are going to get someone to come and sing on it, it should be the best person and she's obviously an incredible artist. She was the original intention for the female part, so it just had to be her really!"
The full interview with Coldplay and an exclusive recording of their gig at Sunderland's Stadium of Light will be aired tonight from 8pm across 20 Bauer Radio stations in the UK. Visit www.coldplayindemand.com for more information.
Watch the video to 'Princess of China' by Coldplay and Rihanna below: