Chris Martin has tinnitus

Chris Martin has secretly been suffering from agonising ear condition tinnitus for a decade.

The Coldplay frontman has a constant ringing in his ears which can cause painful headaches and he blames the ailment on listening to loud music in his teens.

He is now forced to wear special earphones on stage to stop the condition getting any worse.

The Fix You hitmaker tells Britain's Daily Mirror, "I've had tinnitus for about 10 years, but since I started protecting my ears it hasn't got any worse...

"The band use moulded filter plugs, or in-ear monitors. You can use industrial headphones but they look strange at a party.

"Looking after your ears is unfortunately something you don't think about until there's a problem. I wish I'd thought about it earlier."

Chris Martin is now fronting a new campaign, Action On Hearing Loss, alongside rapper Plan B and Gary Numan, who also suffer from tinnitus.