"You won't see us at one of these for many, many years," Martin said, as he accepted the award for Best British Single, one of the band's two honors. "We won't see you for a long time. I mean it. It's going to be years before we have the chance to say this again."

Later in the show, while accepting the award for Best British Album for X&Y;, he again made reference to taking a break, stating: "We got to go. People are fed up with us, and so are we."

However, a rep for Coldplay's EMI record label denied that the British rockers were headed for anything more than a standard rest period after wrapping their world tour.

"Coldplay are not quitting," the rep stated Thursday. "They are on the road until July, when their 16-month X&Y; world tour ends in Japan. They will then continue working on new material."

EMI shares dropped sharply after Martin's remarks, but recovered after the label issued the clarification.

Though the band may not be taking as dramatic of a hiatus as indicated by Martin, speculation was rife about the reasons behind Coldplay's decision to cool it.

London's Mirror cited "mates" of the frontman who claimed Martin made the decision to split up the band temporarily so he could spend more time with his pregnant wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, and their daughter, Apple.

Other reports deferred to rumors that the other three members of Coldplay were unhappy about the amount of attention directed at Martin.

The message board on the band's official site seethed with reactions to Martin's statements, with posts ranging from sensible ("You know, maybe if they took a break for a while it'd be for the best? I for one would rather they waited four years and put out an absolutely killer fourth album than just go through the motions again...") to overwrought ("i'm gutted plssssssssssssssss don't let them stop such a beautiful thing!").

One thing's for certain: Break or no break, Coldplay's not going anywhere for a while. The band kicks off the North American leg of the X&Y; tour Sunday in Denver.