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Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” Tops 2008 Global Best-Sellers Chart

2/17/09, 12:56 pm EST

Photo: Shearer/WireImage

Coldplay didn’t walk away with the Album of the Year award at the 2009 Grammys, but Viva la Vida did grab a pretty good consolation prize: The top-selling global album of 2008. In all, Chris Martin and Co. sold 6.8 million copies of Viva worldwide, and the LP easily became the best-selling digitally downloaded album of all time only one month of release, according to the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry).

AC/DC’s Black Ice was Number Two in the world for 2008, followed by the ABBA-filled Mamma Mia! soundtrack. A pair of debut albums also penetrated the Top 10 Global Sellers, with Duffy’s Rockferry taking Four and Leona Lewis’ Spirit grabbing Seven. The Top Five was rounded out by Metallica’s Death Magnetic. In the 18 through 20 slot, the triumvirate of Taylor Swift’s Fearless, Jonas Brothers’ A Little Bit Longer and the Camp Rock soundtrack represented the buying power of tween consumers. In the recent controversy department, Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad was the world’s 10th best-seller, while Chris Brown’s Exclusive finished in 46th place.

The global sales chart makes an album that seemingly disappointed in the U.S. look a lot better in the grand scheme. Madonna’s Hard Candy was the 50th best-selling album in the U.S. in 2008, but scored 11 on the global charts. The same can be said for Guns n’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy, a chronic Best Buy-only underachiever in the States that sold enough copies around the world to place 14th, ahead of Britney Spears’ Circus, Kid Rock’s Rock N Roll Jesus and Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak.

Over on the Digital Singles chart, Lil Wayne can proudly gloat that he had the biggest song in the world as “Lollipop” beat out Japanese singer Thelma Aoyama’s “Soba ni Iru ne” and Flo Rida’s “Low” for the best-selling crown.

Daniel Kreps

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Comments

Pinoyrockz | 2/17/2009, 1:33 pm EST

Ppl really likes crap

chrisbreeeeezylova! | 2/17/2009, 2:45 pm EST

dammmnnnnn chris was only 46th? that albun is craaaaaaaaaazzzzzyyy good shudda been much higher ppl need 2 stop buying crap lyk rihanna and start buying proper TALENTED musicans cds!

Schultz | 2/17/2009, 4:30 pm EST

Proves to me once again that the majority of the music buying community has their taste firmly planted in their mouths and their heads firmly planted… well, you know…

Cold Play just flat out blow! And not in very new or exciting ways.

Billy BreathesJF | 2/17/2009, 9:01 pm EST

People should realize that the reason this album was so succsesful was that the producer of the album was Brian Eno, The same Guy that Produced Roxy Music’s First Two Albums, David Bowie’s Low & “Heroes”, U2’s Joshua Tree and other Greater Albums. He was the man Behind all the extraordinary and weird intsruments used in songs like Viva La Vida. And Not To Say that the album that best sales is the most succsesful of 2008, in mi opinion is In Rainows

Bob | 2/17/2009, 9:45 pm EST

I think that people just need to get there heads out of their a!@#es and realize that Coldplay is a good band. I haven’t been fan of their stuff in the past but Viva La Vida is a good album. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean that you know everything that is good and right. You have your taste in music and that’s the way it is but in the end you need to realize that your opinion, when it comes to music, truly doesn’t matter to fans of the music. And those sales show how many people truly like the music.

42 | 2/18/2009, 12:45 am EST

It is well deserved but personally I prefer X&Y

Carol | 2/18/2009, 5:13 am EST

Chinese Democracy 14! That’s great! I love that album.

Mohammed El Sabir | 2/18/2009, 6:01 am EST

I predict that the new U2 CD that is coming out in two weeks will sell more than ten million copies worldwide.

Joe | 2/18/2009, 11:09 am EST

How do you download an LP? Won’t the vinyl gum up the USB port?

Leonardo | 2/18/2009, 11:26 am EST

Now all Axl haters need to shut up…for an album that was relased in the end of November, with no promotion whatsoever, it’s a great achieviment.
Also ahead of Britney Spears’ Circus, Kid Rock’s Rock N Roll Jesus and Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak…

Proves that Chinese is a great album and that Axl is one of the most talented/gifted artists of all time

Terry C - Viva La Vida! | 2/18/2009, 4:14 pm EST

Gee, now maybe all the Coldplay haters will just shut up and go away?

Nah, that would mean that they’d have to get lives.

Terry C - Viva La Vida! | 2/18/2009, 4:15 pm EST

Cold Play just flat out blow!

Hey, Schultz. Less time making fun of other people’s musical taste and more spent on improving your writing skills. You write like a third grader…and a poorly educated one at that.