Coldplay keeps the good times rolling at the top of the Billboard 200, as tomorrow's (June 25) Nielsen SoundScan reports will show the band leading U.S. album sales with an opening week of more than 700,000 copies.
The British band's tall number comes a week after Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" became the first album in more than three years to sell 1 million units in a week. Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol) locks the top spot with 721,000 sold, and bows atop the U.S. chart while holding No. 1 for a second week in its native U.K. This becomes the band's second No. 1 in the U.S., as last album "X&Y" started with 737,000 in 2005.
This marks the first time since March 2005 that The Billboard 200 is led by a total of more than 700,000 in two consecutive weeks. That last happened when 50 Cent's "The Massacre" began with 1.1 million units and then went on to sell 771,000 in the second week.
The handoff from Cash Money/Universal Motown's Lil Wayne to Coldplay also represents just the second time in Nielsen SoundScan history that two albums start with sums greater than 700,000 in back-to-back weeks. The last time it happened was May 2000, when Britney Spears' "Oops! ... I Did It Again," followed by Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" each broke the million milestone in successive frames, the former with 1.8 million, and Spears' with 1.3 million.
Source: Billboard
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