Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

Biography

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (also known as Viva la Vida) is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Coldplay. The album was released on 12 June 2008 in the UK and on 17 June 2008 in North America. Coldplay released four singles from the record. Violet Hill and Viva la Vida in early May 2008, with both receiving sucess, and Viva la Vida in particular becoming Coldplay's first British, American, and Global number one hit. Other singles included Lost! and Lovers in Ja...

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (also known as Viva la Vida) is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Coldplay. The album was released on 12 June 2008 in the UK and on 17 June 2008 in North America. Coldplay released four singles from the record. Violet Hill and Viva la Vida in early May 2008, with both receiving sucess, and Viva la Vida in particular becoming Coldplay's first British, American, and Global number one hit. Other singles included Lost! and Lovers in Japan. In the United States, the album sold well over 300,000 copies in its first day, and 721,000 within a week. In the UK, the album sold 125,000 copies in its first day of release and 302,074 in three days, debuting at #1. The album has since sold over 500,000 copies in 10 days since its release, beating the first week UK sales of Coldplay's previous album X&Y. The band stated that they will release another album in late 2009, mostly comprised of songs that were, in the end, not included on Viva la Vida. It was done on November 2008 with Prospekt's March EP. The album sold 6.8 million units worldwide, achieving greater sales than High School Musical 2 did to top the chart in 2007. It sold more downloads than any other album in digital history within a month of release. The band recently picked up three Grammy awards in the US, including Best Rock Album, and are nominated for four BRIT awards in the UK. Viva la Vida was considered the best-selling album of 2008 globally according to new figures from IFPI, the body that represents the recording industry worldwide. "Viva la Vida" (Spanish for "Long Live Life!") takes its name from a painting by 20th century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The album's artwork features the painting "Liberty Leading the People" ("La Liberté guidant le peuple") by French painter Eugène Delacroix, commemorating the July Revolution of 1830. There are three hidden tracks in Viva la Vida: Reign of Love, Chinese Sleep Chant and The Escapist. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.