page_title: Coldplay
section_title: 2007–2010: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
hierarchical_section_title: Coldplay / History / 2007–2010: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
caption_attribution_description: English: Coldplay Live on their Viva La Vida Tour in Dallas, Texas
context_page_description: Coldplay are a British rock band that were formed in London in 1996. Vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer Will Champion met at University College London and began playing music together from 1996 to 1998, first calling themselves Pectoralz and then Starfish before finally changing their name to Coldplay. Creative director and former manager Phil Harvey is often referred to as the fifth member by the band. After changing their name to Coldplay, they recorded and released two EPs: Safety in 1998 and The Blue Room in 1999. The latter was their first release on a major record label, after signing to Parlophone.
  Coldplay achieved worldwide fame with the release of the song "Yellow" in 2000, followed in the same year by their debut album Parachutes, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The band's second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, was released to critical acclaim and won many awards, including NME's Album of the Year. Their next release, X&Y, the best-selling album worldwide in 2005, received mostly positive reviews, though some critics felt it was inferior to its predecessor.
context_section_description: In October 2006, Coldplay began work on their fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, with producer Brian Eno. Taking a break from recording, the band toured Latin America in early 2007, finishing the Twisted Logic Tour by performing in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. After recording in churches and other venues in Latin America and Spain during their tour, the band said the album would likely reflect Hispanic influence. The group spent the rest of the year recording most of the album with Eno.
  Martin described Viva la Vida as a new direction for Coldplay: a change from their past three albums, which they have referred to as a "trilogy". He said the album featured less falsetto as he allowed his voice's lower register to take precedence. Some songs, such as "Violet Hill", contain distorted guitar riffs and bluesy undertones.
  "Violet Hill" was confirmed as the first single, with a radio release date of 29 April 2008. After the first play, it was freely obtainable from Coldplay's website from 12:15 pm (GMT +0) for one week (achieving two million downloads), until it became commercially available to download on 6 May. "Violet Hill" entered the UK Top 10, US Top 40 and charted well in the rest of the world. The title track, "Viva la Vida", was also released exclusively on iTunes. It became the band's first number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, and their first UK number one, based on download sales alone. This was also the first number one in the UK Singles Chart to be based solely on download sales. Coldplay performed the song live for the first time at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards on 1 June.  "Viva la Vida" became iTunes' best-selling song of 2008.
  Upon release, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends topped the album charts worldwide, and was the world's best-selling album of 2008. It hit number one on the UK album chart, despite having come on the market only three days previously. In that time, it sold 302,000 copies; the BBC called it "one of the fastest-selling records in UK history". By the end of June, it had set a new record for most-downloaded album ever. In October 2008, Coldplay won two Q Awards for Best Album for Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends and Best Act in the World Today. On 9 November, Coldplay were named the World's Best Selling Act of 2008 at the World Music Awards in Monte Carlo. They also picked up two other awards, World's Best Selling Rock Act and Great Britain's Best Selling Act. The band followed up Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends with the EP Prospekt's March, which was released on 21 November 2008. The EP features tracks from the Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends sessions and, as well as being available on its own, was issued as a bonus disc with later editions of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. "Life in Technicolor II" was the only single released from the EP.
  Coldplay began their Viva la Vida Tour in June, with a free concert at Brixton Academy in London. This was followed two days later by a 45-minute performance that was broadcast live from outside BBC Television Centre. Released in late 2008, "Lost!" became the third single from the album, featuring a new version with Jay-Z. After performing the opening set on 14 March 2009 for Sound Relief at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Coldplay headlined a sold-out concert later that same night. Sound Relief is a benefit concert for victims of the Victorian Bushfire Crisis and the Queensland Floods. On 4 December 2008, Joe Satriani filed a copyright infringement suit against Coldplay in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Satriani's suit asserted that the Coldplay song "Viva la Vida" includes "substantial original portions" of the Satriani song "If I Could Fly" from his 2004 album, Is There Love in Space?. The Coldplay song in question received two Grammy Awards for "Song of the Year." The band denied the allegation. An unspecified settlement was ultimately reached between the parties.
  Coldplay were nominated for four awards at the 2009 Brit Awards: Bri
caption: Coldplay on stage in Dallas, Texas during their Viva la Vida Tour
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