Coldplay’s ‘Viva’ takes No. 1 spot

Coldplay has kept the record industry’s withering hopes for an upturn afloat for a second week by selling 721,000 copies of the group’s new “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends” album during its first week of release.

It’s no surprise that “Viva la Vida” shot to the top of the chart: The collection became the biggest pre-order in the history of the iTunes Store, the single “Viva la Vida” has given Coldplay its first No. 1 single and the group Coldplay has been at full tilt promoting the album.

Coldplay performed earlier this month at the MTV Movie Awards and Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York and was scheduled to drop in Wednesday on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and Friday on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.” The band’s U.S. tour starts with performances July 14 and 15 at the Forum in Inglewood.

“Viva la Vida’s” sales, just short of the 737,000 first-week figure Coldplay posted three years ago with “X&Y,” easily would have been the best of 2008 if the album hadn’t arrived just a week after New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne cracked the seven-figure sales mark with his latest, “Tha Carter III.” That collection dropped to No. 2 with sales of 309,000.

The only other album to top the 100,000 sales mark last week was the soundtrack for the Disney Channel’s “Camp Rock,” starring the Jonas Brothers. It debuted at No. 3 after selling 188,000 copies.

 randy.lewis@latimes.com