Coachella organizers announced the music festival’s 2011 lineup last week. Thousands will travel to Indio, Calif., to see headlining artists including Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye West and The Strokes. The festival will also feature The Black Keys, Bright Eyes and hundreds more.
It’s no accident that the annual music festival selected such in-demand artists. Coachella’s headliners had some of the bestselling albums of the year — in fact, nearly all of the headlining bands had a No. 1 hit album in 2010.
According to the BBC, Kings of Leon’s album Come Around Sundown debuted at No. 1 in the UK, selling 183,000 copies in its first week. It also set an all-time record for the number of digital sales, with more than 40,000. Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs was No. 1 on Billboard’s album chart with 156,000 copies in the first week. And Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy sold a mindblowing 495,000 copies. The rapper’s fourth album was his fourth release to skyrocket straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
The Black Keys also had an impressive year, as their album Brothers debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Current Album chart, selling about 73,000 copies in its first week. The single “”Tighten Up”” has been No. 1 on Billboard’s Rock Songs chart since mid December.
Bright Eyes and The Strokes did not release new albums in 2010, but have greatly anticipated albums scheduled for release in 2011.
