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How Did Coldplay’s ‘Moon Music’ Become the Band’s First Billboard 200 No. 1 Album in 10 Years?

Coldplay's 'Moon Music' debuts atop the Billboard 200 this week, becoming the band's first No. 1 album since 2014.

Just as they tapped BTS and Selena Gomez for their last album – and megastars like Beyoncé and Rihanna for earlier LPs – Coldplay also used collaborations with some of the brightest stars across buzzy genres like UK hip-hop and Afrobeats (Burna Boy, Little Simz, Ayra Starr, etc.) Jason Lipshutz: Like a lot of Coldplay anthems, “feelslikeimfallinginlove” snuck up on me as a durable hit with a chipper chorus — maybe not as enthralling as “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall” or “Adventure of a Lifetime,” but agreeable enough to earn alt-radio spins and get added to streaming playlists full of new-school love songs. Maybe longtime fans blanched at collaborations with artists like The Chainsmokers, BTS and Avicii — but those songs were effective, and produced three more top 10 hits for the band, at a time when most rock quartets were not coming close to the Hot 100’s upper reaches.

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