MTV Newsroom › Tim Kash

The U.K. might be a small island in the ocean, but we definitely had a big voice in music this past year. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) just released some numbers, and I wanted to take a quick minute to give a big shout-out to some of the U.K.'s finest musical exports who made a splash over here in America.

For any British artist, "breaking America" is a huge deal and a very tough thing to do. There have been artists like Robbie Williams — who are hugely famous and incredibly popular back home — who come to the U.S. with the hopes and dreams to replicate that success and end up being sorely disappointed.

But then there are the newcomers that hit the music scene just last year, like "X-Factor" winner Leona Lewis, Duffy, Adele, Estelle and the Ting Tings.

According to the BPI, one in 10 albums bought in the U.S. was by a British artist. That's big. In fact, that's huge. The figures actually show that the U.K. market share rose from 8.5 percent in 2007, and in Canada, British artists accounted for almost 15 percent of album sales.

Sitting on top of the Brit Pack are, of course, one of the biggest bands in the world: Coldplay. Chris and the boys' Viva la Vida was the second best-selling album in the U.S. last year, selling more than 5 million singles, followed closely by Leona Lewis, who shifted just under 4.75 million albums — impressive.

So here's a toast to the Brit Pack. Keep it coming!

Did you miss Coldplay's Track-By-Track Tour of Viva La Vida? Check it out, after the jump!
Read More...

Tags breaking America, British invasion, British Phonographic Industry, Coldplay, Duffy, leona-lewis, Music