Bruce Springsteen debuts at Number One on this week's Billboard 200 chart (week ending May 14) with his new album, Devil's & Dust. "The Boss" sold more than 222,000 copies to unseat Rob Thomas' first solo CD, Something To Be, from the top spot. Springsteen's previous studio album, 2002's The Rising, also debuted at Number One with sales of 525,000 its first week of release. He's currently promoting his new CD with U.S. concerts. Dates wrap up in Boston, Massachusetts on May 20 and European shows begin four days later in Dublin, Ireland.
In 2003, the Dixie Chicks' Martie Maguire told a German magazine that the trio doesn't "feel part of the Country scene any longer," and added, "it can't be our home anymore." The comment was based on the group's disappointment that more Country acts didn't come to their defense following lead singer Natalie Maines' public criticism of President Bush and his decision to invade Iraq. The Dixie Chicks are working with rock producer Rick Rubin, who produced several albums for the late Johnny Cash. The album will mark the trio's first release since 2002's Home.
On May 10, Mercury Nashville Records will release Canadian rock singer-songwriter Bryan Adams' new album, Room Service. The collection marks Adams' first album in more than six years. Its debut single is a track called "This Side of Paradise." Just back to the U.S. following tours in the U.K., Japan and Australia, Adams is now making media appearances to promote Room Service. He'll kick off a U.S. co-headlining tour with Def Leppard on June 1.
Country superstar Faith Hill has a new track at radio this week. "Mississippi Girl" is the first single from her long-awaited sixth album, Fireflies.The Nashville division of Warner Brothers Records reports that the collection will be in record stores within the next two or three months. "Mississippi Girl" is available as a free timed-out download from May 10 to May 24. Hill's previous album, Cry, has sold more than 2.5 million copies since its release in 2002.
Carly Simon, who has spent the past 18 years with Arista Records, recently signed a new recording deal with Sony Music Group's Columbia label. Billboard reports that her first album for Columbia Records will be a collection of standards, titled Moonlight Serenade. It's due out on July 19 and will be released in DualDisc format. The DVD side will include interviews with Simon and footage of the making of the album.
MUSICAL EVENTS/FESTIVALS/BENEFITS:
Pop superstar Celine Dion will donate all of the proceeds from her May 8 Mother's Day concert to UNICEF's tsunami relief efforts in Eastern Africa and Southern Asia. Dion says, "I chose Mother's Day for this event because of the special meaning it has for families, but also because it will help maintain the awareness of needs in South Asia over the coming months." Dion also had UNICEF donation boxes placed throughout the Colosseum in Las Vegas, where she stages her multi-year show "A New Day," so audiences can make their own contributions.
AWARDS INFORMATION/WINNERS:
The Blues Foundation handed out its 2005 W.C. Handy Blues Awards in Memphis, Tennessee on May 5. Singer Mavis Staples and harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite led the winners with three awards each. Staples was named Female Soul/Blues Artist of the Year. She also took home the Soul/Blues Album of the Year and Blues Album of the Year trophies for her 2004 album, Have A Little Faith. The album's title track also brought songwriters Jim Tullio and Jim Weider this year's Blues Song of the Year honor. Musselwhite was named Harp Player of the Year and Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year, and his album Sanctuary won in the category of Contemporary Blues Album of the Year. For the thirteenth time in his career, B.B. King received the night's top honor, Entertainer of the Year. (Full list of winners available at www.blues.org)
TOUR DATES AND INFORMATION:
On May 12, Destiny's Child will take their popular R&B music to the United Arab Emirates. Following the show in Dubai, the trio will head to Copenhagen, Denmark to begin a 19-city European tour. The outing is in support of Destiny's Child's latest album, Destiny Fulfilled, which has sold more than three million copies in the U.S. since its release last November.
