Mariah's The Emancipation Of Mimi debuts at #1
Performer and songwriter Mariah Carey explodes back onto the U.S. charts as her brand new Island Def Jam album, The Emancipation Of Mimi, featuring the singles It's Like That and We Belong Together, nets the greatest first week sales of her career - at 403,755 units - and earns a #1 debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
"Working with Mariah has been a dream for me since day one," said Antonio "L.A." Reid, Chairman, Island Def Jam Music Group. "Mariah is a labor of love, and to witness this album's overwhelming acceptance in its first week out is truly inspirational. Congratulations to the entire IDJ team for their tremendous support on this campaign thus far. I couldn't be more thrilled for Mariah's success and for the future of what we believe is one of her greatest albums ever."
The videos for We Belong Together and It's Like That are both in XXL rotation on VH1. We Belong Together - currently in Big 10 Rotation on MTV and Heavy Rotation on BET - provides the stunning conclusion to It's Like That - both videos were shot contiguously by famed Hollywood director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon, After the Sunset; Ratner last worked with Mariah in 1999 on the video for her #1 Pop/#1 R&B smash, "Heartbreaker").
Around the world, Mariah continues to be the focus of attention - beginning with the supreme honor of a #1 debut with The Emancipation Of Mimi on Japan's International Albums chart. The It's Like That video premiered to more than 81 million viewers in a single day, pushing the single to the #1 most played song on Japanese radio for three straight weeks. On her recent promotion tour of Japan, Mariah's two television appearances had a total audience of 50+ million viewers and her performance of "We Belong Together" on Utaban netted an additional 20 million viewers.
At the same time The Emancipation Of Mimi was the highest debut on the European Top 100 Albums Chart at # 4, including a # 4 debut in France and a # 7 debut in the U.K.
Wall-to-wall television exposure of Mariah in her hometown of New York City accompanied the release week of the album. On April 12th (the in-store date), Good Morning America launched its live outdoor concert season by closing West 44th Street outside their studios, as Mariah took the stage for a live performance of 5 songs with Times Square as her backdrop. She continued her sweep of the city with an MTV TRL appearance and a Best Buy in-store signing where over 3000 fans crowded the streets to get a glimpse of the superstar. Five nights later, VH1 premiered the 8th annual "Save The Music: A Concert To Benefit The VH1 Save The Music Foundation", taped at the Beacon Theatre in New York earlier that week, starring Mariah, Alicia Keys, Rob Thomas, John Legend, and others.
Mariah finished the week in New York with appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Live with Regis & Kelly and a BET 106 & Park performance on April 19. Stay tuned for The View on April 29, then Mariah heads to Los Angeles for appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (May 11th) and The Ellen DeGeneres Show (May 13th). Mariah will also perform on The Oprah Winfrey Show (her "Wildest Dreams" season finale) and will be the subject of a one-hour E! Entertainment special. In addition to an hour-long profile on CNN's People In the News series, hosted by Paula Zahn, Mariah's activities are covered on Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Access Hollywood, Extra, E!, CNN, Inside Edition, AP TV, Reuters TV, plus continuous news coverage at the local and regional level.
Online this month, MSN premiered the We Belong Together video, and exclusively sold the digital single for two weeks prior to album release. MSN will also feature an exclusive interview and behind-the-scenes footage from the star-studded album release party in New York on April 21. Mariah and Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid will welcome the hottest names in music, film and sports, including Jay-Z, Kanye West, Sean Combs, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Stephon Marbury, Vince Carter, and others. In addition, AOL Music launched a listening party for the album with commentary on each track from Mariah and We Belong Together went on to be the number one song on AOL Music last week with 1.5 million streams.
The Emancipation Of Mimi, Mariah's 10th studio album, is the long-awaited follow-up to 2002's RIAA platinum Charmbracelet, her IDJ debut, which hit #2 R&B and #3 Pop, and contained the #1 Dance Music hit, Through the Rain. Heralding the new album's release, the New York Times ran unprecedented features two days in a row. In his Critic's Choice selection, Jon Pareles devoted a lengthy review to the album, summing up "Mariah makes herself a 21st-century pop contender." The next day, Lola Ogunnaike's interview with Mariah provided the background for an equally lengthy retrospective feature, "A superstar returns with another new self". (MariahCarey.com)
|
