NASHVILLE |DATE: JUNE 19, 2002
FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/LATHUM NELSON
BOWIE'S BACK:
'HEATHEN' DEBUTS IN TOP 15 IN 14 COUNTRIES
INCLUDING THE U.S.
Heathens around the world have united.
DAVID BOWIE's newly released HEATHEN (ISO/Columbia)-his 25th album-is making a powerful impact all over the globe. Riding a wave of critical acclaim that's ranking the album among his best work, HEATHEN entered the top 15 in 14 countries: the U.S. (#14, marking his highest first week chart entry in the SoundScan era), U.K., Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Belgium. This list includes six top 5 debuts: Denmark (#1), Norway (#2), France (#3), Germany (#4), Austria (#4) and the U.K. (#5).
"Here, for the first time in decades, he collaborates with producer Tony Visconti, he of 'Low' and 'Heroes' fame, and the effect is suitably thrilling," wrote Jim Nelson in GQ, (6/02), while Jeff Gordinier hailed the HEATHEN as "…a grand and haunted album…" in an Entertainment Weekly cover story (5/31/02). Richard Cromelin, writing in the Los Angeles Times (6/16/02), hailed the album as "rich, direct, emotional and sometimes playful," with the Associated Press' Jim Collins declaring it "A masterpiece from a rock 'n' roll master (appearing in the Cleveland Plain Dealer 6/16/02)." Rolling Stone's David Fricke summed it up by saying that HEATHEN is "…Bowie playing Bowie, with class (6/20/02)."
BOWIE recently performed a sold-out show for BowieNet members at NYC's Roseland June 11, followed by an outdoor mini-concert for the Today Show June 14 which attracted some 5,000 fans to Rockefeller Plaza in NYC (this figure equals the crowd size for *NSYNC's Today Show appearance) despite rainy weather.
Next, BOWIE heads to London's annual Meltdown–where he's serving as this year's festival director-for his special concert, 'THE NEW HEATHENS' NIGHT, June 29 at the Royal Festival Hall. This will be followed by performances at a number of high-profile European festivals, beginning July 3 at Kristinansand, Norway's Quart Festival, through July 18 at the Montreux, Switzerland Jazz Festival. BOWIE then returns to the States for the Area2 tour, starting July 28 in Washington, DC and visiting 12 cities throughout the summer, ending August 16 in Seattle. The trek also features tour founder Moby along with Busta Rhymes, Carl Cox and many others.
Meanwhile, fans who missed BOWIE's June 15 A&E "Live By Request" two-hour concert special should tune into the encore broadcasts airing Sunday, June 23 from 5:00-7:00 PM (ET/PT) and Thursday, June 27 from 9:00-11:00 PM (ET/PT).
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