NASHVILLE |FROM: KRISTINE ASHTON/MAGGIE WANG/MITCH SCHNEIDER
STAIND’S “IT’S BEEN AWHILE” TIES RECORD
AFTER 16 WEEKS AT #1 ON BILLBOARD MODERN ROCK CHART;
‘BREAK THE CYCLE’ CD CERTIFIED TRIPLE PLATINUM;
BAND TAPPED TO PERFORM NEW SINGLE “FADE” AT MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS ON
SEPTEMBER 6
Only eleven weeks after its release, STAIND‘s BREAK THE CYCLE (Flip/Elektra) CD has been certified triple platinum. BREAK THE CYCLE entered the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart at #1 with over 716,000 copies sold–the third highest first week sales of any album this year–and has remained in the Top 4 since that time. In addition, as the album’s first single “It’s Been Awhile” continues to impact radio and MTV, the song has tied the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ record for most weeks (16) at #1 on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart. The song is also #1 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and #13 on the Hot 100 chart.
In other news, STAIND‘s video for “It’s Been Awhile”–directed by Fred Durst–has been nominated for an MTV Video Music Award (“Best Rock Video”). At the September 6 ceremony in NYC, the band will perform their next single “Fade” which hits radio in mid-August. Meanwhile, STAIND joined forces with director Marcus Raboy (Santana, Lil Kim, Sting) in Los Angeles last week on August 1 and 2.
In the midst of relentless touring, STAIND–singer AARON LEWIS, guitarist MIKE MUSHOK, bassist JOHNNY APRIL and drummer JON WYSOCKI–took time out for a few television appearances. Their July 18 show at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame will be broadcast on MTV on Wednesday, August 15 at 8:00pm and on MTV2 on August 18 at 10:00pm. A half-hour MTV Ultrasound special will air Tuesday, August 28 at 5:00pm, while HBO Reverb will feature a STAINDperformance the following day, Wednesday, August 29 at 8:00pm on HBO. The band have also taped an MTV Unplugged episode to air in mid-September (exact date TBA).
STAIND just wrapped up a U.S. headlining tour with a performance at the Rolling Rock Town Fair in Latrobe, PA August 4. From there, the band head overseas for eight European festivals before returning to the U.S. for the fall “Family Values Tour” (dates TBA).
Critical acclaim for BREAK THE CYCLE and STAIND‘s live performance is abundant:
“Their performance had plenty of dark beauty… The four-piece laid out a shifting sea of depressive moods with impressive precision. The emotional highlight came when talented singer Aaron Lewis took center stage alone with an acoustic guitar to sing ‘Outside.’ As he let loose the key couplet ”Cause inside you’re ugly/Ugly like me,’ thousand of Clevelanders sang along in unison, a moving self-appraisal from the unwashed hard-rock masses who still haunt this Rust Belt metropolis.” –Frankin Soults, Rolling Stone, 5/24/01
“Forceful rock with proud contradictions. It’s introspective and aggressive, sensitive and angry… Staind dwells on dark topics but also mines hope and strength from bleak situations.” –Edna Gundersen, USA Today, 7/6/01
“Dark, pulverizing music…Staind’s Aaron Lewis writes with a human, convincing edge.” –Robert Hilburn, Los Angeles Times, 6/30/01
For more STAIND info check out their website at www.staind.com. More tour dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
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