CMT AND BIG MACHINE RECORDS TO RELEASE FIRST EVER DVD OF “CMT CROSSROADS” SERIES FEATURING TAYLOR SWIFT AND DEF LEPPARD ON TUESDAY, JUNE 16
05/29/09
CMT CROSSROADS DVD Offered Exclusively in Wal-Mart Stores and Sam’s Clubs, Just $11.88
DVD Available for Pre-Sale at Wal-Mart.com NOW!
NASHVILLE – May 29, 2008 – CMT has partnered with Big Machine Records for the first DVD release of its critically-acclaimed series, CMT CROSSROADS, when the episode featuring Taylor Swift and Def Leppard hits stores on Tuesday, June 16. CMT CROSSROADS: TAYLOR SWIFT AND DEF LEPPARD includes 11 electrifying performances by 2008’s best-selling artist among all genres of music and Great Britain’s premier arena rock band. The DVD will be available exclusively, at a low price of $11.88, in Wal-Mart stores in the US and Canada, including Sam’s Club and on Walmart.com, and hits shelves the same day Swift and Def Leppard are scheduled to appear on the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS. Their performance of “Photograph” is also up for both Performance of the Year and Wide Open Country Video of the Year at the CMT MUSIC AWARDS.
The DVD is currently available for presale at: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11081246
Taped before a standing-room only audience in Nashville, Swift fulfilled her “childhood dream” when she walked onstage and performed with Def Leppard. Lead singer Joe Elliott and Swift swapped lyrics on such hit songs as “Photograph,” “Hysteria,” “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Picture to Burn” and “Love Story.”
The DVD has special features that include extended and new interviews with the artists, and never-before-seen performances.
CMT CROSSROADS: TAYLOR SWIFT AND DEF LEPPARD DVD track listing is as follows:
1. “Photograph”
2. “Picture To Burn”
3. “Love Story”
4. “Hysteria”
5. “Teardrops On My Guitar”
6. “When Love & Hate Collide”
7. “Should’ve Said No”
8. “Pour Some Sugar On Me”
EXCLUSIVE BONUS PERFORMANCES:
9. “Our Song”
10. “Love”
11. “Two Steps Behind”
Taylor Swift and Def Leppard join an elite group of performers who have taped CMT CROSSROADS, which pairs country music stars with popular artists from other genres—pop, rock, R&B—to play together, swap stories, and share their common love of music. Recent episodes have included Joss Stone and LeAnn Rimes; Robert Plant and Alison Krauss; Shooter Jennings and Jamey Johnson; and most recently Bryan Adams and Jason Aldean, premiering June 26 on CMT.
CMT CROSSROADS is produced by Tom Forrest and Kathryn Russ. John Hamlin, Margaret Comeaux and Bill Flanagan serve as executive producers for CMT.
PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT WWW.CMTPRESS.COM.
ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT
Nineteen-year-old Taylor Swift has topped both the Country and Pop radio charts, and sold more albums in 2008 than any other recording artist in any genre of music. Her sophomore release, Fearless, was voted 2009’s Album of the Year by the Academy of Country Music, and has achieved triple-platinum status to-date. Fearless was the year's biggest debut for any female artist, and the fourth highest debut of 2008, over all. Fearless has spent more weeks in the #1 position atop Billboard’s Top 200 all-genre CD sales chart than any other album this year. Taylor, whose career record sales now top 7 million, currently holds the Billboard all-genre record for most Top 20 debuts in a calendar year.
Taylor’s self-titled debut album, released when she was 16, has surpassed quadruple-platinum in sales and spent more than 20 weeks at #1 atop Billboard’s Country CD Sales Chart. At 17, Taylor became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one country single ("Our Song" spent 6 consecutive weeks at #1 atop Billboard's Country Singles Chart), and she is the first female solo artist in country music history to write or co-write every song on a platinum-selling debut CD.
In 2009, Taylor was awarded the Academy of Country Music’s Crystal Milestone Award, given for Outstanding Achievement in Country Music. Taylor was the 4th artist in history to receive the award, joining Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Taylor was named 2008’s Favorite Female Country Artist at the American Music Awards, Top New Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music, and won 2008 CMT Music Awards for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year. She was named Choice Breakout Artist at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, and was the first musician ever to be heralded as the 2008 Superstar of Tomorrow at the 10th Annual Young Hollywood Awards. In 2007, she won the CMA Horizon Award, the Nashville Songwriters Association International's Songwriter/Artist of the Year, and also received a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
Taylor launched her first-ever headlining tour this spring, the TAYLOR SWIFT FEARLESS 2009 TOUR, selling out her Madison Square Garden show in one minute and her LA STAPLES Center show in just two.
ABOUT DEF LEPPARD
Def Leppard (Joe Elliott/vocals, Vivian Campbell/guitar, Phil Collen/guitar, Rick "Sav" Savage/bass and Rick Allen/drums) sits at the top of an iconic class of rock ‘n’ roll bands. In fact, they are one of a handful of select groups, including the likes of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Eagles, who have been awarded the R.I.A.A.’s prestigious Diamond Award more than once (Pyromania and Hysteria). The band’s most recent album Songs From The Sparkle Lounge debuted last year at #5 on the Billboard Top 200; earning Def Leppard their highest-charting debut since their 1992 album Adrenalize.
Over the course of their career, Def Leppard has produced a series of classic groundbreaking albums that set the sound for generations of music fans and artists. The group’s spectacular live shows, filled with powerful melodic rock anthems, have become synonymous with their name and are an institution in the touring industry as they continue to sell out arenas worldwide.
They launch a Summer Tour on June 23rd with Poison and Cheap Trick, and will issue deluxe versions of Pyromania and Hysteria on the same day.
ABOUT CMT
CMT, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 88 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network’s digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.
ABOUT BIG MACHINE RECORDS
Scott Borchetta founded independent label Big Machine Records in 2005 and serves as its President/CEO. After only one year in business, Big Machine scored its first Number One single (Jack Ingram’s “Wherever You Are”), placed five singles in the Top 30 on the country charts and received a nomination for Record Label of the Year. At the end of that first year, the label's three new artist releases all made the Top 10 Most-Played New Artists of 2006 as monitored by Mediabase and reported by USA Today and Country Aircheck.
The label’s current artist roster includes Taylor Swift, Trisha Yearwood, Jack Ingram, Kate & Kacey, and Sunny Sweeney. In 2007, Big Machine also became the exclusive radio promoter for Garth Brooks’ new singles. Big Machine and Brooks made history with “More Than a Memory,” when Brooks became the first artist in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart, making him the highest Country debut leader of all time.
In only 3 years, Big Machine Records artists have received 4 CMT Music Awards, 3 Academy of Country Music Awards, 2 Country Music Association Awards, an American Music Award and Teen Choice Award as well as 5 GRAMMY Nominations and 2 People’s Choice Award Nominations.
Big Machine’s Taylor Swift was the highest-selling artist of 2008, across all genres of music, selling over 7 million records to-date. Together with it’s sister label The Valory Music Co., Big Machine Records, was the highest-selling record label group on Music Row in 2008.
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PRESS CONTACTS:
Amanda Murphy (CMT) 615-335-8408 amanda.murphy@cmt.com
Natalie Kilgore (Big Machine Records) 615-324-7777 natalie.kilgore@bigmachinemail.com
Paul Freundlich (Def Leppard) 212-334-6116 paulf@pfamedia.net
