“CMT CROSSROADS: DEF LEPPARD AND TAYLOR SWIFT” TO TAPE IN OCTOBER
07/01/08
Episode Premieres in November on CMT
NASHVILLE – July 1, 2008 – Great Britain’s premiere arena rock band and one of country music’s hottest stars will come together for another episode of CMT CROSSROADS. CMT CROSSROADS: DEF LEPPARD AND TAYLOR SWIFT will premiere in November on CMT.
Before an invitation only audience in Nashville in October, Swift will join her all-time favorite rock band on stage for a night that is sure to be a memorable one for the young star
"Every time I’ve seen Crossroads on CMT I’ve always thought, 'If I ever get to do one of those, it HAS to be with Def Leppard!,' so this is really a dream come true for me,” says Swift. “I have been screaming the words to Def Leppard songs for years…so it's amazing that I'm going to get to share a stage with them this year!"
"How cool is this?! Country's hottest young star wanting to work with us!!" says Def Leppard’s Joe Elliot.
Def Leppard and Taylor Swift 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. Previous episodes of CROSSROADS have included Lindsey Buckingham and Little Big Town; Bon Jovi and Sugarland; John Fogerty and Keith Urban; Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire; Joss Stone and LeAnne Rimes; Robert Plant and Alison Krauss; and most recently Maroon 5 and Sara Evans.
With more than 65 million albums sold worldwide and two prestigious Diamond Awards to their credit, Def Leppard—Joe Elliott (vocals), Vivian Campbell (guitar), Phil Collen (guitar), Rick "Sav" Savage (bass) and Rick Allen (drums)—continues to be one of the most important forces in rock music. Over the course of their career, the band 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. The band is gearing up to release “C’mon C’mon,” the second single off of their 14th studio release, Songs From The Sparkle Lounge (Bludgeon Riffola/Island/UMe). The track is set to impact radio Monday, June 30 and follows hot on the heels of the album’s the hit debut single “Nine Lives,” featuring country music superstar Tim McGraw, which sat atop the Classic Rock chart at #1 for four weeks and climbed to #13 on Mainstream Rock radio. Songs From The Sparkle Lounge was released on April 29 and debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200, earning Def Leppard their highest-charting debut since Adrenalize.
Widely hailed as the first bonafide country music star of the MySpace generation, 18-year-old Taylor Swift currently has singles climbing both the country and pop radio charts. At the age of 17, Swift became the youngest person to single-handedly write and sing a number-one country single entirely on her own ("Our Song" spent six 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. At 14, she signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music, and in 2006 released her self-titled debut CD on Big Machine Records. Swift has reached triple-platinum (3 million sales) status and has spent 21 weeks so far in the #1 position atop Billboard's Country CD Sales Chart. Swift is consistently ranked Country's #1 artist on MySpace, and was named Country Music's Hottest Female Artist of 2007 by AOL Music and Best New Artist of 2007 by the editors of iTunes. Swift was named this year’s 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 is also a 2008 Teens Choice Award Nominee for Breakthrough Artist and was a 2008 New Artist Grammy Nominee. Swift was recently named Superstar of Tomorrow at the 10th Annual Young Hollywood Awards, making her the first musician to ever receive this prestigious award. She is the reigning CMA Horizon Award winner, as well as the Nashville Songwriters Association International's Songwriter / Artist of the Year. Swift is on tour this year with Rascal Flatts, and has also toured with George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and Brad Paisley.
CMT CROSSROADS is presented by Alltel Wireless, the first title sponsor of the critically-acclaimed series. Alltel is owner and operator of the nation's largest wireless network and has 12 million customers.
CMT CROSSROADS is produced by Tom Forrest and Kathryn Russ. John Hamlin, Margaret Comeaux and Bill Flanagan serve as executive producers for CMT.
For more information on CMT CROSSROADS log on to CMT.com
Visit CMT's press-only web site www.cmtpress.com for more information.
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