Faith Evans: 'The First Lady' Debuts at No 2 on Billboard

LOS ANGELES (Capitol Records) - Multiple Grammy® winning recording artist Faith Evans has scored her highest-selling chart debut and highest-charting album ever with The First Lady, her first for Capitol Records. Evans' first album since the 2001 platinum-selling Faithfully, The First Lady debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 with sales of over 157,000 copies. It is the week's highest-charting new release and is also #1 on the R&B Core Chart, which ranks sales at the country's top urban music retailers.

"One of contemporary R&B's vital voices makes a triumphant return," said Billboard in a review of the first single, "Again," and early album reviews have also been glowing. "Channeling pleasure and pain, authority and vulnerability, old-school spirit and up-to-date sass, Evans is one woman who doesn't have to roar to be heard," said USA Today, and Newsweek observed "The songs on The First Lady live somewhere between hip-hop and R&B, with a '70s bump, and her vocals are soulful, uninhibited and seem to shimmer with light."

Evans is confirmed for a May 12 performance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.

"Again" is a Top 10 hit at Urban Adult radio and in the Top 20 at Urban Mainstream. Chris Robinson (Alicia Keyes, Jay-Z, DMX, Nas) lensed the accompanying video. Yahoo! Music gave the video its world premiere and reported that it was viewed over one million times in the first week. The video has just been added by VH1 and is already in rotation at BET, MTV, MTV Jams and VH1 Soul.

Featuring 12 songs co-written by Evans (plus "Hope," the hit track by Twista featuring Evans from the Coach Carter soundtrack), The First Lady showcases the powerhouse vocalist's versatility and depicts a woman looking back unflinchingly on the chaos of her life, yet emerging stronger on the other side. It features production from the Neptunes, Chucky Thompson, Mario Winans, Brian Cox, Jermaine Dupri, and Carvin and Ivan and guest appearances by Pharrell Williams and Pusha T from the Clipse and Mario Winans.