NEW YORK (J Records/ www.fantasiabarrinoofficial.com)
- Urban
Radio supporting 3 tracks - No 1 "Truth Is," "Baby Mama," and brand new third single, No 1 Most-Added "Free Yourself," produced and co-written by Missy Elliott.
- Recent TV appearances include co-hosting Soul
Train Awards in March and performances on American Idol and
Tonight Show with Jay Leno this month; Good Morning
America live summer concert series set for July 22nd
J/19 recording artist Fantasia - the American Idol 3 champion whose RIAA platinum debut album, FREE YOURSELF, unleashed its title-tune second single "Free Yourself" as last week's No 1 Most-Added song at Urban Mainstream radio (with 45 huge adds) - is about to embark on her first major U.S. tour since the album's release in November. As the special guest of Motown artist Kem, Fantasia will open 3 weeks of dates on June 8th at the Pageant Theatre in St. Louis, wrapping up in Atlanta's Fox Theatre on July 1st. (Please see tour dates on next page.)
"Free Yourself," produced and co-written by Missy Elliott (one of three tracks she contributed to the album), was also this week's No 2 Most Added at the Urban Adult format, where it picked up 107 adds and jumped 5 points to No 19-bullet. The song got a strong boost when Fantasia performed it last week on NBC's Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
"Free Yourself" is the follow-up to "Truth Is" (the first single from the album) which shows no signs of letting go at radio after more than 5 months out. The Soulshock & Karlin-produced hit "Truth Is" has held the No 1 spot on the Urban Adult chart for 11 consecutive weeks. It also has the most one-week airplay totals ever on an adult record in Billboard and Billboard Monitor history with 1558 spins in the issues dated April 15. The video (directed by Diane Martel) stays in Power rotation at BET and in medium rotation on VH1's Soul Digital Channel.
American Idol audiences are still reeling from Fantasia's triumphant guest return to the show on April 6th, when she performed "I Believe" and "Truth Is" to a standing ovation. (On July 22nd, Fantasia will perform "Free Yourself" and two other songs live, on ABC's Good Morning America summer concert series.) Meanwhile, Urban Mainstream radio is also playing a third track, "Baby Mama" (co-written and produced by Harold Lilly). As a result of all this exposure, FREE YOURSELF rose 5 points to No 25 bullet on the Billboard 200 albums chart and jumped 2 points to No 7-bullet on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
With Nielsen Soundscan reporting sales of more than 1.3 million copies of FREE YOURSELF, 2005 has been a resoundingly successful year for Fantasia - "the first American Idol to count as a discovery" (San Francisco Chronicle) and "the American Idol champ most likely to become a genuine pop idol" (People). After performing "Truth Is" on BET's Celebration Of Gospel special and on Soul Train both in February, she co-hosted the 19th annual Soul Train Awards gala in March, and performed a medley of "Baby Mama" and "Free Yourself" on the big night. Later that month, Fantasia was named Outstanding New Artist at the 36th annual NAACP Image Awards.
The High Point, North Carolina native and single mother had her name carved into chart record books as the first artist in the history of Billboard's Hot 100 to debut at #1 with her first single, "I Believe" - which went on to become the best selling single of 2004, according to Nielsen Soundscan charts.
KEM WITH SPECIAL GUEST FANTASIA U.S. TOUR DATES
June 8 St Louis, MO Pageant Theatre
June 9 Nashville, TN TN Performing Arts Center
June 10 Birmingham, AL BJCC
June 11 Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre
June 12 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre
June 16 Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre
June 17 Cleveland, OH Palace Theatre
June 18 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre
June 19 Baltimore, MD Pier 6
June 22-24 Washington, D.C. Warner Theatre
June 25 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
June 26 Newark, NJ NJ Performing Arts Center
June 29 Greensboro, NC War Memorial Auditorium
June 30 Columbia, SC Township Auditorium
July 1 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre
