Andre Rieu's Greatest Hits Reaches No 1 on Billboard Classical Chart

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Top40 Charts/ Denon Classics) - Denon Classics, the U.S.'s No 1 independent Classical label, is celebrating the announcement that artist Andre Rieu has reached the No 1 position on Billboard Magazine's Traditional Classical Chart with the release of ANDRE RIEU'S GREATEST HITS CD. The collection, released on March 3rd, is a unique project consisting of performances chosen by his fans and collected from all of his best selling Denon releases. A deluxe GREATEST HITS DVD was also released and was recently certified Gold in Canada, bringing his combined tally there to 7 gold, 5 platinum, 1 double platinum and 1 triple platinum certifications for DVD releases.

Rieu also landed atop this year's sales tally as the No 1 selling Classical artist for 2008 according to Billboard. He's currently touring the United States on his unprecedented "Greatest Hits Tour" celebrating his 30th anniversary as a performer with more consecutive U.S. dates than he has ever scheduled before through June.

Andre Rieu has already earned the distinction as the No 1 pledge drive artist for PBS and now the No 1 Classical artist according to Billboard. Firmly established as one of the top performing artists according to Pollstar Magazine who ranked him as the No 8 top touring draw of the year on ticket sales approaching $77 million (placing him in good company amongst the likes of Madonna, The Eagles, Bon Jovi and Coldplay), Rieu has won legions of fans worldwide and his success continues to grow with each new release and tour. Combining unparalleled showmanship with shrewd marketing, Rieu has built a world class musical career with sell out tours and increasing sales of his specials and recordings.

The Savoy Label Group (SLG) features not only the historic Savoy Jazz label but also the Denon, Denon Classics, SLG and 429 Records labels. Savoy Label Group is the North American unit of Columbia Music Entertainment (formerly Nippon Columbia), the oldest music company in Japan. SLG is lead by Steve Vining and CME is headed by Chairman Strauss Zelnick, founder of Zelnick Media which owns interests in and manages an array of media companies.