Here I Stand is the Atlanta-based singer's second No. 1 debut on the Top 200 Albums chart and his third No. 1 debut on the R&B Albums chart. This week Usher dominates international charts as well, bowing at No. 1 in Canada, Japan (International Chart), Australia, and for the third time in a row, debuts at No. 1 on the UK Albums chart. Additionally, Here I Stand enters Top 5 on album charts in Ireland, Switzerland, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Fans and critics have praised the singer/songwriter's newest effort: The New York Times declares, "Usher knows what works in the suave come-ons that have made him the male R&B sex symbol for a generation;"  Entertainment Weekly raves, "…Stand’s tunes deserve a place in the dance-floor pantheon;" The Los Angeles Times observes, "… [Here I Stand] a more accomplished version of "Confessions," the hooks more effortless, the singing even better, the songwriting more consistent."

Usher’s latest certified hit, "Love In This Club" featuring Young Jeezy, has remained a  Top 10 staple on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart for 14 consecutive weeks and has sold close to 3 million digital units (digital singles, ringtones and ringbacks)  to date.  The poignant follow-up single, "Moving Mountains" is rapidly climbing the singles charts and the riveting video, filled with breath-taking special effects, recently debuted on MTV and BET.

 Usher Raymond IV started his multi-faceted career at the age of 15-years old, and over the span of his 14-year career, the five-time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and entrepreneur has sold 26 million albums worldwide.

Usher’s New Album “Here I Stand”
In Stores May 27th

 New Album Features Collaborations with Jay-Z, will.i.am, Beyoncé, Lil Wayne And More

 Platinum Digital Single “Love In This Club” Continues To Top Charts

 New York, NY – LaFace/Zomba recording artist Usher will release his highly anticipated fifth studio album Here I Stand on May 27th. The album comes as Usher’s latest smash hit “Love In This Club” featuring Young Jeezy currently ranks as the No. 5 pop single in the country. The popular song has remained in the Top 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart for ten consecutive weeks and is in the Top 10 on various charts in the UK, Germany, France and Canada. A new version of the song titled, “Love In This Club Part II” featuring Beyoncé and Lil Wayne was recently released and is rapidly climbing the charts.

 Here I Stand is Usher’s follow-up to his history-making, 9x platinum-selling Confessions. “My goal with every album is to be as in the moment and as honest as I possibly can,” The five-time Grammy winner explains. “There have been a lot of changes in my life so I wanted to make something that really reflected that.”

 “Here I Stand” Track Listing (74.13):
Love In This Club featuring Young Jeezy
This Ain’t Sex
Trading Places
Moving Mountains
What’s Your Name featuring will.i.am
Something Special
Love You Gently
Best Thing featuring Jay-Z
Before I Met You
His Mistakes
AppetiteWhat’s A Man To Do
Lifetime
Love In This Club Part II featuring Beyoncé and Lil Wayne
Here I Stand
Will Work For Love (Hidden Track)

 The Tennessee-born, Atlanta raised performer, songwriter, producer, dancer, actor started his multi-faceted career at the age of 15-years old and has achieved what few other contemporary entertainers have ever accomplished. Over the span of his 14-year career, Usher has sold close to 26 million albums worldwide and combining all of his single, album and DVD sales, he’s sold in excess of 36 million units globally.

 He will be making special high-profile appearances and performances to promote Here I Stand including: MTV’s The Hills, Saturday Night Live, Dancing With The Stars, Ellen DeGeneres, Good Morning America, BET and more.

 * * *

Usher reclaims his superstar status with his newest single, "Love In This Club," which made an astonishing jump from #51 to #1*, and has remained in the #1 position on both the Hot 100 Singles and Hot Digital Tracks charts for three weeks in a row. The song is his eighth #1 hit and is the lead single from his forthcoming, fifth studio album, Here I Stand.  The multi-talented singer/dancer/actor Chris Brown takes the #2 slot with his smash hit, "With You." This marks the second consecutive Top 10 single from Brown's platinum-certified sophomore effort Exclusive.

Zomba's next generation of rising artist are making their mark on the charts as well. Newcomer and American Idol's 2007 winner Jordin Sparks takes the #6 slot with her poignant duet, "No Air," with label-mate Chris Brown, and rising star Lil Mama takes a leap from #92 to #19 on the Hot 100 Singles chart, selling over 72k digital singles this week of "Shawty Get Loose" which features her label-mates Chris Brown and T-Pain.

On the gospel side, Zomba Gospel remains in the forefront, maintaining the top three chart positions on Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart for the fifth consecutive week. This week, Marvin Sapp's record-breaking Thirsty taps the #1 spot, WOW Gospel 2008, the popular on-going gospel compilation, bows at #2, and top-selling gospel artist Kirk Franklin is #3 with his newest effort, The Fight of My Life. Marvin Sapp's Thirsty contains the runaway hit "Never Would Have Made It," which is currently tied for second longest running #1 in the history of the BDS chart for all formats. Sapp continues to win over new fans. Since last summer, Thirsty has spent a total of 20 weeks at the #1 position on the Gospel Albums chart.  Last year, Zomba Gospel was named the #1 gospel label in 2007 and held the #1 position on the Gospel Albums chart for 28 weeks overall.  In 2008, Zomba Gospel is gearing up to launch newcomers Crystal Aikin and The Murrills and will have new releases from Dorinda Clark Cole, Dave Hollister, Hezekiah Walker, and others.

The Zomba Label Group consists of record labels Jive, LaFace, Volcano, Verity, GospoCentric and Fo Yo Soul.  These labels represent a varied group of artists including Justin Timberlake, R. Kelly, Usher, Tool, Ciara, Chris Brown, Pink, Britney Spears, OutKast, Kirk Franklin, Three Days Grace, 311, Nick Lachey, T-Pain, Byron Cage, Bullet For My Valentine, Buddy Guy, Living Things, Anthony Hamilton, Donnie McClurkin, John P. Kee, Fred Hammond, Hezekiah Walker, Marvin Sapp, Kelly Price, J. Moss and Backstreet Boys.

A division of Zomba Label Group, Zomba Gospel is comprised of Verity Records; Gospocentric Records; Kirk Franklin's Fo-Yo Soul Entertainment; Quiet Water Entertainment; F. Hammond Music and New Life Records. Zomba Gospel is based in New York, with offices in Los Angeles and Nashville.

CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO THE WORLD PREMIERE OF

HER LATEST VIDEO "BREAK THE ICE"

Fans Will Be Able To Watch The Video At Blackoutball.com

New York, NY - March 12, 2008 - Jive Records recording artist Britney Spears is premiering her new video "Break The Ice" on BlackoutBall.com today March 12th at 6:30 PM EST.  Access to view the video will only be permitted once fans discover and enter the correct two passwords, which will be available today on BlackoutBall.com at 2 PM EST.  

"Break The Ice" is the third single from her critically-acclaimed album Blackout, which has sold in access of 2 million copies worldwide.  The highly-anticipated video to "Break The Ice" was directed by Robert Hales (Gnarls Barkley “Crazy). The fully animated video was created in South Korea in anime/Japanimation style.

BlackoutBall.com is a special site built to celebrate the video premiere, acting as a virtual black tie party. Those who enter the site prior to 6:30 PM EST will find a chatroom where they can mingle with fellow partygoers in a cyber cocktail party while awaiting the premiere of "Break The Ice."

"Love In This Club," featuring Young Jeezy, co-written by Usher and produced by Polow Da Don is also being well-received by music critics; Entertainment Weekly calls it a "Must" listen, proclaiming that Usher "returns with his magnetic club groove."

"Love In This Club" is the first single from his eagerly-awaited fifth studio album titled Here I Stand, slated for worldwide release this June. Here I Stand is Usher's follow-up to his history-making, 9x platinum-selling Confessions. Within the first week of the release of Confessions, Usher sold more than any other R&B artist in the history of Soundscan. The album spawned four #1 hit singles and Usher spent 40 weeks in the No. 1 position on The Billboard Hot 100– which is more than any other male artist in the nearly 50 year history of the chart. The multi-talented, five-time Grammy-winner, musician and actor has sold nearly 14 million copies of Confessions worldwide and it earned a multitude of honors including MTV, BET, and People’s Choice awards.

Over the span of his 14-year career, Usher has sold close to 26 million albums worldwide and combining all of his single, album and DVD sales, he's sold in excess of 36 million units globally.  With four studio albums, the eponymous first release, Usher (1994) and multi-platinum albums, the 6x-platinum My Way (1997),the 4x-platinum 8701 (2001), and the 9x-platinum Confessions (2004) and one gold-certified live album simply titled Live (1999), and a string of #1 hit singles including "U Remind Me," "U Got It Bad," "Yeah," "Burn," and "My Boo" Usher's return to the top of the charts is inevitable. The Tennessee-born, Atlanta raised performer, songwriter, producer, dancer, actor started his multi-faceted career at the age of 15-years old. 

Usher Raymond IV has achieved what few other contemporary entertainers have ever accomplished. He most recently launched a successful line of signature fragrances, actively heads up his own charity, New Look Foundation, a camp for teens that teaches them about the entertainment business, and he is part owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team. 

He is currently gearing up to promote his forthcoming album.

4/11      Las Vegas, NV                             House of Blues
4/12      San Diego, CA                             House of Blues
4/13      Orangevale, CA                           The Boardwalk
4/14      West Hollywood, CA                   The Roxy
4/16      San Francisco, CA                      Slim's
4/17      Portland, OR                                Roseland Theatre
4/18      Seattle, WA                                   El Corazon
4/21      Salt Lake City, UT                       In The Venue
4/22      Englewood, CO                          Gothic Theatre 
4/23      Kansas City, MO                         Beaumont Club
4/24      Sauget, IL                                     Pop's
4/26      Minneapolis, MN                         Fine Line Music Cafe
4/27      Chicago, IL                                   House of Blues
4/28      Cleveland, OH                             House of Blues
4/29      Pontiac, MI                                    The Crofoot
5/2        Boston, MA                                    Paradise Rock Club
5/4        Philadelphia, PA                          Trocadero Theatre
5/5        New York, NY                               The Fillmore @ Irving Plaza
5/7        Washington, DC                          9:30 Club
5/8        Charlotte, NC                               Amos' Southend
5/9        Atlanta, GA                                    The Masquerade
5/10      New Orleans, LA                         Parish at House of Blues
5/11      Houston, TX                                 Warehouse Live
5/12      Dallas, TX                                     House of Blues
5/14      Albuquerque, NM                        Sunshine Theatre
5/15      Tempe, AZ                                    Marquee Theatre

*additional dates to be released

Apocalyptica are Eicca Toppinen (cello), Paavo Lotjonen (cello), Perttu Kivilaakso (cello), and Mikko Siren (drums).

Male Vocalist of the Year
Marvin Sapp

New Artist of the Year
DeWayne Woods

Urban Recorded Song of the Year
"I'm Not Perfect" - J Moss

Urban Album of the Year
V2 - J Moss

The 39th Annual GMA Dove Awards Tapes April 23rd, 2008 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, TN.

Revolver magazine heralded the band "British Import of the Year, "and has the band on the cover of its March issue, themed "The Future of Metal."  Front-man Matt Tuck says, "We have stepped it up a gear...This album is chock full of classic Bullet ingredients.  Metal riffs, pounding rhythms, shredding solos and great melodies."

To support the release of Scream Aim Fire, Bullet For My Valentine will set off on what will be more than two years of solid worldwide touring, starting in the UK & Europe in January, and then coming to America for the Taste Of Chaos tour kicking off at the Fillmore in Denver, CO on February 29th.

The Welsh metal-core band has spent most of the past two years taking over the world with massive U.K., European, U.S and worldwide tours, sharing the stage with Guns N Roses, Metallica, and Iron Maiden, playing the Main Stage at just about every rock festival on the planet, and seeing their 2006 debut album The Poison sell more than one million copies worldwide.

Bullet For My Valentine are: Matthew Tuck (Guitar/Vocals), Michael "Padge" Paget (Guitar/Background Vocals), Jason "Jay" James (Bass/Background Vocals), Michael "Moose" Thomas (Drums)

GRAMMY- NOMINATED RAHEEM DEVAUGHN'S SOPHOMORE EFFORT "LOVE BEHIND THE MELODY" DEBUTS AT #1 AND #5 ON BILLBOARD'S TOP R&B/HIP-HOP AND TOP 200 ALBUMS CHARTS RESPECTIVELY

Singer/Songwriter Garners Critical Acclaim

And Sets to Kick-Off A 23-Date National Tour With Jill Scott On February 5th In Seattle, Washington

New York, NY - Jive recording artist, Raheem DeVaughn, who recently received a Grammy Award nomination for his current single "Woman," debuts at #1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart and #5 on the Top 200 Albums Chart with his latest effort, Love Behind The Melody. The Baltimore based singer/songwriter will kick-off a major city tour with Jill Scott in Seattle, WA at the Paramount Theatre on February 5th.

Early reviews are in on Raheem's latest album, Love Behind The Melody, and all the critics agree. Entertainment Weekly gives it an A- and enthuses that "...he wraps his tenor around unusually sincere ballads... [With] music that transcends today's commercial rules." USA Today adds "...His airy vocals recall vintage R&B stars, while contemporary hip-hop and rock flavors along with artful, insightful lyrics on love and life create an intriguing sound..." People magazine gives him 3 out of 4 stars and simply states that "...Raheem DeVaughn sounds as if he was rocking to Marvin Gaye in the cradle..."

Raheem Devaughn's extremely soulful and captivating live performances have attracted superstar devotees such as Alicia Keys and Big Boi from OutKast. Since the early days of his career, Raheem has been cultivating a crowd of followers that has grown consistently, from the various small venues in the DC area to recently sold-out clubs in New York, Chicago, Detroit and San Francisco. Building on that momentum, Raheem has announced a 23-date major city tour with Jill Scott that kicks off on February 5th.

On-sale dates will be announced locally in each market and show dates are as follows:

Date City Venue

February 5-8 Seattle, WA Paramount Theatre

February- 12 Anaheim, CA The Grove

February- 14 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre

February- 16 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theater

February- 19 Dallas, TX Nokia Theatre

February- 20 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theatre

February- 22, 23 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

February- 26, 27 Baltimore, MD Lyric Opera House

February- 29 Norfolk, VA Chrysler Hall

March- 2 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum Complex

March- 5,6 Newark, NJ NJ Pac

March- 7 Philadelphia, PA Liacouras Center Arena

March- 9 Boston, MA Orpheum

March-11, 12, 14-15 Washington DC Dar Constitution Hall

March- 16 Richmond, VA Landmark Theatre

March- 19 Pittsburgh, PA Benedum Center

March- 21 Detroit, MI Fox Theater

March- 22 Chicago, IL Chicago Theater

March- 25 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre

March- 26 St. Louis, MO Fox Theatre

March- 28, 29 Memphis, TN Orpheum Theatre

March- 30 Birmingham, AL Boutwell Auditorium

*All dates are subject to change.

For Love Behind The Melody, Raheem brought on board a variety of outstanding producers that include Scott Storch, Bryan Cox, Mark Batson and Chucky Thompson and on February 9th, Raheem will perform his Grammy nominated hit, "Woman," on CBS' Early Show.

ZOMBA GOSPEL TAKES HOME 17 STELLAR GOSPEL MUSIC AWARDS

Breakout Artist DeWayne Woods and The Legendary Tramaine Hawkins

Are Two of the Night's Big Winners

New York, New York - Gospel music's biggest night was a night of extraordinary victory for Zomba Gospel, whose artists collectively walked away with 17 statues as well as the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award at the 23rd Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards held January 12 at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry.

Newcomer DeWayne Woods was one of the night's big winners, taking home 4 out of the 5 awards for which he was nominated.  Not only did Woods go home with awards for New Artist and Urban/Inspirational Performance of the Year, but the coveted Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year statues.    Tramaine Hawkins was feted with the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award and took home statues for Female Vocalist of the Year and Traditional Female of the Year.  Additionally, this was the inaugural year for a special Legends Award named after Dr. Bobby Jones - who just released "The Ambassador," his first CD in 10 years.

"This was a great, great year for us as a label, and our presence at The Stellar Awards shows why.  This year we received a record-breaking 45 nominations and we are proud of every one of our artists," says James "Jazzy" Jordan, SVP/GM Zomba Gospel.  "We are especially excited about our big winners DeWayne Woods, whose wins and his stirring performance at the awards magnify his talent and promise as an artist; and Tramaine Hawkins who, after 40 years as an artist, is still considered the premiere vocalist in this genre." 

The Stellar Awards featured flawless performances by Zomba Gospel's Marvin Sapp, DeWayne Woods, J Moss and Fred Hammond.  Co-hosts included Kirk Franklin and Byron Cage, and Richard Smallwood was one of the evening's presenters.  The 23rd Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards will air in syndication from January 26 - March 23, 2008.  Please check local listings for dates and times.

Zomba Gospel's 23rd Annual Stellar Awards Winners are:

DeWayne Woods/"Introducing DeWayne Woods & When Singers Meet"

-Song of the Year ("Let Go;" with P.J. Morton)                                               

-Male Vocalist                                                                                     

-New Artist                                                                                            

-Urban/Inspirational Single ("Let Go")                                                            

Donald Lawrence

-Producer of the Year

Tramaine Hawkins/"I Never Lost My Praise"

-Female Vocalist

-Traditional Female                                                                          

The McClurkin Project/"We Praise You"

-Contemporary Group/Duo

Vickie Winans/"Woman to Woman: Songs of Life"

-Contemporary Female

Fred Hammond/"Free To Worship"

-Contemporary Male                                                                         

Richard Smallwood/"Journey: Live From New York"

-Traditional Male                                                                                               

J Moss/"V2"

-Contemporary CD

-Music Video ("Operator")

Kirk Franklin/"Kirk Franklin Presents Songs for the Storm"

-Special Event CD

Ben Tankard/"Let's Get Quiet:  The Smooth Jazz Experience"

-Instrumental Gospel CD

21:03/"PAJAM PRESENTS 21:03"

-Rap/Hip Hop Gospel CD

Denise Trotman

-Recorded Music Packaging ("Vickie Winans - Woman to Woman: Songs of Life")