Eminem, the Nielsen SoundScan Artist of the Decade for 2000-2009, is already kicking off the new decade with more of the same.  His latest album, Recovery (Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records),  makes its debut atop the charts this week with sales of 741,000 copies; easily outpacing any other release for this year, and setting a bar that no other album has reached for first week sales in almost two years. 

The album's first single, "I'm Not Afraid," debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May.  The song was only the 16th in the 52-year history of the Hot 100 to debut at the top spot, and the first rap song to do so in 13 years.  The second single from the album, "Love The Way You Lie" (featuring Rihanna), is already showing tremendous growth at radio, and debuts at #1 on the Singles chart this week, with sales of 337,000.

"It's been 12 years since Eminem signed to Aftermath and Interscope," remarked Jimmy Iovine, Chairman, Interscope Geffen A&M Records. "This is a real watershed moment in his career.  In my opinion, with this album Eminem's impact on popular culture, and as a lyricist and writer, puts him on course to be mentioned in the same sentence as Dylan, Springsteen, and Bono."

Recovery is being hailed as a tour de force for the rapper, receiving a four-star review in the current issue of Rolling Stone, and being described as "his fiercest and most focused work in a long time ... a strong return to the form that made him a star in the first place." (USA Today, 6/21/10)

Eminem performed "Not Afraid" on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater for an appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman" that aired Friday night, as well as at Sunday night's "2010 BET Awards."  He heads to Europe next week for headlining slots at Switzerland's Freuenfeld festival (July 9),  T In The Park in Scotland (July 10), and wraps up in Ireland at Oxegen (July 11).  Eminem and Jay-Z also will perform co-headlining dates at Comerica Park in Detroit (September 2 and 3) and New York's Yankee Stadium (September 13 and 14).  Tickets for the four shows went on sale late last week and quickly sold out.  SOURCE Interscope Records; Aftermath

Grammy-award winning musician and Midwest native Jonny Lang, along with an exciting lineup of musical talent, will launch the first ever Lakefront Jazz and Blues Festival in Prior Lake, Minn. on Saturday, July 10.

The Lakefront Jazz and Blues Festival is the brainchild of the Prior Lake Rotary and is presented by Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.

"We are absolutely thrilled to be introducing this exciting event with such high caliber talent as Jonny Lang," said Shaun Naya, Event Co-Chair and Fundraising Chair for the Prior Lake Rotary. "The Prior Lake Rotary has been working hard to bring this festival to fruition and we have been extremely pleased by the support of local businesses and organizations that have stepped forward to help make this event a success."

The day-long festival will start at 1 p.m. with a variety of well known jazz and blues artists and culminate with Jonny Lang's live performance. Food and beverages along with a kids' activity area sponsored by Girl Scouts of America will also be part of the activities provided at Lakefront Park.

"From the very beginning it was our goal to create a free, family-friendly musical event, while showcasing our beautiful city, and raising money to continue the philanthropic missions supported by our club," said Event Co-Chair Dave Card.

In addition to Lang, other performers scheduled to entertain festival guests include:

• Urban jazz headliner Nick Colionne, who dazzles audiences with his captivating live guitar performances and colorful costumes that have tagged him "the best dressed man in jazz."
• Popular guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Joyce Cooling, who is recognized as one of the most dynamic contemporary jazz guitarists in the world for her vibrant, body-moving sound.
• Blues giant Lil' Ed Williams, a talented guitarist, soulful vocalist and member of the popular band The Blues Imperials, which has been performing around the world for 25 years.

Organizers hope to attract 10,000 people to Lakefront Park, which would make it one of the largest music events in the south metro area. The free event does not require admission tickets, and a complimentary shuttle service to the park will be available from various locations throughout Prior Lake.

    
    
    WHAT:       First-ever Lakefront Jazz and Blues Festival
    
    WHERE:      Lakefront Park
                Prior Lake, MN 55372
    
    WHEN:       Saturday, July 10, 2010
                1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
    
    COST:       Free
    

Mystic Lake Casino Hotel is also offering a Lakefront Jazz and Blues Festival hotel package for visitors. The $129 special includes a premier, double occupancy guestroom, free valet parking, free access to Dakotah! Sport and Fitness, complimentary transportation to and from Lakefront Park on Saturday and a variety of exceptional discounts for entertainment at the hotel. For more information about the package or to make reservations, call 1-800-813-7349 and reference code JAZZ10, or visit www.mysticlake.com/hotel.

For more information about the Lakefront Jazz and Blues Festival, please visit www.lakefrontjazz.com.

John Mayer's fourth album, Battle Studies, debuted at #1 in November 2009 and launched a world tour that has sold out arenas across the country and earned the musician some of the best performance reviews of his career. Summer dates for The Battle Studies World Tour, produced by Live Nation, have now been announced to kick off on July 16th in Charlotte, North Carolina. Special guests will include Train, The Avett Brothers and Owl City. Tickets for Mayer's hometown of Hartford, CT will go on sale on April 16, while dates in select markets go on sale beginning April 17th at LiveNation.com.

Citi® cardmembers will also have access to presale tickets beginning Wednesday, April 14th at 10am local time through Citi's Private Pass® Program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com.

Since kicking off in February, the Battle Studies World Tour has repeatedly ranked among the Top Five on Billboard Magazine's weekly Hot Tour list. Mayer's current single, "Heartbreak Warfare" is his seventh Top Five radio hit, with the song reaching over 385 million people in the past three months. He has also earned a steady stream of performance accolades:

ABOUT JOHN MAYER - The consistency with which John Mayer combines word craft and melody has earned him rarefied status in popular culture as a respected songwriter and musician. Since his acclaimed debut in 2001 with Room For Squares, each release has earned John Mayer additional accolades. Through 2003's Heavier Things, his work with John Mayer Trio in 2005, CONTINUUM's 2006 release and now Battle Studies, John Mayer has established himself as a musician and collaborator who exceeds genre boundaries. The guitarist, vocalist and songwriter has earned seven Grammy Awards and sold nearly 12.5 million albums worldwide.

In May 2007, Time Magazine placed John Mayer on their Time 100 list of the most influential contemporary thinkers, leaders, artists and entertainers. For two consecutive years, Rolling Stone Magazine featured John Mayer on the cover of their annual "Guitar" issue - first with February 2007's "The New Guitar Gods" round-up and then in May 2008's "Living Guitar Legends" issue featuring Mayer with peers and icons alike.

Pairings with a range of artists are a defining trait of the musician whose collaborative streak is well-known. From rock to blues, hip-hop to jazz to country, Mayer has performed and/or recorded with Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, T-Bone Burnett, Herbie Hancock, Dixie Chicks, Jay Z, Alicia Keys and Taylor Swift. In 2005, Mayer famously toured and recorded with power players Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan as John Mayer Trio, whose live album TRY! featured searing blues and rock. As on Continuum, John Mayer again took the helm as the co-producer of Battle Studies, his fourth studio album, released on November 17, 2009 and debuted at #1.

ABOUT TRAIN - Grammy Award-winning band Train is rolling back into the music scene with the recent release of their new Columbia Records' album, Save Me, San Francisco.  Their current hit single, "Hey, Soul Sister," has reached #1 on the overall iTunes chart, has been certified RIAA Double Platinum (selling more than 2 million copies), and soared up the Billboard charts, peaking at #6 on the HOT 100 chart and #1 on the Adult Top 40 Chart.  Save Me, San Francisco is the multi-platinum-selling band's fifth studio album and channels Train's early days, revisiting the roots rock sound that has made the band such a tour de force. USA Today raves that Save Me, San Francisco finds the band, "returning to its mid-'90s roots, when its hook-laden country-tinged tunes hit adult-contemporary audiences in their sweet spot."

ABOUT OWL CITY - Owl City has become an international phenomenon over the past year with the release of his now platinum album Ocean Eyes (Universal Republic July 2009), #1 single "Fireflies" (now triple platinum) and several sold out headlining tours of the US, Europe, UK and Asia.  Adam Young started his career as Owl City in June of 2007 when he began making music in the basement of his parent's house in Owatonna, Minnesota - a small town with roughly twenty-two thousand inhabitants.  Nearly three years later, thanks to more than 18 million profile views and more then 90 million plays on MySpace, this young man has become more than just an internet sensation.  "Fireflies" is now an international hit having made it to the #1 spot in 22 countries and Owl City's latest single "Vanilla Twilight" seems to be on the same trajectory - having already gone gold and climbing the charts world wide.  In addition, he's won the critics over with features out now in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, People, Entertainment Weekly, and USA Today, among many others.   

ABOUT THE AVETT BROTHERS - There is no harmony like brotherly harmony. Something indelible in the weave of voices and play of sensibilities is stamped into the fraternal DNA and also stems from a lifetime of shared experiences. You can clearly hear fraternal magic at work in the songs of Scott and Seth Avett, better known as the Avett Brothers, as well. That magic is abundantly evident on I and Love and You, the Avett Brothers' big-label debut. Its 13 songs are delivered in a style that defies pigeonholing but might be described as a rootsy amalgam of folk, country, bluegrass, rock and pop - even a jab of punk-style dynamics here and there. Drawn by the naked honesty of their songs and the rousing intensity of their live shows, legendary producer and talent scout Rick Rubin signed the Avett Brothers - consisting of siblings Scott and Seth, plus bassist Bob Crawford - to his American Recordings label in 2008.

In harnessing the tools available to them in the service of the strongest set of songs they've written so far, the Avett Brothers have surpassed themselves on I and Love and You. There's really no great secret or magic formula for what they've achieved here. It comes down to honoring inspiration with an awful lot of hard work. "The brothers have an incredibly strong work ethic," affirms Rick Rubin, "and they continually worked at honing their craft. Hearing brothers who have sung their whole lives together - singing the truth - was a revelation each new day."

Additional ticket and tour information is available at LiveNation.com.

 Legendary entertainer Grace Jones will perform for guests at the 18th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Viewing Party.  The gala event, which will take place March 7, 2010, at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, has brought some of the most iconic musicians to the stage over the years, but none as theatrical as the incomparable Grace Jones.

"Grace Jones is not only an amazing performer, but a dear friend and a fellow activist in the fight against HIV/AIDS," says Sir Elton John.  "Without a doubt, Grace will put on a show for our guests that will have them talking for years to come.  It is an absolute honor to have Grace as part of this evening that means so much to the Foundation."

Ms. Jones' first album, Portfolio, released in 1977, resulted in a string of dance-club hits that transformed the international club scene.  Her following albums "Fame" and "Muse" generated considerable success in the market and solidified her as a major recording artist.  Jones later adapted to the emerging New Wave music to create a different style for herself. This resulted in the acclaimed albums "Warm Leatherette", "Nightclubbing" and "Living My Life."

Equally known for her roles in the fashion, art and film communities, Jones has established a presence that has stood the test of time.  Born in Jamaica and raised in Syracuse, New York, she began her career as a successful high-fashion model. Starring roles followed in such films as the James Bond blockbuster "A View to a Kill", "Conan the Destroyer" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and the vampire thriller "Vamp."  Jones took the art world by storm when she became the muse to famed artists Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, resulting in an iconic series of portraits by Warhol and Haring's famous series of body paintings. With her dramatic visual makeover created in partnership with Jean-Paul Goode, Jones starred in the concert special "A One Man Show" and created a persona that has intrigued fans and established her as an international entertainment icon.

Follow the Elton John AIDS Foundation on Facebook:  http://apps.facebook.com/causes/5321

SOURCE Elton John AIDS Foundation

Multi-platinum, Oscar and Grammy-winning rap superstar Eminem will descend upon European soil to headline three major festivals this summer - Scotland's T In The Park, Switzerland's Openair Frauenfeld and Ireland's Oxegen - giving hundreds of thousands of fans a live dose of select tracks from his impressive catalogue.

First, the hip-hop icon storms the UK, headlining the mainstage at Scotland's T In The Park in early July. This marks Eminem's first European show in five years and his first-ever appearance at the festival. He then continues his European return with appearances at Gampel, Switzerland's Openair Frauenfeld and Dublin, Ireland's Oxegen 2010. Much like the blistering show he performed at New Orleans' Voodoo Fest in October 2009, Eminem will be performing with a live band, bringing a new and different level of intensity to his music. He will also be joined on by his group D12 all the dates.

"I'm excited to get back to Europe to rock some shows," said Eminem. "The crowds there are always big, crazy and dedicated...it's going to be great to feel that energy again."

At the 16th annual Openair Frauenfeld, Eminem is set to share the stage with another hip hop legend, Jay-Z. His headlining set is expected to draw 40,000 fans.

Marshall Mathers will also take the stage in Dublin, closing out Oxegen with a highly anticipated mainstage headline set. It's Eminem's first appearance in Ireland since his phenomenal sold out shows to over 200,000 fans in Marley Park in 2004. Eminem will follow an Oxegen tradition that's included unforgettable performances by previous headliners The Who, Muse and Kings of Leon.

2009 has seen the re-emergence of one of hip-hop's finest MC's. Ever since he returned to the game with Relapse, the biggest selling hip-hop album of last year, Eminem has made himself an unmistakable presence: from the chart topping success of the album, through live performances at the American Music Awards and the Grammy Awards, to ferocious verses on tracks with Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Drake. He also snatched up two more Grammy Awards at the 2010 ceremony, upping his total count to eleven.

Since dropping his classic debut The Slim Shady LP in 1999, Eminem has sold over 75 million albums worldwide, and over 30 million in the United States. He is the biggest selling artist of the last 10 years, a feat that resulted in him being recently named Artist of the Decade by Nielsen Soundscan.