Modern R&B and soul master Maxwell is entering the Billboard Top 200 at #1 this week with his long-awaited fourth studio album, BLACKsummers’night, one of the year’s most heavily-anticipated event records.
With first week’s sales of 316,499, according to SoundScan, BLACKsummers’night is enjoying the highest debut sales week, and best overall sales week of Maxwell’s career. BLACKsummers’night is #1 on the SoundScan Album Retailer chart and is #1 on the Current R&B chart. Released on Tuesday, July 7, on CD and in a Limited Edition Deluxe CD/DVD set, BLACKsummers’night is the first full-length Maxwell release since Now, his critically-acclaimed third studio album, also debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 in August 2001.
Maxwell recently returned to the top of the nation’s singles charts when “Pretty Wings,” the first single from BLACKsummers’night, rocketed to the #1 slot on America’s Urban Adult radio stations less than eight weeks after its release after completing an earlier run as the nation’s #1 Greatest Gainer/Most-Added song at the Urban Mainstream format. “Pretty Wings” has spent four weeks in the #1 slot of Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart, where it’s closely followed by “Cold,” another single from BLACKsummers’night. Each a chart-topper on iTunes, BLACKsummers’night reached #1 on the iTunes R&B Albums chart while “Pretty Wings” hit #1 on the iTunes R&B Singles chart.
“Bad Habits,” the lead track and second single from BLACKsummers’night, is the nation’s #1 Most Added song at Urban Adult radio according to Mediabase, the music industry’s first mass-airplay monitoring service. BLACKsummers’night is the sensuous opening installment of the artist’s monumental BLACKSUMMERS’NIGHT trilogy. (The trilogy’s subsequent chapters, blackSUMMERS’night and blacksummers’NIGHT, are slated for release in 2010 and 2011 respectively.)
BLACKsummers’night reunites Maxwell with long-time collaborator Hod David, who serves as co-producer and co-writer of the album. Striving for an emotional authenticity and real world sound for the album, Maxwell and Hod recorded the entire album live in the studio with an a-list ensemble of elegantly sympathetic musicians.
Maxwell – BLACKsummers’night North American Tour – Summer 2009
Wed-Jul-15 Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
Thu-Jul-16 Cleveland , OH Allen Theatre
Sat-Jul-18 Pittsburgh, PA Heinz
Sun-Jul-19 Buffalo, NY Sheas PAC
Tue-Jul-21 Albany, NY The Palace
Wed-Jul-22 New Jersey NJPAC
Fri-Jul-24 Atlantic City, NJ Borgata
Sat-Jul-25 Foxwoods Foxwoods
Mon-Jul-27 Norfolk, VA Chrysler Hall
Tue-Jul-28 Savannah, GA Johnny Mercer
Thu-Jul-30 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
Fri-Jul-31 Miami, FL Waterfront Theatre at the American Airlines Arena
Additional tour dates & information TBA
