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Beyonce Album Sales Are a ‘Vindication,’ Columbia’s Rob Stringer Says
After reports of dissatisfaction, panic and other pre-release drama, executives at Columbia Records are feeling vindicated by the positive early returns for Beyonce's new album, "4."
"All the speculation that gets around is frustrating when it's just not true," Columbia/Epic Label Group Chairman Rob Stringer tells Billboard.biz. "The story about us being unhappy with the record and stuff is just not true. There's never been any doubt or conversations about moving the record or changing it... Those conversations never existed. We're really, really happy with it."
The label is particularly pleased with sales reports from "4's" initial days of official availability. Stringer says early indications are that the album will debut at No. 1 in as many as 14 countries, including the U.S., and in the Top 3 worldwide. It went triple-platinum in Brazil on its first day of sale, while U.K. projections have it selling "well over" 90,000 copies in its first week -- which more than doubles "I Am...Sasha Fierce's" roll-out in 2008 -- and 1.6 million over its lifespan. The album's second single, "Best Thing I Never Had," is No. 1 on the U.K. iTunes charts and currently sits at No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 29 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts....
Beyonce covers Kings Of Leon and Prince at Glastonbury
Beyonce brought Glastonbury to a bootylicious climax on the Pyramid Stage tonight (June 26).
The R&B superstar made her much-anticipated headline slot just before 10pm, and treated the crowd to a end-of-festival show packed with hits, covers and surprises.
The singer opened with her smash 'Crazy In Love', which despite rumours, did not see Jay-Z turn up. But the song did see giant fireworks fire up on each side of the stage in time to the track's signature trumpets.
Next, the clearly-moved singer greeted an ecstatic Glastonbury with an impassioned speech where she declared, "I always wanted to be a rock star, and tonight we are all rock stars!!" She continued: “I want to make beautiful memories and be free tonight.”...
Beyoncé’s “4” : A Track-by-Track Breakdown
Beyoncé's new album 4 is a change of pace for the R&B queen. While her first three solo albums were full of blockbuster jams, 4 is a more relaxed, personal set that emphasizes ballads over bangers and showcases the singer's nuances; it's very much the sort of album a pop star makes when she doesn't feel like she has anything to prove. (She seems, in other words, to have set aside her alter ego Sasha Fierce for the moment.) 4 won't be in stores until June 24th, but since it leaked this week, here's a track-by-track preview of the album's 12 songs.
1. "1+1" - The album opens with its most tender ballad, a slow-burning number that calls back to both Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" and Prince's "Purple Rain" without sounding like a retread of either tune. The song is already available as a single, but it sounds best in the context of the album, where its slow, steady build to a cathartic guitar break is the perfect introduction to a set of mostly low-key tracks about love and heartbreak.
2. "I Care" - "I know you don't care too much, but I still care," Beyoncé sings over cooing background vocals and dense percussion, delivering the words with a devastating blend of sadness and resentment. It may not be an obvious single, but it's one of the finest tracks on the record.
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Beyoncé will take the stage at New York's famed Roseland Ballroom for four nights of special performances this month. The set on each night of the 4 Intimate Nights With Beyoncé concerts will be the entire collection of her critically acclaimed album, 4
For these four special nights, August 14, 16, 18 and 19, Beyoncé will perform her new songs to a standing room only audience.
Described by music critics as her most accomplished work yet, genre busting, bold and vibrant, 4 is a platform for the star to stretch her musical tastes and showcase her pitch-perfect voice. "What matters to Beyoncé is actually the music," states NPR. And The New York Times calls her "relentlessly perfect."...