Hillsong United Challenging Eminem for top spot at iTunes
MOBILE, Ala. (May 27, 2009) – Australian-based Christian rock/worship band Hillsong United has earned the #2 spot on the iTunes Top Album Charts for its just released CD A Cross The Earth:Tear Down The Walls, selling only less digital music copies than Eminem’s new CD Relapse.
Hillsong United’s accomplishment on the iTunes Chart comes as no surprise to the millions who have helped make the band a worldwide phenomenon, including here in the U.S. where United is currently touring. Now through August, the band is playing to capacity crowds, including sell-outs at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, the Roseland Ballroom in New York and the Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre in Atlanta.
“People of all ages, especially students, are connecting with United’s message of compassion and social justice and their genuine passion for a real connection with God and each other,” says Chris Estes, Director of Digital Marketing for Integrity Music, the label that distributes United in the U.S. “They’re identifying with the band’s passion to live out their faith and make a difference in the lives of those next door and around the world.”
“For a band that is virtually unknown outside the Christian culture to be selling more than Green Day and Lady Gaga and almost as many as Eminem on iTunes, it says something about United’s amazing trajectory as an impact artist beyond just the Christian music scene,” continued Estes. “And, they did all this without traditional industry drivers like heavy radio play and mainstream TV. Not only do they sell out major venues, churches around the world are singing their songs every Sunday.”
A Cross The Earth:Tear Down The Walls is United’s first new live CD since 2006. The CD features 12 tracks, including 10 new songs of Hillsong United’s signature power pop/rock brand of worship. A sample can be found at http://unitedacrosstheearth.com/ where a free song and song chart can be downloaded.
Hillsong United is making more than 20 appearances in the U.S. between April and August. Remaining shows are:
5/27 Atlanta, Ga.
5/29 Birmingham, Ala.
5/30 Nashville, Tenn.
6/1 Washington, D.C.
6/2 Boston, Mass.
6/3 Virginia Beach, Va.
6/5 New York
6/6 Toronto
6/8 Grand Rapids, Mich.
6/9-10 Chicago (Willow Creek Conference)
8/21-22 Los Angeles (Encounterfest)
8/24 Denver, Colo.
8/25 Dallas
8/28-29 Miami (Encounterfest)
Updated tour details for Hillsong United can be found at http://www.hillsongunited.com/ and http://www.integritylive.com/.
United frontman Joel Houston says of the band’s music, “We must live out our worship through action by reaching out to the lost and the broken… helping the poor and oppressed, pursuing justice and fairness for all people. We must be a generation of people expressing their heart for worship and realizing God’s purpose for all of us, to love people and be His hands and feet.”
“Every generation needs a revolution,” adds Houston, “And this one needs to look, sound, walk and breathe like love.”
The passion to “live out their worship” is at the heart of Hillsong United’s ministry and also at the heart of Hillsong Church, Australia’s largest evangelical congregation and home to the dynamic youth ministry from which the band emerged. Hillsong’s “Mighty To Save” won this year’s Dove Award for Worship Song of the Year and they are also a recent recipient of the Gospel Music Association’s International Award given in recognition of their impact on the global Church. The various concert events and conferences they have hosted around the world have drawn thousands of young people and their church leaders looking to immerse themselves in worship and gain a better understanding of how to bring a lifestyle of worship to everyday life.
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