Carrie Underwood sets record with iTunes track
Thursday, May 3, 2007 – Carrie Underwood's recording of The Pretenders' classic, "I'll Stand by You," became the first iTunes exclusive track to debut in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Entering the chart in 6th for the week ending May 12 in Billboard, "I'll Stand by You" was recorded by Underwood to accompany footage of her two-day trip to Africa this past April for American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" charity special. Now available exclusively through the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) as a fundraiser downloadable as both a video and audio track, "I'll Stand by You" becomes one of just six digital-only songs ever to debut in the Hot 100 Top 10 and the only track to do so without having been serviced to radio for airplay.
Based on SoundScan sales, the audio track of "I'll Stand by You" will debut in second on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart with downloads of 124,496 copies, based on sales from the night of the April 25 Idol episode through this past weekend.
The money benefits Charity Projects Entertainment Fund (CPEF), which has partnered with Idol to raise awareness and funds for relief organizations assisting children and young people in extreme poverty in America and Africa.
American Idol Creator and Head of 19 Entertainment, Simon Fuller, said, "This is a big moment. The potency of Carrie's performance on 'Idol Gives Back' last week was so strong that it's set a new milestone for iTunes and is attracting people to music downloads for the first time. More than that, she is pulling in music fans from all over the world. Carrie is a phenomenal talent, a truly gifted singer, and a generous and kind-hearted spirit, so I am delighted to see the success of what her talent is making possible to benefit children in need."
iTunes is donating net proceeds from the sale of "Idol Gives Back" content to the CPEF. For more information, visit http://www.americanidol.com/idolgivesback/. For all visitors to iTunes from the American Idol site through May 23, an additional percentage of their total iTunes purchases will also benefit the CPEF.
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