(August 23, 2007 New York, NY) Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds finds a welcome reception for his version of James Taylor’s Fire & Rain, the #2 most-added single at AC radio and #1 most added at Smooth Jazz in its first week of release. Fire & Rain is the first pick from PLAYLIST, in stores September 18th, the first album on the newly re-launched Mercury Records label, a division of the Island Def Jam Music Group.PLAYLIST is the first Babyface album devoted (mostly) to cover versions of some of his favorite songs, including Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Dan Fogelberg’s Longer, and others from James Taylor (Shower The People), Eric Clapton (Wonderful Tonight), Bread (Diary), Jim Croce (Time In A Bottle), and Dave Loggins (Please Come To Boston), plus two new compositions by Babyface, including the beautiful song he penned for his two children, Not Going Nowhere. Building on the momentum of the album’s release week, Babyface has set television appearances on NBC’s The Today Show and ABC’s Live with Regis & Kelly, both on the morning of September 19th. Two mornings later on Friday, September 21st, Babyface sits in on the syndicated Wake Up with Whoopi [Goldberg] show. That same night, Babyface shares the stage with Country music star Tricia Yearwood, as they perform together on cable tv’s CMT Crossroads Concert Special in Nashville.PLAYLIST is the third album in the new millennium by 10-time Grammy-winning megastar Babyface, the follow-up to Grown & Sexy (July 2005) and Face2Face (released on the fateful Tuesday of September 11, 2001).
Kenny "Babyface" Edmond's countless honors, which include Grammy awards for Producer Of the Year in 1992, ’95, ’96 and ’97 (the only person in history to win for three consecutive years), plus numerous NAACP Image Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and American Music Awards, established him not only as the top hitmaker of the ’90s, but as one of the greatest hitmakers in the history of popular music.
Babyface fans around the world can see him live when he performs at the new Billboard Live clubs in Japan in October: Tokyo, Japan (Oct 15, 16, 18, 19, 20); Osaka, Japan (Oct 22, 23, 25, 26, 28) and Fukuoka, Japan (Oct 29). Babyface is also playing Manila, Phillipines' Araneta Coliseum on Oct 13.
Additional worldwide concert dates will be announced soon.