Carly Simon Scheduled for Historic Performances Onboard Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic Crossing for Upcoming PBS Television Special & DVD Release

Carly Simon Scheduled for Historic Performances Onboard Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic Crossing for Upcoming PBS Television Special & DVD Release

NEW YORK, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Carly Simon will bring her signature sophistication to the high seas when the legendary pop musician performs a pair of filmed concerts onboard another legend: Queen Mary 2, the most famous ocean liner in the world. The iconic ship is the only ocean liner providing regularly scheduled transatlantic service and will depart New York City on September 2, and arrive in Southampton, England on September 8, 2005.

Carly's QM2 concert performances will be recorded for an upcoming one-hour PBS network television special, slated to air during the December Pledge Drive. Carly Simon's Live Onboard Queen Mary 2 concerts, the first television special to be taped during a transatlantic crossing, will be released as a full concert DVD on Columbia Records on November 22. Carly's QM2 performances will form the core of the artist's live PBS television special and will presage Carly's upcoming multi-city tour to be launched later this fall.

Carly Simon's six-day transatlantic voyage -- including her concert performances in the ship's Queens Room, the largest ballroom at sea, and candid behind-the-scenes moments onboard QM2 -- will be documented for the DVD by veteran concert filmographer Jim Gable, whose resume includes "Cyndi Lauper: Live ... At Last," "The Concert for World Children's Day," "Sting: Inside -- The Songs of Sacred Love" and "Rolling Stones: Stripped."

Carly Simon recently returned to the nation's Top 10 when MOONLIGHT SERENADE debuted at #7 (the highest charting debut on that week's chart by any solo musical artist) on the Billboard Top 200 best-selling albums shortly after its release on July 19.

Having SoundScanned more than 100,000 pieces in its first two weeks at retail, MOONLIGHT SERENADE is already Carly Simon's highest-charting album of the SoundScan era.

An essential new chapter in the Carly Simon canon, MOONLIGHT SERENADE has become one of the artist's three highest-charting albums to-date -- following "No Secrets" (#1, 1973) and "Hotcakes" (#3, 1974) -- and joins "Playing Possum" (#10, 1975) and "Boys In The Trees" (#10, 1978) as one of her five Top 10 successes.

"Ms. Simon still possesses one of pop music's friendliest and most intelligent voices," wrote Stephen Holden in The New York Times (July 19, 2005), "one that expresses a lot more feeling than the bratty tough-girl shout that dominates female pop singing today."

"Simon's romance with traditional pop music began long before other baby- boomer pop stars started jumping on the standards bandwagon," observed Elysa Gardner in her three-star review of MOONLIGHT SERENADE in USA Today (July 19, 2005). "Here, the singer lends her instantly recognizable alto to affectionate readings of pre-rock classics such as 'In the Still of the Night,' 'Where or When,' and 'I Only Have Eyes for You.' Old collaborator Richard Perry's robust but never overzealous production adds substance in lieu of icing, setting these gems with a mix of reverence and knowing that mirrors and enhances Simon's own approach."

Rolling Stone (August 25, 2005), in David Wild's three-star review of MOONLIGHT SERENADE, observed that " ... she remains an assured and expressive stylist, quite comfortable with the exquisite melodic and lyrical subtleties of material like 'All The Things You Are,' 'How Long Has This Been Going On,' and 'Moonglow.'"

MOONLIGHT SERENADE reunited Carly Simon with the legendary producer Richard Perry, who first worked with Carly on her career-defining #1 breakthrough masterpiece, "No Secrets," in 1972. The pair has gone on to enjoy a creative partnership which has lasted over the decades, notably producing Carly's hit albums "Hotcakes" (1974) and "Playing Possum" (1975). Together, the pair has created such classic hits as "You're So Vain," "Mockingbird," "The Right Thing To Do," and "Haven't Got Time For The Pain" as well as "Nobody Does It Better" as featured in the 1977 James Bond film, "The Spy Who Loved Me."

Recorded over a four month period in late 2004-early 2005, MOONLIGHT SERENADE showcases Carly Simon's dusky and sensual vocal stylings on eleven romantic standards penned by some of the world's greatest songwriters including Glenn Miller, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II, George & Ira Gershwin, and Howard Dietz & Arthur Schwartz.

MOONLIGHT SERENADE fulfills the aesthetic promise Carly first made with 1981's "Torch," the groundbreaking album of pre-rock and non-rock cover songs that foreshadowed the trend of contemporary singers performing pop standards. She recorded her second album of pop standards, "My Romance," in 1990, and a third, "Film Noir," with producer Jimmy Webb in 1997.

The DualDisc edition of Moonlight Serenade features the full album on the audio-only side while the DVD side includes the album in its entirety as well as exclusive new footage of Carly at-home and a "making of the album" documentary including in-the-studio footage, photos, and interviews with Carly Simon and Richard Perry.

The largest, longest, tallest and grandest luxury liner in history, Queen Mary 2's sumptuously elegant surroundings provide the perfect setting for the sublime and exquisite music of Carly Simon, who will perform a selection of her most-loved songs from her indelible catalog as well as tunes from her latest best-selling album, MOONLIGHT SERENADE, a breath-taking collection of romantic standards. Queen Mary 2 continues the romance of the ocean crossing -- where White Star Service(SM) staff seamlessly caters to the comfort of well-heeled guests, and the fine art of conversation and dressing for dinner are events to be savored.

This historic concert continues Cunard Line's illustrious history of hosting royalty, society luminaries and famed entertainers with peerless cachet. Luminaries such as Elizabeth Taylor, Rita Hayworth, Cary Grant, and Clark Gable frequently crossed the Atlantic in Cunard luxury during the "golden age of ocean travel," when traversing the Atlantic by ocean liner was considered the only way to travel. Today, Queen Mary 2 has welcomed stage and screen notables such as Glenn Close, John Cleese, Richard Dreyfuss and Dakota Fanning; and entertainment powerhouses Shirley Bassey, Harry Connick, Jr. and Beyonce have performed on the renowned ship, continuing this Cunard tradition into the 21st century.

"We are thrilled to welcome the legendary Carly Simon as she takes her place in Cunard history alongside the world's most notable artists who have crossed the Atlantic throughout the line's 165-year lifetime," says Jan Swartz, senior vice president of customer service and sales. "Ms. Simon embodies a timeless grace, sophistication and style, perfectly complementing Queen Mary 2."

Source: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Maggie Wang of Columbia Records, Media, New York,
+1-212-833-8208, Maggie.Wang@sonybmg.com; or Jackie Matthews, Cunard Line,
+1-661-753-1035, jmatthews@cunard.com; or Maria Andriano, Redpoint Marketing
PR, +1-212-229-0119, andriano@redpointpr.com for Cunard Line

Web site: http://www.princess.com/

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