India.Arie Nominated for 2006 BET Award

India.Arie Nominated for 2006 BET Award

Celebrated Artist to Release New Album

'Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship' In-Stores June 27

NEW YORK, May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- 12-time Grammy nominated India.Arie hopes to make it two for two at this year's 6th Annual BET Awards. The celebrated singer was nominated today for Best R&B Female Artist by the popular cable network. She previously won in the same category at BET's 2003 awards. In another bit of synchronicity, The 6th Annual BET Awards will air live on Tuesday, June 27th at Los Angeles' Kodiak Theater, the official in-store release day for India.Arie's long awaited new disc, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, which also happens to be National HIV Testing Day, a cause very close to India.Arie's heart. Her third studio album, and her first since 2002's acclaimed Voyage To India, which reached #6 on Billboard's Top Albums chart, the new disc was produced by longtime collaborators Shannon Sanders and Mark Batson (Seal, Beyonce), among others. The album's first video, "I Am Not My Hair," helmed by Barnaby Roper (Moby, Razorlight) has also recently been added to VH1 and BET.

Known for her soulful pursuit of musical perfection, the new album is a more personal expression from the singer/songwriter, who has been duly recognized through the years for her keen insights about the world at large. India.Arie recently returned from a heavy national promotional schedule for the new disc, and she will be heading to Europe after Memorial Day to perform select songs from the much anticipated album.

India.Arie emerged onto the music scene in 2001 with her platinum plus debut Acoustic Soul. A masterful meditation on self-acceptance and womanhood, she was dubbed the new "neo-soulstress" by no less than Newsweek Magazine, praising her as "one of the freshest talents to come out of 2001," the emotive singer went on to be nominated for seven Grammys for her debut album, and subsequently has won a host of awards including 2 Grammys, 3 NAACP Awards, as well as being recognized by BET, Billboard Magazine, MTV, VH1 and Essence Magazine, among others.

2002's Voyage To India cemented her rep as a seminal singer/songwriter, netting her 4 Grammy nominations and two statues. With more than six million albums sold, she most recently was nominated for her 12th Grammy in the Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals category for her writing collaboration with Stevie Wonder on the title song of his most recent album, A Time To Love.

India.Arie is also a U.S. ambassador for UNICEF and universally recognized as a tireless champion of social and humanitarian causes around the world. She recently returned from a trip to South Africa where she observed and assisted humanitarian efforts taking place in the epicenter of the global AIDS crisis.

Source: Universal Motown Records

CONTACT: Tracey Miller of Tracey Miller & Associates, +1-609-383-2323
ext. 11, tracey@tmapublicity.com; or Wendy Washington of Universal Motown
Records, +1-212-373-0702, wendy.washington@umusic.com

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

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