Nashville, TN - (September 10, 2012) - Fervent Records' artist and Dove Awards' "Artist of the Year," Francesca Battistelli, received a surprise onstage Friday night when Word Entertainment President and CEO, Rod Riley, presented her with a gold album for her debut release My Paper Heart. This marks the first debut album from a CCM artist in nearly a decade to receive RIAA-certified Gold status for sales in excess of 500,000 units. Casting Crowns' release in 2003 was the last debut album to receive RIAA Gold certification.
Battistelli's 2008 debut album features the No. 1 single, "Free To Be Me," and Top 10 hits, "I'm Letting Go," "It's Your Life" and "Beautiful, Beautiful." The release topped Billboard's Christian Albums chart in August of 2010 and earned her a Grammy nod for "Best Gospel Performance." In 2011, she received the Dove Awards for "Artist of the Year," "Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year."
Since her debut in 2008, Francesca Battistelli has earned a Grammy nomination (Best Gospel Performance), six Dove Awards On October 16, the singer is set to release her first solo Christmas album, Christmas, which includes classics and newly-penned tunes. She also has songs showcased on two additional holiday albums due out the same day: Word Record's A Very Special Christmas: Bringing Peace on Earth and A Very Special Christmas 25th Anniversary benefitting the Special Olympics.
including 2011 "Artist of the Year" and 19 Dove Award nominations. Both her debut album, My Paper Heart, and her 2011 sophomore release, Hundred More Years, took the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Christian Album chart. With over 700,000 in album sales to date, she is the best-selling new artist in the genre in the past eight years. Her music has also been featured on TLC's Jon & Kate Plus 8, ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, NBC's The Biggest Loser, Fox's So You Think You Can Dance, and several other television and movie outlets. For more information on Francesca Battistelli, please visit www.francescamusic.com.
About Word Entertainment
A leader in the music industry for over 60 years, Word Entertainment, a Warner/Curb company, is a unique, comprehensive entertainment company comprised of multi-faceted artist service departments including publishing, merchandising, booking, and online initiatives. Word Entertainment represents some of the top names and brands in music, including Meredith Andrews, Chris August, BarlowGirl, Francesca Battistelli, Big Daddy Weave, Jason Castro, Patrick Ryan Clark, Everfound, for KING & COUNTRY, Group 1 Crew, Dara Maclean, Point Of Grace and Sidewalk Prophets and is home to 25 Entertainment, Word Distribution (representing Curb Records and Big Idea/VeggieTales among others), Word Print, Word Films, Word Music Publishing and Word Label Group's Word Records and Fervent Records.
For more info on Francesca Battistelli visit the JFH Artists Database.
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