SINGLE: JAR OF HEARTS – OUT MAY 23 FEATURES ON E4’S HIT TV SHOW GLEE – MAY 23


Introducing Christina Perri, who will release her US hit single, ‘Jar Of Hearts’ on May 23 in the UK via Atlantic Records.

The 24-year-old Philadelphia native whose debut album lovestrong went in at number 4 in the Billboard charts this week - was a struggling singer-songwriter and musician last June, when she was supporting herself as a café manager in Beverly Hills. Her life changed dramatically when she was asked to perform her self penned song, a defiant break-up anthem on the Fox show So You Think You Can Dance. The raw, emotional quality of her performance connected with viewers and catapulted her into the public eye and ‘Jar of Hearts’ went on to sell a million downloads and led to Perris deal with Atlantic Records

When ‘Jar of Hearts’ aired on the US show - So You Think You Can Dance (as backdrop to a choreographed piece by Stacey Tookey), viewers began downloading the song from iTunes in droves, sending it into the Top 10 on the iTunes Pop chart and into the Top 15 on the overall chart overnight. Impressed, the SYTYCD’s producers invited Perri to play the song live on the show two weeks later and it landed at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as a result. It was also number 1 on Amazon’s digital singles chart, and sold 200,000 downloads in just three weeks. “While all of this was happening, I barely slept,” Perri says, “because I was afraid it was just a dream; that I’d wake up and none of it would be real. One minute I didn’t exist in the music world and the next minute I did.”

Jar of Hearts’, is officially released in the UK on May 23.  It track will also feature on E4’s hit musical show Glee on that same date. It is just one of 12 brutally honest gems that Perri unveils on her debut album lovestrong (out in the UK later this year). It’s a title she says reflects how her heart feels today. “I looked at the album as a whole piece and the two themes that stood out were love and strength,” she says. “It really titled itself. Writing about love is just who I am. I’ve tried to write about other things, but ultimately this is what comes out of me.”

Produced by Joe Chiccareli (White Stripes, Tori Amos) and mixed by Michael Brauer (Coldplay, Regina Spektor), lovestrong  boasts a bold creative vision that is very much in keeping with Perri’s spirited personality. A petite, tattooed ball of energy with an engaging smile, she has always embraced life to the fullest. Her adventures have included touring the world as an assistant to a rock band, spending a year at a prestigious university, producing popular music videos and even making olive oil in Italy.

Perri had actually been preparing for her big moment since she was a child. The daughter of hairdressers (whom she describes as “not musical, though my mom can whistle in many octaves”), Perri first sang in public at her Holy Communion at age six. Piano lessons began at age 8, but her piano teacher “fired” her (as she puts it), because “I would change the endings to the songs when I didn’t like the way they were written.” Eventually, Perri picked up a guitar and taught herself to play. She was in London working as a gofer for her brother’s band Silvertide when she got word that she had been accepted to Philadelphia’s prestigious University of the Arts with a sizeable scholarship. She attended for a year, but took a leave of absence to visit her father’s extensive family in Italy. “I was 19 and I needed to soul search,” she says. “I was still writing music, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.”

Still searching, Perri moved to Los Angeles with a suitcase and a guitar and recommitted herself to being a singer and a songwriter. She posted YouTube videos of herself performing her own songs, as well as covers, and shared her struggles in her uniquely humorous way.  A video of one of her original compositions, ‘Tragedy’, which is included on lovestrong), caught the attention of Bill Silva Management, who signed on to represent her. And so began Perri’s charmed odyssey. 

Notes to Editors

For further information, please contact Atlantic Records UK Press Office:

National and Online Press: Taponeswa Mavunga +44 (0) 207 938 5563 or email taponeswa.mavunga@atlanticrecords.co.uk

Regional Press: Claire Coster - +44 (0) 207 938 5561 or email claire.coster@atlanticrecords.co.uk

May 24, 2011 7:13am ET by Christina Perri   Comments (0)

, , , , , , , , ,

SHARE THIS

Latest Press Releases