Multi-platinum country quartet LONESTAR will return to television this weekend when they perform the national anthem at Sunday's (9/30) NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The group will also perform a full show at the stock car race, which draws over 80,000 fans a year to the track and over 5 million viewers at home.
The group--MICHAEL BRITT, lead guitar & backing vocals;
Richie McDonald, lead vocals & piano; KEECH RAINWATER, drums; and DEAN SAMS, keyboards & backing vocals--are celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band and the return of revered original vocalist
Richie McDonald. The band's new single "The Countdown" is hitting radio now and can be heard here. The song will be featured on the band's next album due out in the first quarter of 2013 (exact release date TBA).
"It's the countdown to the green flag," laughs McDONALD. "We all watch racing on Sundays, when we're not arguing about football. But to actually be down on the infield on that mile-long track, seeing the Air Force jets rip overhead and all those fans go nuts as their favorite drivers get introduced--it's going to be special." The anthem will air at 2:00 PM Eastern on ESPN, and the race is expected to start at 2:15. The band will perform a full show at 11:30 AM at the Victory Plaza at the Speedway.
Known both for their strong country roots as well as their multi-genre crossover appeal that's led to a history of success on the pop/rock charts, LONESTAR has only their own career records to break. To date, the band has RIAA certified sales in excess of 10 million album units since their national launch in 1995. The Texas-bred band has had an impressive list of hit singles on the country charts, including ten #1's as well as nine Top 40 songs on the pop charts. Signature songs in the mid-90's included early #1 hits such as "No News," and "Come Cryin' To Me." Their 1999 album release, Lonely Grill, produced Lonestar's biggest crossover smash to date, the ballad "Amazed," which spent eight weeks at the #1 spot on the country charts as well as reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The dual win made them the first country act since Kenny Rogers &
Dolly Parton's "Islands In the Stream" in 1983 to accomplish this career milestone. Three more singles from the band ("Smile," "What About Now," and "Tell Her") followed to #1 as the Lonely Grill album was certified multi-platinum. LONESTAR dealt listeners a follow-up platinum hand with the release of their I'm Already There album (2001) with the title track lead-off single spending six weeks at #1 as the album was on the way to platinum certification. In addition to garnering music accolades, LONESTAR has been oft-lauded for their continuous outreach in the arena of humanitarian goodwill. The band was recognized by The Academy of Country Music with the coveted Home Depot Humanitarian Award in 2003 for their continued commitment to help build the dreams of those in need-this in recognition to the group's single handed dedication to the building of a playground for children in tornado ravaged Jackson, Tennessee. America's military forces have been a major focus for concert and fund raising efforts by the band as has St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, to mention only a few of their ongoing humanitarian interests.
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