Highest Chart Debut For Acclaimed Duo
“…the best, most consistently gripping album the Keys have ever made…Turn Blue is as apocalyptic, in its way, as that Clash epic [London Calling]: loaded with risk, distress and payoff.”
—Rolling Stone
The Black Keys’ highly anticipated new album, Turn Blue, debuted this week at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. This is the highest chart debut yet for the acclaimed duo, whose previous album, El Camino, debuted at #2 in 2011. It is also the first #1 album for The Black Keys’ worldwide label, Nonesuch Records, which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. Turn Blue is also the band’s highest charting album to date internationally, debuting at #1 in Canada and Australia, #2 in the U.K, New Zealand and Croatia, #3 in Ireland, #4 in France and Switzerland and #5 in Austria and Holland. The album also charted in the top ten in Germany, Belgium, Finland and Portugal.
Produced by Danger Mouse, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, Turn Blue comprises 11 new tracks, including the first single, “Fever,” which is currently #1 on Alternative radio for the second straight week and #1 on AAA radio for the sixth straight week. Additionally, the album has received critical praise, with NPR Music calling it “…expansive and irresistibly catchy,” and USA Today saying it is “…an engrossing collection that takes daring leaps while embracing the primal energy and minimalism of the duo’s early records.”
In celebration of the release, the duo recently returned to Saturday Night Live for their third musical guest appearance, performing “Fever” and “Bullet in the Brain.” The band also performed “Fever” and “It’s Up to You Now” on Late Show with David Letterman in addition to performing a longer set, from a stage on a closed-down West 53rd Street, for the Live on Letterman online series. The duo concluded their whirlwind release-week schedule with an interview and performance at The Colbert Report.
The Black Keys will embark on an extensive North American tour this fall with special guests Cage The Elephant, Jake Bugg and St. Vincent. Promoted exclusively by Live Nation, the tour begins September 5 at Columbus, Ohio’s Schottenstein Center and runs through December, with dates at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, among others. See next pages for complete worldwide tour details. Tickets are on sale now.
Turn Blue was recorded at Sunset Sound in L.A. during the summer of 2013 with additional recording done at the Key Club in Benton Harbor, MI and Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound in Nashville in early 2014. Of the new album, the band says Turn Blue could refer to:
A: Suffocation
B: Sadness
C: Numbness from extreme cold
D: A Cleveland late night TV host from the 1960s named Ghoulardi
E: All of the above
Carney also adds, “We are always trying to push ourselves when we make a record—not repeat our previous work but not abandon it either. On this record, we let the songs breathe and explored moods, textures and sounds. We’re excited for the world to hear Turn Blue.”
This is the eighth full-length album from the duo and the fifth on Nonesuch, in collaboration with its parent company Warner Bros. Records. Turn Blue follows 2011’s critically and commercially acclaimed El Camino, which is now certified RIAA Platinum. Internationally, El Camino is Gold in Belgium, Spain, Italy and Holland; Platinum in Ireland, France and the U.K.; and double Platinum in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The record also resulted in three awards at the 55th annual Grammy Awards—Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album. The band now has a total of six Grammy Awards including three in 2010 for their breakout, RIAA Platinum album, Brothers.
THE BLACK KEYS TOUR
June 20 Neuhausen Ob Eck, Germany Southside Festival
June 22 Scheessel, Germany Hurricane Festival
June 24 Zagreb, Croatia Inmusic Festival
June 27 St. Gallen, Switzerland Open Air St. Gallen (sold out)
June 28 Beuningen, Holland Down The Rabbit Hole
June 29 Pilton, U.K. Glastonbury
July 2 Gdansk, Poland Open’er Festival
July 4 Pas-de-Calais, France Main Square Festival
July 5 Werchter, Belgium Festivalpark Werchter
July 6 Belfort, France Les Eurockennes
July 8 Rome, Italy Rock In Rome
July 11 Lisboa, Portugal Optimus Alive
July 12 Bilbao, Spain Bilbao – BBK Live
July 15 Nîmes, France Festival de Nîmes
July 17 Les Vieilles Charrues, France Les Vieilles Charrues
July 20 Suffolk, U.K. Latitude Festival
July 22 Nyon, Switzerland Paleo Festival
September 5 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center*
September 6 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena*
September 7 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena*
September 9 Milwaukee, WI BMO Harris Bradley Center*
September 10 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center*
September 12 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena*
September 13 Pittsburgh, PA CONSOL Energy Center*
September 14 Rochester, NY Blue Cross Arena*
September 16 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre*
September 18 Montreal, QC Bell Centre*
September 20 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center*
September 21 Boston, MA TD Garden*
September 24 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center*
September 25 Washington, DC Verizon Center*
September 27 Chicago, IL United Center*
October 24 Minneapolis, MN Target Center†
October 25 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre†
October 27 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome†
October 28 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place†
October 30 Vancouver, BC Pacific Coliseum†
October 31 Portland, OR Moda Center†
November 1 Seattle, WA KeyArena†
November 9 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl†
November 10 Phoenix, AZ U.S. Airways Center†
November 12 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center†
November 13 Denver, CO Pepsi Center†
November 15 Houston, TX Toyota Center†
November 16 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center†
December 4 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Arena‡
December 5 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena‡
December 6 Richmond, VA Richmond Colliseum‡
December 8 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena‡
December 9 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center‡
December 11 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena‡
December 12 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena‡
December 13 Greenville, SC Bon Secours Wellness Arena‡
December 15 Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center‡
December 16 Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Times Forum‡
December 17 Orlando, FL Amway Center‡
December 19 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center‡
December 20 Tulsa, OK BOK Center‡
December 21 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center‡
*with special guest Cage The Elephant
†with special guest Jake Bugg
‡with special guest St. Vincent
Source: Nonesuch Records
“…the best, most consistently gripping album the Keys have ever made…Turn Blue is as apocalyptic, in its way, as that Clash epic [London Calling]: loaded with risk, distress and payoff.”
—Rolling Stone
The Black Keys’ highly anticipated new album, Turn Blue, debuted this week at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. This is the highest chart debut yet for the acclaimed duo, whose previous album, El Camino, debuted at #2 in 2011. It is also the first #1 album for The Black Keys’ worldwide label, Nonesuch Records, which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. Turn Blue is also the band’s highest charting album to date internationally, debuting at #1 in Canada and Australia, #2 in the U.K, New Zealand and Croatia, #3 in Ireland, #4 in France and Switzerland and #5 in Austria and Holland. The album also charted in the top ten in Germany, Belgium, Finland and Portugal.
Produced by Danger Mouse, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, Turn Blue comprises 11 new tracks, including the first single, “Fever,” which is currently #1 on Alternative radio for the second straight week and #1 on AAA radio for the sixth straight week. Additionally, the album has received critical praise, with NPR Music calling it “…expansive and irresistibly catchy,” and USA Today saying it is “…an engrossing collection that takes daring leaps while embracing the primal energy and minimalism of the duo’s early records.”
In celebration of the release, the duo recently returned to Saturday Night Live for their third musical guest appearance, performing “Fever” and “Bullet in the Brain.” The band also performed “Fever” and “It’s Up to You Now” on Late Show with David Letterman in addition to performing a longer set, from a stage on a closed-down West 53rd Street, for the Live on Letterman online series. The duo concluded their whirlwind release-week schedule with an interview and performance at The Colbert Report.
The Black Keys will embark on an extensive North American tour this fall with special guests Cage The Elephant, Jake Bugg and St. Vincent. Promoted exclusively by Live Nation, the tour begins September 5 at Columbus, Ohio’s Schottenstein Center and runs through December, with dates at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, among others. See next pages for complete worldwide tour details. Tickets are on sale now.
Turn Blue was recorded at Sunset Sound in L.A. during the summer of 2013 with additional recording done at the Key Club in Benton Harbor, MI and Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound in Nashville in early 2014. Of the new album, the band says Turn Blue could refer to:
A: Suffocation
B: Sadness
C: Numbness from extreme cold
D: A Cleveland late night TV host from the 1960s named Ghoulardi
E: All of the above
Carney also adds, “We are always trying to push ourselves when we make a record—not repeat our previous work but not abandon it either. On this record, we let the songs breathe and explored moods, textures and sounds. We’re excited for the world to hear Turn Blue.”
This is the eighth full-length album from the duo and the fifth on Nonesuch, in collaboration with its parent company Warner Bros. Records. Turn Blue follows 2011’s critically and commercially acclaimed El Camino, which is now certified RIAA Platinum. Internationally, El Camino is Gold in Belgium, Spain, Italy and Holland; Platinum in Ireland, France and the U.K.; and double Platinum in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The record also resulted in three awards at the 55th annual Grammy Awards—Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Album. The band now has a total of six Grammy Awards including three in 2010 for their breakout, RIAA Platinum album, Brothers.
THE BLACK KEYS TOUR
June 20 Neuhausen Ob Eck, Germany Southside Festival
June 22 Scheessel, Germany Hurricane Festival
June 24 Zagreb, Croatia Inmusic Festival
June 27 St. Gallen, Switzerland Open Air St. Gallen (sold out)
June 28 Beuningen, Holland Down The Rabbit Hole
June 29 Pilton, U.K. Glastonbury
July 2 Gdansk, Poland Open’er Festival
July 4 Pas-de-Calais, France Main Square Festival
July 5 Werchter, Belgium Festivalpark Werchter
July 6 Belfort, France Les Eurockennes
July 8 Rome, Italy Rock In Rome
July 11 Lisboa, Portugal Optimus Alive
July 12 Bilbao, Spain Bilbao – BBK Live
July 15 Nîmes, France Festival de Nîmes
July 17 Les Vieilles Charrues, France Les Vieilles Charrues
July 20 Suffolk, U.K. Latitude Festival
July 22 Nyon, Switzerland Paleo Festival
September 5 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center*
September 6 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena*
September 7 Grand Rapids, MI Van Andel Arena*
September 9 Milwaukee, WI BMO Harris Bradley Center*
September 10 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center*
September 12 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena*
September 13 Pittsburgh, PA CONSOL Energy Center*
September 14 Rochester, NY Blue Cross Arena*
September 16 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre*
September 18 Montreal, QC Bell Centre*
September 20 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center*
September 21 Boston, MA TD Garden*
September 24 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center*
September 25 Washington, DC Verizon Center*
September 27 Chicago, IL United Center*
October 24 Minneapolis, MN Target Center†
October 25 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre†
October 27 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome†
October 28 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place†
October 30 Vancouver, BC Pacific Coliseum†
October 31 Portland, OR Moda Center†
November 1 Seattle, WA KeyArena†
November 9 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl†
November 10 Phoenix, AZ U.S. Airways Center†
November 12 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center†
November 13 Denver, CO Pepsi Center†
November 15 Houston, TX Toyota Center†
November 16 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center†
December 4 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Arena‡
December 5 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena‡
December 6 Richmond, VA Richmond Colliseum‡
December 8 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena‡
December 9 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center‡
December 11 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena‡
December 12 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena‡
December 13 Greenville, SC Bon Secours Wellness Arena‡
December 15 Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center‡
December 16 Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Times Forum‡
December 17 Orlando, FL Amway Center‡
December 19 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center‡
December 20 Tulsa, OK BOK Center‡
December 21 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center‡
*with special guest Cage The Elephant
†with special guest Jake Bugg
‡with special guest St. Vincent
Source: Nonesuch Records
