Columbia Records Set To Release New Leonard Cohen CD & DVD Live In London

Columbia Records Set To Release New Leonard Cohen CD & DVD Live In London

Recorded At London's 02 Arena On July 17, 2008, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee's First New Release Since 2004 - Available In Stores & Online On Tuesday, March 31, 2009

NEW YORK, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Records is proud to announce the release of Leonard Cohen's Live In London, a musical chronicle of the legendary singer-songwriter-musician-painter-poet's historic 2008 concert -- available as either a DVD or 2 CD set -- on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.

Recorded live on July 17, 2008 at London's 02 Arena, one of Europe's largest indoor venues during Cohen's phenomenal 2008 World Tour, Live In London offers definitive performances of classic songs drawn from the artist's 40-year repertory.

Live In London is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. Additionally, Cohen's performance of "Suzanne," culled from Live In London, is streaming exclusively at www.amazon.com/leonardcohen.

With his 2008 World Tour selling more than 700,000 tickets across 84 shows worldwide, Leonard Cohen is coming to New York City's Beacon Theatre on February 19 to perform his first U.S. concert in 15 years.

Leonard Cohen's first newly recorded release since 2004's gold-certified Dear Heather, the Live In London collection fully captures and recreates the extraordinary show that earned Cohen, who celebrated his 40th year as a Columbia Records artist in 2007, more than 80 five-star reviews for performances during his fall 2008 UK and European tour.

Leonard Cohen's return to live performance in Canada and Europe was met with extraordinary and unanimous accolades throughout 2008:

"Cohen poured everything he had into a stunning performance." - Rolling Stone, June 9, 2008

"An epic concert for an ecstatic audience." - Macleans (Canada), June 2008

"When legend Cohen takes to the stage, it's no less than a cultural event of Biblical dimensions" - The Independent (Ireland), June 15, 2008

"Leonard Cohen is the coolest dude on the planet, bar none." - Sunday Tribune (Ireland), June 22, 2008

"Here is a performer who reigns supreme in his ability to illuminate the spiritual, the political and the personal with passion, insight and wit." - Birmingham Mail (England), August 4, 2008

The first Leonard Cohen concert collection to be released since 2001's Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979, Live In London includes the songs:

   Disc 1 -   1. Dance Me To The End Of Love   2. The Future   3. Ain't No Cure For Love   4. Bird On The Wire   5. Everybody Knows   6. In My Secret Life   7. Who By Fire   8. Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye   9. Anthem   10. Introduction   11. Tower Of Song   12. Suzanne   13. The Gypsy's Wife     Disc 2 -   1. Boogie Street   2. Hallelujah   3. Democracy   4. I'm Your Man   5. Recitation w/ N.L.   6. Take This Waltz   7. So Long, Marianne   8. First We Take Manhattan   9. Sisters Of Mercy   10. If It Be Your Will   11. Closing Time   12. I Tried To Leave You   13. Wither Thou Goest    

Leonard Cohen's debut album The Songs Of Leonard Cohen, was released on Columbia Records on December 27, 1967 and certified gold by the RIAA in November 1989. Since the release of his debut, Cohen has recorded ten additional studio albums -- Songs From A Room (1969), Songs Of Love and Hate (1971), New Skin For The Old Ceremony (1973), Death Of A Ladies' Man (1977), Recent Songs (1979), Various Positions (1984), I'm Your Man (1988), The Future (1992), Ten New Songs (2001), and Dear Heather (2004); three live albums -- Live Songs (1972), Cohen Live (1994) and Field Commander Cohen: Tour Of 1979 (2000); and two "greatest hits" collections -- Best Of Leonard Cohen (1975) and More Best Of (1997). Best Of Leonard Cohen was certified gold by the RIAA in May 2000. Over the course of his career, Leonard Cohen has sold more than 21 million records worldwide.

One of Leonard Cohen's most-loved songs, "Hallelujah" became a record-setting UK chart phenomenon recently when a version performed by Alexandra Burke, winner of the massively popular television talent competition "X Factor," rocketed to the #1 slot on the UK singles chart, becoming the fastest-selling single by a female artist in UK chart history. So much interest in the song was generated that Jeff Buckley's rendition bulleted to #2 while Cohen's original version entered the singles chart at #34, bringing the artist his first-ever British Top 40 single. With versions of the song holding down three Top 40 UK Singles Chart positions simultaneously, "Hallelujah" became the fastest-selling digital single in European history. RIAA, CRIA, ARIA and IFPI statistics alone show that, prior to late 2008, more than five million copies of "Hallelujah" sold in CD format.

Similarly, following Cohen's six concerts in Australia, Essentials 3.0, his Legacy Recordings collection, entered the Australian album charts at #21.

Cohen has published 12 books, including two novels (1963's "The Favorite Game" and 1966's "Beautiful Losers") and, most recently, 2006's "Book of Longing," a collection of poetry, prose and drawings. His songs have been covered throughout the world while influencing generations of songwriters. Cohen's music has earned the accolades of other artists in tribute albums in France, Norway, Canada, Spain, the Czech Republic, South Africa and the United States; among these are the best-selling American album Tower Of Song and Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat.

Leonard Cohen has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1991, Cohen was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and in 2003, a Companion to the Order of Canada -- the latter of which is Canada's highest civilian honor recognizing a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. In June 2008, he was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec.

When inducting him into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in March 2008, Lou Reed singled out Leonard Cohen as among the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters."

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Source: Columbia Records

CONTACT: Fran DeFeo, Sony Music Entertainment, +1-212-833-5784,
Fran.DeFeo@sonymusic.com

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Profile: International Entertainment