Pope Benedict XVI's record deal with Geffen
Why "his holiness" is recording an album for the Universal-owned label
Pope Benedict XVI in Romano Canavese, northern Italy
(Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters/Corbis)
"Geffen Records, whose roster of stars has included Guns n' Roses, Elton John, Donna Summer, and Snoop Dogg," said Mark Brown in the London Guardian, has just "signed a new artist—Pope Benedict XVI." The album, Alma Mater, will feature "his holiness" singing a Marian prayer and speaking Lauretan Litanies in various languages, accompanied by eight original pieces of modern classical music, and it's scheduled to be "released in time for the Christmas rush."
The Pope could easily be "a contender" for the No. 1 Christmas album, said Ben Hoyle in the London Times Online. "He is a debut artist with an established global following," and if his album "connects to even a small percentage of the world's billion Catholics it should blow the likes of Jay-Z, Robbie Williams, and Susan Boyle from Britain's Got Talent out of the water in the race for end of year sales."
What's surprising about the Pope's album, said Stephen Adams in the Daily Telegraph, is that it "will not be sold as a digital download." But Universal, which owns Geffen, is still expecting big profits—some of which the record company will split with the Vatican, the rest going "to a charity that will provide musical education for poor children around the world."
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3 Comments
Posted by pauline , Friday, July 31, 2009, 3:11 pm CANT WAIT FOR XMAS. IVE DONE LIVE DOWNLOADS OF HISHOLINESS AND HAVE BEEN BLOWN AWAY BY HIS MASTERYOF WORDS. THIS CD BACKED UP BY HIS LOVE OF MUSIC ANDHIS DEEP FAITH AND BELIEF CAN ONLY LEAD TO A WONDERFULRECORDING. ALSO HAVE HAD THE GRACE OF BEING PRESENTIN ST PETERS AT XMAS MIDNIGHT MASS WITH THE POPEAND IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE. HIS USE OF VOICEIS MASTERFUL.
Posted by Courteous Andrew, Saturday, August 1, 2009, 2:40 am WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT US ALL IN CAPS?????????
Posted by dj spellchecka, Saturday, August 1, 2009, 1:32 pm anybody here old enough to remember the david peel album called the pope smokes dope? its claim to fame was the producer..someone called john lennon... perhaps there will be a rebuttal on the geffen release
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