THE DECEMBERISTS EARN THEIR FIRST-EVER #1 ALBUM WITH THE KING IS DEAD

THE DECEMBERISTS EARN THEIR FIRST-EVER #1 ALBUM WITH THE KING IS DEAD

The Decemberists have earned the first-ever #1 chart position of their career with the impressive first-week showing of their widely acclaimed new album The King Is Dead, which was released by EMI's Capitol Records on January 18. The album scanned 93,567 units in the U.S. in its debut week, landing it at the top of the Billboard Top 200 chart, and has also given the band their highest career chart position in territories all over the world. The King Is Dead was released on Rough Trade Records in the UK and Europe.

Over the course of 6 albums and 10 years, the Portland, Oregon based band has steadfastly followed their own creative path, from their 2002 debut Castaways and Cutouts and the early critical breakout success of 2005's Picaresque on Kill Rock Stars, to their even more ambitious efforts for Capitol Records, 2006's The Crane Wife and 2009's song-cycle The Hazards of Love. Now with The King Is Dead--a profoundly simple set of 10 concise country-inflected songs produced by Tucker Martine and featuring guests Gillian Welch and Peter Buck--The Decemberists have reached music's top spot entirely on their own terms.

TIME magazine predicted before the album's release that "with critical buzz building behind it, The King Is Dead could mark their crossover to the realm of important American rock groups alongside the likes of Wilco and the White Stripes." Rolling Stone marveled at "how much richness and beauty the group has folded into the 40-minute album," adding that "For a band able to push the limits of songwriting, it's a revelation, and a chance to see how deep simplicity goes. Very deep, it turns out."

The Decemberists play the last of their 3 sold-out shows at New York's Beacon Theatre tonight, and rave reviews in the New York Times and New York Post give a preview of what fans in the rest of the country have in store for them.

TOUR DATES:

January 26, Beacon Theatre, New York, NY* SOLD OUT
January 28, House of Blues, Boston, MA* SOLD OUT
January 29, House of Blues, Boston, MA* SOLD OUT
January 31, Olympia De Montreal, Montreal, Canada*
February 1, Sound Academy, Toronto, Canada*
February 2, Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI*
February 4, Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL* SOLD OUT
February 5, Riverside Theatre, Milwaukee, WI# SOLD OUT
February 6, State Theatre, Minneapolis, MN# SOLD OUT
February 7, Uptown Theatre, Kansas City, MO#
February 9, Boulder Theater, Boulder, CO#
February 10, Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO# SOLD OUT
February 12, The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA# SOLD OUT
February 13, House of Blues-San Diego, San Diego, CA# SOLD OUT
February 14, Fox Theater, Oakland, CA# SOLD OUT
February 18, Paramount Ballroom, Seattle, WA#
February 19, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, OR# SOLD OUT
March 4, Vicar Street, Dublin, Ireland
March 5, ABC, Glasgow, UK
March 7, Birmingham Institute, Birmingham, UK
March 8, Bristol Academy, Bristol, UK
March 10, Manchester Academy, Manchester, UK
March 11, Leeds Academy, Leeds, UK
March 12, De la Warr Pavillion, Bexhill, UK
March 13, Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
March 14, Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
March 16, Hammersmith Apollo, London, UK