Taylor Swift joins Band Hero for the ultimate in family music gaming

by: Jake - posted: 8/4/2009 12:25:00 PM

Taylor Swift has joined forces with Band Hero, joining Band Hero's team of popular rock groups, which also includes Fall Out Boy, the Jackson 5, and Queen. Band Hero is an expansion of the Guitar Hero series of music games, and will be released this November, the 17th to be exact, to the PlayStation 2 and 3 consoles, the Nintendo Wii and DS, as well as the Xbox 360.

MUSIC SENSATION TAYLOR SWIFT JOINS FORCES WITH BAND HERO™ FOR THE
ULTIMATE FAMILY MUSIC GAMING EXPERIENCE



Fans of All Ages Will Sing and Play Their Way to Superstardom with the
Chart-Topping Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist This November



Fan Sweepstakes Will Award Tickets and Opportunity to Meet Taylor
Swift in Person



Santa Monica, CA – August 4, 2009 – Taylor Swift, global music
sensation and best selling artist of 2008, will ascend an all-new
virtual stage this November in Band Hero™, the ultimate party game
featuring a wide assortment of today’s popular hits and most
recognizable pop anthems, created by Guitar Hero® and Activision
Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI). Budding music stars, their families
and friends, will all live their musical fantasy on the Band Hero
stage, playing as Taylor Swift or alongside the singer/songwriter and
guitarist, as she performs her smash-hits “Love Story” and “You Belong
With Me” from her latest album Fearless as well as “Picture to Burn”
from her self-titled debut record.



“Anything that encourages people to pick up an instrument and play,
I’m fully behind. And, I’m really excited about Band Hero, because not
only are fans getting to play my songs, but I’m actually in the game,”
said Swift. “There are so many awesome things that go into being in
Band Hero, like getting to customize my band to look like my touring
band, and it’s so cool for people to feel like they are experiencing
one of my concerts. This is one of the closest things out there to
going to see me perform!”



Taylor Swift and Band Hero will award 20 lucky fans the opportunity to
see a Taylor Swift Concert and four of those fans will win the
opportunity to meet Taylor Swift in person. Watch for more details on
this sweepstakes this summer at www.bandhero.com.



“Taylor Swift’s impressive rise to the top of multiple music genres,
along with the broad appeal of her songs, makes her a great example of
the type of experience we are bringing to music fans with Band Hero,”
said Tim Riley, Vice President of Music Affairs for Guitar Hero.
“We’re thrilled to announce her as the very first of several playable
in-game artists and showcase her many talents in our game.”



This November, family and friends will come together to ascend the
virtual stage and rock their way to superstardom with Band Hero.
Brought to you by the makers of Guitar Hero®, one of the best-selling
video game franchises of all time, Band Hero features the hottest
chart-topping hits from everyone’s favorite acts including Taylor
Swift, No Doubt, Lily Allen, The All-American Rejects and Jackson 5.
Headlined by some of the biggest names in music as in-game artists and
playable characters, Band Hero is the ultimate party game where
players of all ages will be able to experience the signature,
easy-to-learn but difficult-to-master Guitar Hero gameplay. Band Hero
allows fans to create the band they always dreamed of using any
combination of guitar or drum controllers and vocals, providing
rockers and performers of all ages the chance to experience and
interact with their favorite music.



Published by Activision Publishing, Inc., Band Hero is being developed
by Neversoft Entertainment for the Xbox 360® video game and
entertainment system from Microsoft and PLAYSTATION®3 computer
entertainment system, by Vicarious Visions for the Wii™ system from
Nintendo and by Budcat for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment
system. The game is rated E10+ (mild lyrics, mild suggestive themes).
For more information about Band Hero, please BandHero.com.



ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT

19-year-old Taylor Swift has had singles top both the Country and Pop
radio charts, and sold more albums in 2008 than any other recording
artist, in any genre of music. Her sophomore release, Fearless, was
voted 2009’s Album of the Year by the Academy of Country Music, and
reached double-platinum in just four weeks. Fearless was the year's
biggest debut for any female artist, and the fourth highest debut of
2008, over all. Now rapidly approaching quadruple-platinum, Fearless
has spent more weeks in the #1 position atop Billboard’s Top 200
all-genre CD sales chart than any other album this year. Taylor, whose
career record sales now top 7.75 million, currently holds the
Billboard all-genre record for most Top 20 debuts in a calendar year.
Taylor launched her first-ever headlining tour this spring, the TAYLOR
SWIFT FEARLESS 2009 TOUR, selling out a show at Madison Square Garden
in one minute, and one at Los Angeles’ STAPLES center in just two
minutes.



At 17, Taylor became the youngest person to single-handedly write and
sing a number-one country single entirely on her own ("Our Song" spent
6 consecutive weeks at #1 atop Billboard's Country Singles Chart), and
she is the first female solo artist in country music history to write
or co-write every song on a platinum-selling debut CD. At 14, she
signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music, and in 2006 released her
self-titled debut CD on Big Machine Records. Taylor Swift has
surpassed quadruple-platinum (4 million sales) status and spent more
than 20 weeks in the #1 position atop Billboard's Country CD Sales
Chart. Taylor is consistently ranked Country's #1 artist on MySpace,
and was named Country Music's Hottest Female Artist by AOL Music and
Best New Artist by the editors of iTunes.



In 2009 Taylor was awarded the Academy of Country Music’s Crystal
Milestone Award, given for Outstanding Achievement in Country Music.
Taylor was the 2nd artist in history to receive this prestigious award
-- Garth Brooks received the award in 2007. Also this year, Taylor won
CMT Music Awards for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year,
awards she was also honored with in 2008. Taylor was named 2008’s
Favorite Female Country Artist at the American Music Awards, Top New
Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music, and won 2008 CMT
Music Awards for Video of the Year and Female Video of the Year. She
was named Choice Breakout Artist at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, and
was as the 2008 Superstar of Tomorrow at the 10th Annual Young
Hollywood Awards, making her the first musician to ever receive this
prestigious award. In 2007 she won the CMA Horizon Award, as well as
the Nashville Songwriters Association International's Songwriter /
Artist of the Year, and she received a Grammy nomination for Best New
Artist.



Earlier this year, NBC dedicated an entire hour to the primetime
special “Dateline: On Tour With Taylor Swift.” Taylor’s numerous other
television appearances include a guest-starring role on CSI: Crime
Scene Investigation, and a performance on Saturday Night Live.



Taylor has been featured on the covers of Rolling Stone (twice),
Billboard (twice), Glamour, Allure, People StyleWatch, Blender, USA
Weekend, Seventeen (twice), Redbook, Self, Us Weekly, CosmoGirl,
Girl’s Life, Teen Vogue, Women’s Health, First, Your Prom, and
Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine. She was featured in a Vanity Fair
spotlight, was named one of People magazine's 100 Most Beautiful
People of 2008 and 2009, was Cosmopolitan magazine’s Fun Fearless
Female of December, 2008, was Allure’s Face of December, was named a
Style Star of 2008 by the editors of Seventeen, and was featured on
Maxim’s 2008 & 2009 Hot 100 list.



About Activision Publishing, Inc.

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Publishing, Inc.
is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of
interactive entertainment and leisure products.



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Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Norway,
Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Russia, Japan, South Korea, China
and the region of Taiwan. More information about Activision and its
products can be found on the company’s website, www.activision.com.



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