"Smooth Criminal" Single Featuring 2CELLOS and GLEE's Grant Gustin and Naya Rivera Debuts At #10 on the Billboard Digital Songs Chart

NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The GLEE version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" featuring 2CELLOS debuts at No. 10 on Billboard's Digital Songs chart and is the show's third-highest sales week for a single this season.  The GLEE appearance bumped the 2CELLOS' self-titled debut album to No. 1 on Billboard's Classical Crossover chart and back on to the Top 200 chart at No. 92.  With a sales increase of 664 percent, this marks 2CELLOS' highest sales week to date.

The 2CELLOS (Sony MASTERWORKS) made their debut last week on Fox's hit TV series GLEE performing their signature version of "Smooth Criminal" with Santana (Naya Rivera) and Sebastian (Grant Gustin) in the show's special tribute episode to the "King of Pop" Michael Jackson.  The performance emulated their self-made music video of "Smooth Criminal" that went viral on YouTube, getting millions of views, and subsequently lead to a record deal with Sony and a slot on tour with Elton John.  This is the first time that the show had ever featured an instrumental group as their guest artist. The episode caused a lot of chatter on social media as well – both #cellos and #smoothcriminal were trending topics throughout the episode.

2CELLOS' self-titled debut album was released this Summer and features Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser's unique spin on hits by Michael Jackson, Guns N' Roses, U2, Coldplay and Kings of Leon among others.  They are currently on a worldwide tour with Sir Elton John. 

About GLEE:
Since its debut, GLEE has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon, received prestigious honors including Golden Globe and Peabody Awards, covered music ranging from Adele to "West Side Story," to date over 40 million Glee songs have been digitally downloaded, with over 12 million albums sold worldwide and single-handedly made glee clubs cool again. GLEE stars Lea Michele (Rachel), Cory Monteith (Finn), Amber Riley (Mercedes), Chris Colfer (Kurt), Kevin McHale (Artie), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester). Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina), Mark Salling (Puck), Dianna Agron (Quinn), Naya Rivera (Santana), Heather Morris (Brittany), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike) and Darren Criss (Blaine). GLEE is produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan are co-creators of the series. Murphy, Falchuk, Brennan and Dante Di Loreto serve as executive producers. Become a fan of GLEE on Facebook at www.facebook.com/glee. Follow the series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gleeonfox and join the conversation at #Glee.

About Sony MASTERWORKS:
RCA Red Seal, Sony Classical, deutsche harmonia mundi, Masterworks Broadway and Masterworks Jazz are labels of Sony Masterworks.  For e-mail updates and information regarding RCA Red Seal, Sony Classical, deutsche harmonia mundi, Masterworks Broadway and Masterworks Jazz artists, promotions, tours and repertoire, please visit www.sonymasterworks.com.

For more information on 2CELLOS (Sulic & Hauser) visit:
2CELLOS.com - facebook.com/2cellos  - twitter.com/2cellos

2CELLOS VIDEO LINKS:
http://bcove.me/i5dcq4lr - "Smooth Criminal"
http://bcove.me/ajr5fh7q - "Welcome To The Jungle"

SOURCE Sony MASTERWORKS