September 15, 2000 – La Luna, the follow-up to Sarah Brightman's previous platinum and gold albums, has entered the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart at #16 with sales of more than 50,000 copies. This marks the highest American chart debut of her career and represents a major mainstream breakthrough. At the same time, the Angel Records album entered Billboard's Classical Crossover chart at #1.

In a review of the album, which features her extraordinary versions of the '60s pop classic "Whiter Shade of Pale," USA TODAY said: "Sarah Brightman's new album La Luna opens with a swell of electronic sound effects meant to evoke man's first journey to La Luna-the moon, in Spanish and English, two of the five languages that the classically trained soprano uses on this collection of classical, pop and folk tunes." Sarah responds, "I've always found the moon very mystical and romantic. Obviously I'm not alone. The moon had inspired composers and writers for many years. There's something both ancient and futuristic about it. Given that, I could place an older piece of music next to a more modern piece."

In support of the album, which entered in the Top Five all over Europe, Sarah will kick off her headlining North American tour September 15th in Ottawa, Canada. The 42-city tour will take the singer into major venues in key U.S. markets (including New York, September 22 and Los Angeles, October 25) before concluding November 16 in Indianapolis.

Featuring an all-new stage production, the La Luna trek will also bring Sarah – who's sold over six million albums worldwide in the last two years including two million in the U.S. alone – to the Far East, Australia and New Zealand before concluding in Europe in December.

Meanwhile, look for Sarah to be the subject of a Bravo Channel "Profile" this Fall along with her own new PBS special. The PBS special marks Sarah's third program for the network and follows her two previous outings: "Sarah Brightman: One Night in Eden" and 1998's "Live at the Royal Albert Hall." Both ruled the channel's pledge drives and rank among the most successful pledge events to date. Sarah can also be seen in her video for "Whiter Shade of Pale," directed by Paul Boyd, who's lensed videos for Shania Twain and Sting.

The North American La Luna tour dates are as follows:

DATE	CITY	VENUE
9/15	Ottawa, ON	Corel Centre
9/16	Toronto, ON	Air Canada Centre
9/18	Montreal, PQ	Molson Centre
9/19	Rochester, NY	Auditorium Center
9/22	New York, NY	Theater at MSG
9/23	Atlantic City, NJ	Mark G. Etess Arena
9/24	Wallingford, CT	Oakdale Theater
9/26	Lowell, MA	Tsongas Arena
9/27	Philadelphia, PA	Mann Center
9/28	Washington, DC	Patriot Center
9/30	Greenville, SC	Bi-Lo Center
10/1	Norfolk, VA	Norfolk Scope Arena
10/4	Ft Lauderdale, FL	National Car Rental Arena
10/5	Tampa, FL	Ice Palace
10/6	Atlanta, GA	Atlanta Civic Theater
10/8	New Orleans, LA	Saenger Theater
10/9	Dallas, TX	Smirnoff Music Center
10/10	Houston, TX	Aerial Theater
10/13	Columbus, OH	Nationwide Arena
10/14	Detroit, MI	Palace of Auburn Hills
10/15	Cleveland, OH	Gund Arena
10/17	St Paul, MN	Excel Energy Center
10/20	Las Vegas, NV	MGM Grand
10/21	Santa Barbara, CA	Santa Barbara Bowl
10/22	San Diego, CA	SDSU Open Air Theatre
10/24	Anaheim, CA	Arrowhead Pond
10/25	Los Angeles, CA	Wiltern Theater
10/26	Sacramento, CA	Arco Arena
10/27	San Jose, CA	San Jose Arena
10/29	Seattle, WA	Key Arena
10/30	Portland, OR	Theatre of the Clouds
11/1	Spokane, WA	Star Theatre
11/2	Vancouver, BC	GM Place
11/4	Edmonton, AB	Skyreach Centre
11/6	Calgary, AB	Saddledome
11/8	Denver, CO	Magness Arena
11/11	Chicago, IL	Arie Crown Theater
11/12	St Louis, MO	Fox Theatre
11/14	Grand Rapids, MI	Van Andel Arena
11/15	Milwaukee, WI	Riverside Theatre
11/16	Indianapolis, IN	Conseco Fieldhouse