PHILLIP PHILLIP’s Debut Album Debuts at No. 4 on Billboard Top 200

AMERICAN IDOL Season 11 winner Phillip Phillip's debut album The World From The Side Of The Moon (19 Entertainment/Interscope Records) debuts at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 chart with 169,000 units sold as his hit single "Home" sees sales over 2.5 million making it the most successful coronation song of any American Idol winner.

"Home" was used as the soundtrack for the 2012 US Olympics Women's Gymnastics team as they made their London debut this summer and more recently has become the unofficial song for Hurricane Sandy relief. Phillip will perform "Home", which is currently #1 at AAA radio, #3 at Hot AC and #12 at Top 40, on CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute this Sunday, December 2nd at 9pm est.

The press has lauded praise on Phillips' debut with Entertainment Weekly declaring The World From The Side Of The Moon as "the most relevant debut album the Idol machine has cranked out in years," and Newsday stating "As his smash 'Home' has shown, Phillips can't really miss, and his debut offers more like that -- in the catchy 'So Easy' and 'Can't Go Wrong.' Blogcritics.com says "From Phillips' signature raspy vocals to his intricate guitar playing and solid songwriting, The World from the Side of the Moon is a legitimate lead in towards long-term success for the Leesburg, Georgia native."

Recorded at Quad Studios in New York City The World From The Side Of The Moon was produced by Gregg Wattenberg (Train, O.A.R.) with Phillips writing or co-writing the majority of the album.

Phillips first began making music when he was 14, thanks largely to his older sister's boyfriend (and now husband), Ben Neil, who taught him how to play guitar. Phillips kept on studying guitar on his own ("mostly by playing along to the karaoke machine") and soon found himself mastering riffs from classic-rock tracks like Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" and Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train." Several years later, Phillips formed an acoustic band with his sister and brother-in-law and added singing to his repertoire. After graduating high school, Phillips began studying industrial systems technology at Albany Technical College in Georgia and continued playing music with his brother-in-law. With encouragement from his family and friends, Phillips took a break from working in his family's pawn shop and auditioned for American Idol in summer 2011-and soon found himself tearing through powerful, full-throated performances of songs by artists like Creedence Clearwater Revival, Otis Redding, and Wilson Pickett on the Idol stage.