NEW ORLEANS, July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL hit a new pinnacle this year when more than 428,000 attendees gathered in New Orleans as the annual weekend of entertainment and empowerment celebrated its 15th Anniversary July 3, 4 and 5. Last year, the ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL had reported its most successful year ever with more than 270,000 attendees. This year, Friday night's show at the Superdome marked the festival's first sell-out in its history.

The ultimate party weekend was highlighted by performances from a variety of today's greatest African-American artists and three full days of empowerment seminars featuring the biggest names in music and the nation's most influential speakers, entertainers, artists, authors and leaders.

This year, the ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL raised the bar with ground-breaking performances from Beyonce, Maxwell, Anita Baker, Lionel Richie and more than 30 acts, along with a momentous tribute to Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.

Beyond the musical performances, this weekend the ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL and artists would have been remiss not to pay respect to the King of Pop. In addition to a nightly onstage traditional New Orleans second line parade, video tributes and Michael Jackson music ringing throughout the Louisiana Superdome, Beyonce offered a stirring homage -- with an image of Jackson displayed behind her -- as she merged her Top Five hit "Halo" and "Ave Maria." Prior to a Commodores reunion -- with original members Thomas McClary and Ronald LaPread joining Richie for "Slippery When Wet," "Atomic Dog," and "Easy," along with a Commodores medley of "Fancy Dancer," "Sweet Love, (Just To Be) Close To You," "Zoom," "Brick House" and the Ohio Players' "Fire" -- Richie performed "Jesus Is Love" saying this song is "for my wonderful brother who is no longer with us."

In addition to the historic musical performances, this year's ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL's empowerment seminars hosted Steve Harvey, Bill Cosby, Roland Martin, Soledad O'Brien, Tom Joyner, Juanita Bynum, Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Ben Jealous and Donna Brazile, among others. The weekend's empowerment sessions wrapped up as a standing room only and record setting crowd gathered for the "Tribute to Bishop T.D. Jakes" featuring special performances by CeCe Winans, Ledisi, Marvin Sapp, and Smokie Norful.

The ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL -- the nation's largest annual gathering of African-American music and culture -- started in 1995 as a one-time event to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of ESSENCE magazine. Now the Festival has been heralded as one of the country's "Top 10 Leading Brand Events" in 2007 by Advertising Age; was hailed by USA Today as having "achieved a balance of old-school homage and cutting-edge innovation at the Superdome" (7-7-08); and highlighted prominently among well-known consumer events such as NASCAR and Spring Break. In its 15-year history, the ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL has featured an array of performers including Alicia Keys, Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Chris Brown, Destiny's Child, Earth, Wind & Fire, Gladys Knight, LL Cool J, Jamie Foxx, John Legend, Kanye West, The Isley Brothers, Lionel Richie, Luther Vandross, Mary J. Blige, Maxwell, The O'Jays, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Toni Braxton, Patti LaBelle and Yolanda Adams.

For the latest information about the 2010 ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL, visit www.essencemusicfestival.com.

The 2009 ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL is executive produced by Essence Festivals LLC and produced by Rehage Entertainment. Essence Festivals LLC is a division of Essence Communications Inc. (ECI). The 2009 Empowerment Seminars are produced by GeChar. The 2009 ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL sponsors include Presenting Sponsor Coca Cola; Major Sponsors: Covergirl Queen Collection, Ford, McDonald's, Pantene Pro-V, U.S. Army and Walmart; and Official Sponsors: CNN, Coors Light, Hennessy, Mastercard, My Black is Beautiful, Southwest Airlines, TBS and TVOne.