AGP STRONG OUT OF THE BOX

The division will manage New Kids on the Block, Smashing Pumpkins, 30 Seconds to Mars, Nick Lachey and Kenna and should improve all their golf games enormously.

Boston native Geary co-founded and played drums for the rock band Extreme with Nuno Bettancourt and Gary Cherone, selling 8 million albums before launching Global Artist Management and discovering Godsmack when they were an unknown local band. The group has sold more than 10 million records to date. Paul joined Azoff Music Management in 2005.

Paul has been with Azoff Music since January 2004. He signed Lachey, co-created and co-produced the Dancing With the Stars arena tour with AEG's Harry Sandler and Debra Rathwell, currently ramping up for its fourth go-around. Jared later signed the reformed Smashing Pumpkins with Geary and Azoff, and spearheaded the recently reformed New Kids on the Block. The Washington, DC native previously ran the Verizon Center’s entertainment in his hometown.

"The division’s focus will be to expand on the necessary tools and creative marketing artists need in today's climate," says Paul. "Particularly in the new media, digital and gaming worlds."

Plans are in the works to add to their existing staff in AGP's marketing, digital and touring departments.

Smashing Pumpkins will do a select major-market 20th anniversary tour this fall, with special guests in each city. They are currently planning the release of their earliest demos prior to the recording of Gish as an audio and DVD package later this year, prior to recording new material. As has been widely reported, the band is currently without a major label affiliation. Their last album for Warner Bros., Zeitgeist, was recently certified gold, and the band was inducted into the Guitar Hero Rock Walk of Fame.

Early sales for New Kids on the Block for their initial arena dates have been so strong that second dates are being added in select markets. The band has been signed to Interscope by Jimmy Iovine and debuted their first single, "Summertime," on Ryan Seacrest's morning show Monday. The album comes out in September, and the band performs on the Today Show summer concert series May 16, the Z100 Zootopia show May 17 and the KissConcert for Kiss 108 Boston on May 18. Their web traffic is peaking with over 1 million unique visitors in a given day. Plans are in place for a world arena tour through 2009.

30 Seconds to Mars is currently wrapping up its world tour by headlining the Give It a Name Festival in the U.K. The band has sold over 1.7 million albums worldwide of A Beautiful Lie, which is still going on this cycle, with sold-out headline major shows all over the world. They will return from Europe and continue writing songs for the follow up to the album. The video for "A Beautiful Lie," shot on a melting glacier, was the first video ever shot in Greenland and was recently released worldwide.

Godsmack frontman Sully Erna has just begun his first-ever solo acoustic shows to rave reviews. The band plans to record a new album to come out next year as a successor to the charttopping Godsmack IV, with a tour to follow.

Lachey has been confirmed as host for the upcoming 12-episode prime-time High School Musical Reality Show on ABC. Jive will release the first single off of the follow-up to his gold album What’s Left of Me this summer, with an album release scheduled for the fall.

Kenna, managed by AGP's Damien Smith, is signed to The Neptunes' StarTrak imprint through Interscope and is making strides in Europe after performing on tour with his good buddy, Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson, on whose album he appeared. With Radio 1 support in the U.K., Kenna will return to the U.S., where he will join Kanye West's Glow in the Dark arena tour as a supporting act.