Release and promotion Aaliyah's record label didn't interfere with her image so she was granted free rein when it came to her imaging and style. Former Jive Records A&R Jeff Sledge mentioned in an interview that the promotional campaign was set up so that Aaliyah wouldn't have to change her image or style. When asked about the promotional plans for the album, Jive's senior vice president Barry Weiss said "there [would] be little in the way of marketing changes between the domestic and world promotion of the set". Speaking about Aaliyah's image, he said: "She is what she is the album has tremendous pop appeal to go along with her urban edge, so there's not a whole lot different that we'll be doing abroad". A month before the release of the album's lead single "Back & Forth", Aaliyah attended the Urban Network's "Power Jam" conference, where she was introduced and "received warmly". The album was originally scheduled for June 14, 1994, but due to the instant success of "Back & Forth"'s accompanying music video on MTV, the label was prompted to release the album three weeks earlier, on May 24. Following the album's release, Aaliyah embarked on a 1994–1995 world tour, visiting the United States, Europe, Japan and South Africa. Aside from touring internationally, Aaliyah performed at the Budweiser Superfest at the USAir Arena in September 1994. In January 1995, she performed "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy show All That. On May 1, 1995, Aaliyah made an appearance at the Virgin Megastore in London. Twelve days later on May 13th, Aaliyah performed in concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. In July 1995 Aaliyah celebrated Essence magazine's 25th anniversary by performing at the magazine's first annual Essence Music Festival. Singles "Back & Forth" was released as the album's lead single on April 8, 1994. It reached its peak of number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 three months after it was released, on July 2, 1994. The single reached its peak of number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs on May 21, 1994, becoming first of the three number-one singles by Aaliyah on this chart. Eventually, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 9, 1994, selling 700,000 copies in the country. On June 26 1994, the song reached number 4 on The Times Southern California