Rod Stewart: Encyclopedia II - Rod Stewart - Crooner 2002-

Rod Stewart - Crooner 2002-

In recent years, Stewart has concentrated on singing 1930s and 1940s pop standards from the "Great American Songbook", written by songwriters such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, with great popular success but middling critical success. These albums have been released on Clive Davis's J Records label and have seen Stewart enjoy album sales equal to the 1970s.

The first album from the songbook series, It Had to Be You ... The Great American Songbook, reached #4 on the US album chart, #8 in the UK and #10 in Canada when released in late 2002. The track "These Foolish Things" reached #13 on the Billboard adult contemporary charts and #2 in Taiwan. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" went top 20 on the world internet charts and top 30 on the adult contemporary charts.

The second series album, As Time Goes By ...The Great American Songbook Volume II, reached #2 in the US, #4 in the UK and #1 in Canada. "Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered", a duet with Cher went top 20 on the US adult contemporary charts and top 5 in Taiwan. "Time After Time" was another top 30 track on the US adult contemporary charts.

A musical featuring many of Stewart's songs opened November 7, 2003 at London's Victoria Palace theatre. It is written and directed by Ben Elton, who previously created a similar production, We Will Rock You, with music by Queen.

In 2004, Stewart is reuniting with Ron Wood for concerts of The Faces material. A Rod Stewart and the Faces best of Changing Faces reached the top 20 of the UK album charts. Five Guys Walk Into A Bar, a Faces box set compilation, went in to the shops, and it is widely regarded as a "must have" in Rock & Roll history. Together with Ron Wood he is still working on the album You Sing I'll Strut.

In late 2004, Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III, the third album in the series, was released. It was his first US number 1 album in 25 years, selling over 200,000 albums in its first week. It also debuted at #1 in Canada, #3 in the UK and top ten in Australia. His version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", featuring Stevie Wonder has made the top 20 of the world adult charts. Stewart won his first ever Grammy Award for this album.

His most recent record was released on September 2005. Named Thanks For The Memory...The Great American Songbook IV, it included duets with Diana Ross and Elton John. Within weeks of its release, the CD made it to number 2 on the top 200 list.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Crooner 2002-", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki