Rod Stewart's Great American Songbook Sales Double After American Idol Appearance  4/27/06

'S Wonderful That Some Guys Have All the Luck; the Unprecedented Success of the 14x Platinum Songbook Series Spikes After Rod Stewart's Performance on "American Idol"

Two "American Idol" Appearances Last Week

NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 04/26/06 -- Rod Stewart, arguably one of the greatest male singing voices of the rock era, is also one of the most popular performers in the marketplace today as proven by the sales spike this week after two appearances on "American Idol" last week. Cumulatively, all four volumes from his Grammy Award winning, chart topping "Great American Songbook" scanned 36,028 units this week according to Nielsen SoundScan, a 253% increase from the previous week's sales.

The "Idol" appearances rocketed all four volumes back on the charts: "Thanks For The Memory... Volume IV" and "Stardust... Volume III" jumped back onto the Top 200 chart at #58 and #113, and the first volume of the series "It Had To Be You" and "As Time Goes By... Volume II" climbed the catalog sales chart to #7 and # 16, respectively.

The theme for the "American Idol" performance show last Tuesday was the American Classic Songbook with Rod Stewart coaching the finalists on their songs. On Wednesday, Stewart performed "The Way You Look Tonight" from the first volume "It Had To Be You... " of his 14x platinum "Great American Songbook" series. Additionally, "Entertainment Tonight/The Insider" ran coverage 5 nights in a row about his "Idol" appearance.

Stewart's multi-platinum, chart topping "Great American Songbook" collection is the biggest selling ongoing series of new music recordings in history. It all started with the release of "It Had To Be You... The Great American Songbook" in 2002 followed by "As Time Goes By... Volume II" in 2003. "Stardust... Volume III" earned Stewart his first Grammy and entered the chart at #1 in 2004. "Thanks For the Memory... The Great American Songbook Volume IV (2005)" is the newest album of the highly successful Songbook series which has positioned Rod Stewart as "the voice" of these beloved songs for a new generation.

SOURCE:  J RECORDS