After recording many successful rock albums, Rod Stewart turned to a different genre. His doctors had told him that he should rest his voice following removal of a malignant tumor on his thyroid and treatment for it. Later, he was advised not to sing in the range he had been singing rock.

By 2002, Stewart had sold over 100 million records. In a voice one octave lower than he had been singing, he concentrated on singing 1930s and 1940s pop standards from the Great American Songbook, written by songwriters such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin, with great popular success. These albums 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," was released in late 2002.

The second series album was titled "As Time Goes By: the Great American Songbook 2."

In late 2004, "Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3," the third album in Stewart's songbook series, was released. It was his first US number one album in 25 years, selling over 200,000 albums in its first week. His version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", featuring Stevie Wonder, made the Top 20 of the world adult charts. Stewart won his first ever Grammy Award for this album.

2005 saw the release of the fourth songbook album, "Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook 4."

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