Rod Stewart Fans 'Get Ready'; AOL Music's First Listen Exclusive Worldwide Premiere of Two Songs from Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Artist's New Album

Business Wire, Sept 26, 2002

Entertainment Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 26, 2002

America Online, the world's leading interactive service, and J Records today announced that the first two songs from Rod Stewart's new album, It Had To Be You....The Great American Songbook, will premiere worldwide exclusively on AOL Music's First Listen. The album, a compilation of some of America's most celebrated classic songs revitalized by one of the most unique voices of all time, is scheduled for worldwide release on October 22, 2002.

The exclusive worldwide premiere of the two songs, "These Foolish Things" and "I'll Be Seeing You," will debut on AOL Music's First Listen on Friday, September 27 at 12:01 a.m. EDT and will be available exclusively for three days. In addition to AOL Keyword: First Listen, the songs will be available on the Web at Netscape Music (music.netscape.com) and across AOL's international properties.

"We are excited that Rod Stewart and J Records have chosen AOL Music's First Listen to debut two songs from his new album," said Bill Wilson, Vice President and General Manager, AOL Music. "Now more than ever, music fans know they can come to AOL Music as the place to hear exclusively the most eagerly anticipated songs from today's top stars, and certainly our premiere of these two songs from Rod Stewart continues that trend."

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, Rod Stewart has recorded over 21 albums and sold more than 120 million records worldwide in his career. Known for such hits as "Hot Legs," "Maggie Mae," "People Get Ready" and "Every Picture Tells A Story," he has charted #1 hits for more than four decades and his songs have defined generations. He is also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for staging the largest outdoor concert in history when he played for an audience of 4.2 million people on Rio De Janeiro's Copacabana Beach in 1994. For his J Records debut, It Had To Be You...The Great American Songbook, which hits stores on October 22, 2002, Rod Stewart has dipped into the historic annals of America's most celebrated songs and revitalized them to create a wonderful modern day soundtrack to our lives. Songs include the 1930s standard "These Foolish Things," the 1924 classic "It Had to Be You," the 1938 classic "You Go To My Head," "They Can't Take That Away From Me" written by George and Ira Gershwin in 1938, "The Way You Look Tonight," "The Very Thought of You," "For All We Know," "Where or When," "Moonglow," "Everytime We Say Goodbye" and much more.

First Listen gives AOL members and Web music fans the chance to hear new singles on demand, in their entirety, before they can be heard anywhere else. From Britney, to Bruce, to Nelly, artists are choosing First Listen as the place to premiere their new music. Fans can access First Listen song debuts on AOL and the AOL High Speed Broadband service at AOL Keyword: First Listen and on AOL's Web Properties including Netscape, AOL(R) Instant Messenger AIM Today and CompuServe.

About AOL Music

AOL Music, a division of America Online, Inc., reaches the largest audience of online music fans in the world through a rich array of programming products and services that make it easy to discover, experience, listen to and buy music online. AOL Music's leading offerings include the number one Internet music destination, AOL's Music Channel; premier online radio products, Radio@AOL and Radio@Netscape powered by Spinner; the most popular audio jukebox player, Winamp, and Webcaster directory, SHOUTcast. AOL Music programming, products and services are available throughout the AOL Service, AOL High Speed Broadband Service and AOL's family of Web brands including Netscape, CompuServe, AIM and ICQ. America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: AOL). Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.