Cat Stevens

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Cat Stevens (born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London, England on 21st July 1948, and now named Yusuf Islam) is best known for his work as a popular British musician, although born and raised by a Cypriot father and a Swedish mother. At the outset of his musical career, Georgiou adopted the stage name “Cat Stevens”, under which name he sold forty million albums, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s.

Stevens became a convert to Islam in 1978 after a near-death experience. He adopted the name Yusuf Islam and became an outspoken advocate for the religion. Following his conversion, Yusuf abandoned his previous career as a pop star, with which he had always been uncomfortable. Song and the use of musical instruments is an area of debate in Islamic jurisprudence (law) and is the primary factor Cat Stevens retreated from the pop spotlight. At one point he wrote to the record companies asking that his music no longer be distributed, but his request was denied.

He released a series of low-profile spoken word albums throughout the next few decades, but only truly returned to the pop arena in 2005 with the new song “Indian Ocean”, as well as a number of notable benefit performances. In November 2006, he released his first pop album in 28 years, entitled “An Other Cup”, filled with music quite reminscent of his 1970s sounds, though with a more obvious spirituality.
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  • Lordy92

    Proud of Yusuf ISLAM ! Qu'ALLAH te protège mon vieux ! ;)

    Monday afternoon

  • TheDarkSide73

    No matter what his name is now it will always be Cat Stevens for me..

    Sunday morning

  • BeNgEE4

    Heard he's on stage 3 hours at some gigs WOW, really annoyed I missed him in Melbourne now.

    18 days ago

  • ahmet_can1999

    Wild World. <3

    last month

  • gleninferno

    I cry everytime I listen to Father and Son (2)

    last month

  • angels_music

    awesome artist :)

    last month

  • Dominico123

    I was late in discovering this fantastic music. It was actually when I was travelling around Islamic countries in West Africa that people often mentioned him to. They are so proud that a highly respected English artist converted to Islam. Obviously I became intrigued, and discovered the music to be absolutely mind-blowing and perspective changing. His music massively influenced my thoughts and writings as I wandered around Sub Saharan Africa by myself with just a backpack and no money, to the extent that I could almost say it defined this part of my life, especially with songs like 'Miles From Nowhere', 'On The Road To Find Out' and 'But I Might Die Tonight'. I felt like I knew Cat Stevens, I even had a near death experience in the ocean like he did. However, I really could not understand his conversion to Islam, I think it's a great shame that he felt he could not make commercial music for a long time after his conversion, and IMHO the music which he did eventually make is terrible.

    last month

  • Bagwell_

    Here Comes My Baby

    last month
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New Zealand Tickets - Fan Presale

10 May 2010 | from blog.myspace.com/catstevens

We're delighted to be offering registered Redroom members priority access to tickets for Yusuf's forthcoming shows in New Zealand before they go on general sale. Registered users will find details...

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