Cat Stevens

Musical artist Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou ; 21 July 1948 in London , England ), commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens , is a British musician . He is a singer-songwriter , multi-instrumentalist , educator , philanthropist , and prominent convert to Islam . His early 1970s record albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified as Triple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States; his 1972 album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone and was Billboard ' s number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. He has also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years for " The First Cut Is the Deepest ," which has been a hit single for four different artists. Stevens converted to Islam at the height of his fame, in December 1977, and adopted his Muslim name, Yusuf Islam, the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all his guitars away for charity and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003's World Award , the 2004 Man for Peace Award , and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. In 2006, he returned to pop music with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup . He now goes professionally by the single name Yusuf . His newest album, Roadsinger , was released on 5 May 2009. "( Cat Stevens > Overview )" . allmusic .

Musical artist Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou , 21 July 1948 ), commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens , is a British singer-songwriter , multi-instrumentalist, humanitarian, and education philanthropist. His 1967 debut album reached the top 10 in the UK, and the album's title song " Matthew and Son " charted at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. His albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were both certified triple platinum in the US by the RIAA . His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 , and fifteen weeks at number one in the Australian ARIA Charts . He earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for " The First Cut Is the Deepest ", and the song has been a hit for four different artists. His other hit songs include " Father and Son ", " Wild World ", " Peace Train ", " Moonshadow ", and " Morning Has Broken ". In 2007 he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection. In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all his guitars for charity and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He was embroiled in a long-running controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie . He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace from two organisations founded by Mikhail Gorbachev . In 2006, he returned to pop music – releasing his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, titled An Other Cup . With that release and for subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using the stage name "Yusuf" as a mononym . In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger , and in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone , and began his first US tour since 1978. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

British singer-songwriter Musical artist Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou ; 21 July 1948 ), commonly known by his stage name Cat Stevens , and later Yusuf , is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk , pop, rock, and, in his later career, Islamic music . He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. His 1967 debut album reached the top 10 in the UK, and its title song " Matthew and Son " reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. Stevens' albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were certified triple platinum in the US by the RIAA . His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 and fifteen weeks at number one in the Australian ARIA Charts . He earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for " The First Cut Is the Deepest ", and the song has been a hit for four artists. His other hit songs include " Father and Son ", " Wild World ", " Moonshadow ", " Peace Train ", and " Morning Has Broken ". In 2007, he received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors . In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all of his guitars for charity. He has since bought back at least one of these guitars as a result of the efforts of his son Yoriyos, and left his musical career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community . He was embroiled in a long-running controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie . He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards. In 2006, he returned to pop music – releasing his first new studio album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup . With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym . In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger and, in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone and began his first US tour since 1978. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, ran from 12 September to 7 October 2016. In 2017, he released the album The Laughing Apple . This story originally aired on 3 December 2006.

English musician (born 1948) Musical artist Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou ; 21 July 1948 ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens , Yusuf , and Yusuf / Cat Stevens , is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion streams. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in his career, Islamic music . Following two decades in which he performed only music which met strict religious standards, he returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. His 1967 debut album and its title song " Matthew and Son " both reached top 10 in the UK charts. Stevens' albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent weeks at the top of several other major charts. He earned ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for " The First Cut Is the Deepest ", which has been a hit for four artists. His other hit songs include " Father and Son ", " Wild World ", " Moonshadow ", " Peace Train ", and " Morning Has Broken ". Stevens converted to Islam in December 1977, and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned his guitars for charity, and left his musical career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community . He has since bought back at least one of the guitars he sold as a result of the efforts of his son, Yoriyos. Stevens was embroiled in a controversy regarding comments he made in 1989, about the death fatwa placed on author Salman Rushdie in response to the publication of Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses . He has explained the incident stating: "I was cleverly framed by certain questions. I never supported the fatwa." He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards. In 2006, he returned to pop music by releasing his first new studio album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup . With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym . In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger and, in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone and began his first US tour since 1978. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, ran from 12 September to 7 October 2016. In 2017, he released the album The Laughing Apple , now using the stage name Yusuf / Cat Stevens, using the Cat Stevens name for the first time in 39 years. In September 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman 2 , a reimagining of his classic album Tea for the Tillerman to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and in June 2023, King of a Land , a new studio album. This story originally aired on 3 December 2006.

British musician (born 1948) Musical artist Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou ; 21 July 1948 ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens , Yusuf , and Yusuf / Cat Stevens , is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion streams. His musical style consists of folk, rock, pop, and, later in his career, Islamic music . Following two decades in which he performed only music which met strict religious standards, he returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards. His 1967 debut album and its title song " Matthew and Son " both reached top 10 in the UK charts. Stevens' albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four went to No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 and spent weeks at the top of several other major charts. He earned ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for " The First Cut Is the Deepest ", which has been a hit for four artists. His other hit songs include " Father and Son ", " Wild World ", " Moonshadow ", " Peace Train ", and " Morning Has Broken ". Stevens converted to Islam in December 1977, and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned his guitars for charity, and left his musical career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community . He has since bought back at least one of the guitars he sold as a result of the efforts of his son, Yoriyos. Stevens was embroiled in a controversy regarding comments he made in 1989, about the fatwa placed on author Salman Rushdie in response to the publication of Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses . He has explained the incident stating: "I was cleverly framed by certain questions. I never supported the fatwa." In 2006, he returned to pop music by releasing his first new studio album of new pop songs in 28 years, titled An Other Cup . With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using the stage name Yusuf as a mononym . In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger and, in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone and began his first US tour since 1978. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, ran from 12 September to 7 October 2016. In 2017, he released the album The Laughing Apple , now using the stage name Yusuf / Cat Stevens, using the Cat Stevens name for the first time in 39 years. In September 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman 2 , a reimagining of his album Tea for the Tillerman to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and in June 2023, King of a Land , a new studio album. This story originally aired on 3 December 2006.