Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam
(Born Steven Demetre Georgiou;)
(July, 21st 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
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
September to
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment