Yusuf Islam
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| Yusuf Islam formerly Cat Stevens |
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.jpg) Cat Stevens in Boeblingen, Germany 1976
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Steven Demetre Georgiou |
| Born | July 21, 1948 |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Folk rock Pop |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, classical guitar, ovation guitar, bass guitar, electric mandolin, bouzouki, keyboards, harpsichord, polymoog, penny whistle, drums, percussion |
| Years active | 1966–1978, 2006–present |
| Labels | Island Records, A&M, Polydor, Mountain of Light, Jamal |
| Website | www.catstevens.com www.yusufislam.org.uk |
Yusuf Islam was born in July 21, 1948, who is an English singer. He sang many of his early songs when he called himself Cat Stevens. His was born as Stephen Demetre Georgiou. He became a Muslim in 1977. After 2 years, he took the name of Yusuf İslam. He has sold over 60 million albums around the world since the late 1960s as Cat Stevens or Yusuf İslam.
As a waiter in his father's cafe, he began writing songs "to escape the mundanity of it all". Chart success was followed by adulation, touring, drug use, confusion, tuberculosis and, in the early 1970s, Islam's changed outlook and an album called Tea For The Tillerman.
Stevens nearly drowned in an accident in Malibu in 1975. Stevens described the event in a VH1 interview some years later: "I suddenly held myself and I said, 'Oh God! If you save me, I'll work for you.'" He had looked into Buddhism; Zen and I Ching, numerology, tarot cards and astrology", but when his brother David gave him a copy of the Qu'ran, Stevens began to convert to Islam.
In 1977 he changed his name to Yusuf Islam upon becoming a Muslim. He stopped playing and recording pop music for almost 30 years, but started performing again in 2006.
He lives with his family in London, England.
[change] Albums
As Cat Stevens:
- 1967: Matthew and Son
- 1967: New Masters
- 1970: Mona Bone Jakon
- 1970: Tea for the Tillerman
- 1971: Teaser and the Firecat
- 1972: Catch Bull at Four
- 1973: Foreigner
- 1974: Buddha and the Chocolate Box
- 1974: Saturnight (Live in Tokyo)
- 1975: Numbers
- 1977: Izitso
- 1978: Back to Earth
- 2004: Majikat
As Yusuf Islam:
- 1995: The Life of the Last Prophet
- 1999: Prayers of the Last Prophet
- 2000: A Is for Allah
- 2001: Bismillah
- 2003: I Look I See
- 2005: Indian Ocean
- 2006: Footsteps in the Light
- 2006: An Other Cup
- 2007: Yusuf's Cafe Session
