Yusuf / Cat Stevens

Yusuf / Cat Stevens

Yusuf / Cat Stevens is the performance name used by Yusuf Islam, born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London on 21 July 1948. He is a British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator and philanthropist who is also known for his conversion to Islam and for his earlier work under the name Cat Stevens.

Career

He becomes widely known in the late 1960s and 1970s as Cat Stevens, with a run of commercially successful albums that includes Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat, both certified Triple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States. Catch Bull at Four sells half a million copies in its first two weeks of release and spends three consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard LP chart. He also receives two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years for “The First Cut Is the Deepest”, a song that becomes a hit for four different artists.

Conversion and later work

He converts to Islam in December 1977, at the height of his fame, and adopts the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979 he auctions all of his guitars for charity and leaves the music business to focus on educational and philanthropic work within the Muslim community. He later returns to pop music in 2006 with An Other Cup, his first album of new pop songs in 28 years. He continues to use the single name Yusuf.

Awards and honours

His work in promoting peace brings him several awards, including the World Award in 2003, the Man for Peace Award in 2004 and the Mediterranean Prize for Peace in 2007.

Personal life

He lives in London with his wife and children and spends part of each year in Dubai.