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Born Steven Georgiou on July 21, 1948 from a Greek Cypriot father and a Swedish mother, Cat Stevens was already a big pop star when he almost drowned in the Pacific off Malibu Beach in 1976. He said he prayed to God in that sense moment – he promised that "if you save me, I will work for you" – he claimed a wave, and then washed it to Earth. Two years later, Stevens became a convert to Islam, changed his name to Yusuf Islam and threw his guitar.
But before that, Cat Stevens had been an icon of the generation of hippies and flowers, a singer-songwriter who called world peace and whose musical inspiration was lit by an incense stick – or maybe a seal. Songs like "Morning Has Broken", "Moon Shadow" and "Peace Train" have become world anthems, while "Father And Son" remains a campfire clbadic.
: 1968: A dream time and protests
Cat Stevens lives up to his fame as a folk-pop poet in 1970
Teen idol
Stevens was 19 when he released his first album in 1967, Matthew And Son which went to number 6 on the British charts and featured radio pop songs like "I Love My Dog "which were far from the sincere folk ballads that he would later become famous for. Although his follow-up album New Masters which was released the same year, had less success, the soft-spoken baladin had become an idol of young people overnight.
But early renown was too much for him. Stevens contracted tuberculosis in 1969 and took a break from music, instead exploring his spirituality at a time when he also became a vegetarian and wrote many songs that turned away from the more popular pop. Stevens was back with a tattered beard and a pile of new material that led to a second wave of success at the top of the charts. He published around two discs a year during the first half of the 1970s, among them famous titles such as 1970's Tea For The Tillerman Mona Boe Jakon and Teaser And The Firecat . In 1978, he had already released 13 albums.
"Sin and Greed"
After his spiritual awakening caused by his near-drowning experience in the Pacific in 1976, Stevens was introduced to the Koran after his death. brother gave him a copy. This induction into the Muslim faith caused the brutal end of his musical career for the 29-year-old.
Stevens said that he wanted nothing more to do with the "sin and greed" of the music industry. Meanwhile, the lyrics of his earlier songs were no longer compatible with his new beliefs and he donated royalties to charitable organizations.
Having changed his name to Yusuf Islam, he dedicated his new life to his beliefs and teachings. He is married, has fathered six children, founded three Islamic schools in London and fought against the idea that the Muslim faith has spawned the wave of global terrorism since the attacks of September 11th. .
Nevertheless, Yusuf Islam has often been attacked. He had been suspected of having supported the death sentence pronounced by Ayatollah Khomeini against the writer Salman Rushdie in 1989 – though he denies it. Meanwhile, he was expelled and banned from traveling to Israel after giving money to the militant Palestinian group, Hamas.
Yusuf citing the Qur'an during the Arab war. Popular Islamic Conference in 1993 in Khartoum, Sudan
Back to Its Roots
The 1995 Album The Life of the Last Prophet was his first as Yusuf Islam. A kind of spoken celebration of Islam, the album did not include the guitar, his former favorite instrument because it was "too Western".
One day, however, Yusef Islam saw his son's guitar hanging around. He could not help himself and still looked for the instrument. Slowly but surely he reappeared from his self-imposed musical exile
Read more : The cat "Yusuf" Stevens is back
Yusuf Islam makes his first public appearance for 17 years in 1997, and plays at charity festivals, he also released new records – some with the guitar. Meanwhile, he began to call simply "Yusuf", with his official artist name now Yusuf / Cat Stevens.
Released in 2017, the last album of the popular legend entitled The Laughing Apple and strongly recalls – both the cover and the music – from his 1970 album, Tea For The Tillerman [19459005
In this way, his last musical offer actually closes a circle: Yusuf has found his past of Cat Stevens, and now, at the age of 70, he can rejoice in his two lives.
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