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Cat Stevens Biography
cat stevens biography
















He re-emerged as a devout Muslim who called himself Yusuf Islam and went a couple of decades without touching a guitar.Cat Stevens is a. The philosophical ruminations, psychological studies and bittersweet parables of Tea For The Tillerman (1970) led to the elegiac and introverted ballads of Teaser And The Firecat (1971), that could be tenderly impressionistic as well as vividly epic.Cat Stevens, one of the superstars of the sensitive singer-songwriter movement, experienced a spiritual epiphany three decades ago that led him to turn his back on rock ”n” roll and embark on one of the most radical personal reinventions in recent pop music history. Summary: Greek-born Cat Stevens coined a sound that was unusual in being, at the same time, pensive, ethnic, melodic and rhythmic.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.Cat Stevens started performing his original songs in London pubs and coffee houses as a teenager. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, in his later career, Islamic music. These questions will build your knowledge and your own create quiz 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. Also and share with your friends. Here you can create your own quiz and questions like Cat Stevens is a.

Also gone are the raven curls that flowed to his shoulders, and the close-cropped beard and mustache, replaced by inch-long salt-and-pepper hair and a long beard.His return to music-making has unfolded in accordance with his ongoing study of the Quran. “Some do, and that”s fine.”A working-class accent born of his upbringing in London”s East End as the son of a Greek restaurateur contrasts with the ever-so-genteel singing voice that”s still reassuring, although it”s grown a bit deeper, a bit duskier than it sounded three decades ago. “I”m still not sure that everybody gets it,” he said. “There are subtleties to life, and not everybody picks up the subtleties.”Many fans were confused by his decision to give up music some were outright angry. These days, he has a new vision and understanding of his place in that arena, though his voice and his musical philosophy remain very much the same.The songs on his new album, “Roadsinger,” which he released last week under the name Yusuf, are as spiritually attuned as old Cat Stevens songs such as “I Think I See the Light,” “On the Road to Find Out,” “Miles From Nowhere,” “Home in the Sky” and “But I Might Die Tonight.” Anyone listening closely back then might have anticipated that the musician”s inner quest would lead to some kind of transformation.“I left a lot of clues, but I didn”t make them totally obvious,” Yusuf, 61, said in his backstage dressing room on a recent visit to Hollywood to tape an episode of the new “Chris Isaak Hour” for the Biography channel. His debut single I Love My Dog was an In recent years, the creator of such deeply felt pop hits as “Peace Train” and “Oh Very Young” has been finding his way back into the wild world he left behind.

cat stevens biography

Cat Stevens Biography Movie Circuit And

He emerged with new thoughts, and new songs, that first flowered in 1970s “Mona Bone Jakon” and fully blossomed in his 1971 breakthrough, “Tea for the Tillerman.” Many of the songs from those collections were used by director Hal Ashby for his 1971 film “Harold and Maude,” which became a favorite on the midnight movie circuit and helped Stevens” music reach a broader audience.More releases followed. Pop hit “I Love My Dog” as well as what is perhaps his most-recorded song, “The First Cut Is the Deepest.” But soon after, he contracted tuberculosis, and the illness landed him an extended stay in a sanitarium.That downtime in a darkened hospital room fed his search for what he calls “another kind of light,” and sent him on explorations of Buddhism, Zen, Taoism and other spiritual teachings. His first taste of pop stardom came in the late ”60s, when as a teen he wrote and recorded a U.K. I wasn”t doing it for business, or for a manager.”Business always has been something of a necessary evil for Yusuf, as it was for Cat Stevens, who was born Steven Demetre Georgiou.

A wave came seemingly out of nowhere and helped him reach the safety of shore after that, he said, he discovered a new life direction, one that didn”t involve recording studios, concert tours or radio station promotions.“I think it was my birthday, and my brother decided to buy me a copy of the Quran. He offered up a fervent prayer, vowing to better serve God should he survive. 33.During that period, while swimming off the coast of Malibu, Stevens got caught in a riptide that made him fear for his life. As the decade went on, though, Stevens” pop following began to wane, with his 1978 album “Back to Earth” peaking at No.

cat stevens biography

“I just wish people would turn their concentration to those areas, rather than focusing on the incredibly damaging torrents of political antagonism and conflicts.”A few years ago, Yusuf began tiptoeing back toward the legacy he”d left behind, recording new versions of some of his old songs using just voice and percussion. “There are such great lessons to be learned from the masters and teachers of mankind,” he said. Jesus spoke against hypocrisy and about people who don”t notice the plank of wood in their own eyes,” he said.

“It was just unreal.”“I take things gracefully and don”t hold things against anyone,” Yusuf said. “The musicians were actually waiting in the studio,” Buckingham said in a separate interview. The worst thing was they kept me separated from my daughter.”Unsure whether he was the person on the list, Homeland Security sent him home. “Are you sure it isn”t Y-O-U-S-U-F? It was like a bad B movie, where you didn”t know the plot and didn”t know the outcome. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.“They kept asking me to spell my name,” he said. Veteran record producer Steve Buckingham started exploring whether he might be interested in making a whole album and invited him to Nashville, Tenn., to record.That”s when Yusuf”s world turned inside out for a while.After a transatlantic flight with his daughter to begin the sessions, Yusuf”s plane was diverted to Maine, where Homeland Security agents detained him for hours because his name was similar to one on a federal “No-fly” list assembled following the Sept.

“To Be What You Must” explores what is necessary on that road, the phrase taken from 13th century German theologian Meister Eckhart: “To be what you must, you must give up what you are. The recording, which will be offered as a bonus track on iTunes and at Best Buy because Yusuf said “it didn”t fit with the rest of the material for the new album,” features guest vocals from Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton and Alison Krauss.The title song on “Roadsinger” codifies his own story of a troubadour seeking enlightenment. Now he”s also gently returning to the public stage.He wrote a song about his being denied entrance into the country, “Boots and Sand,” giving the whole affair a lightly whimsical spin. At the time, a private show for a small audience in New York. He did only one concert in the U.S.

cat stevens biography