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Cat Stevens
July 21, 1947
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Artistfacts:
| His birth name is Steven Demetre Georgiou. He became a Muslim and changed name to Yusuf Islam in 1977 after his brother gave him a copy of the Koran. The name comes from the prophet Joseph, who was interpreter of dreams. |
| He is a talented painter. He painted the images used on his albums Teaser And The Firecat, Tea For The Tillerman and Mona Bone Jakon. |
| Stevens was born in London. He was popular in England years before catching on in America. |
| Some radio stations boycotted his records in 1989 after he supported the call for Salman Rushdie's execution for defaming the prophet in the book The Satanic Verses. He said he was simply following The Koran. |
| He has 5 children. |
| in 1968, he got Tuberculosis. After a long recovery, he started writing less commercial and more introspective songs. |
| He would have had better UK chart position for many of his hits, but Island Records did not promote his singles much in England to encourage people to buy his albums. |
| In 1979, he auctioned off his guitars and gave the money to charity in an effort to show his devotion to Islam. |
| He negotiated the freedom of 4 English prisoners from Iraq after the Gulf War in 1990. |
| He organizes and supports Muslim schools in England. |
| In 2001, he released a boxed set containing 79 tracks, most of which he recorded before becoming a Muslim. He donated the proceeds to charity in light of the terrorist attacks on America. |
| His parents were Stavros, who was Greek, and Ingrid, who was Swedish. When he converted to the Islamic religion, he was going against his family's faith, which ticked them off. (thanks, Annabelle - Eugene, OR) |
Get Songfacts for Cat Stevens
Comments:
| Jennifer from Canada is stating that "Seasons in the sun" was written by Terry Jacks, which is wrong. It is a composition by Jacques Brel and the English lyrics are by Rod McKuen.
Raymond. - Raymond, Temse, Belgium |
| Fear and ignorance, rule the world. Its hideous Cat is on the Terrorist list - Karen, RedHill , Victoria Aust, United States |
| Cat Stevens decided to find the truth after his tuberculosis recovery. and absoulately the truth was Islam he found It. He is one of yhe most extreme Muslims that I have ever seen. his long beard and moustache(as our Prophet's) and throwing everything from his life that Islam forbids. for america every Muslim is a terrorist. everybody should know that Islam don't allow people to kill each other and Allah says: "Who kills anpther person is not a Muslim" in Quran. america don't want to understand that.
By the way Yusuf Islam's new pop album is coming soon. maybe fall or end of the year. Some say that this album will be a synthesis of east and west. 03/09/2006 - Aykut, Istanbul, United States |
| He Nikki from Brampton (1st comment posted): Cat Stevens didn't write or sing 'Seasons in the Sun'. Terry Jacks wrote it. Cat Stevens was a much better songwriter than that! - jennifer, sudbury, Canada |
| i love their song seasons in the sun - Nikki, Brampton, Canada |
| How extreme a Muslim is Cat Stevens now? Does his wife have to be veiled, etc? - Kelli, Cedar Rapids, IA |
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If you only to know his music from 'Wild World' to 'Foreigner', I can tell you that his early era (mid- to late-1960s) includes well composed, well performed, and well crafted music that deserves a listen.
He has a life-long history of religious conversions. He spent portions of his early adult years living the fast life, then dropt from society to do soul-searching. He has been Christian, Greek Orthodox, and Buddhist among other faiths.
I met him in Tucson, Arizona, in the late-1980s. He projected strange behaviours with his Islamic religion conversion - including imposing his closed-mindedness toward his wife and children who exhibited behaviours as that of abuse victims.
- Sharon, Phoenix, AZ |
| Just wondering what Sad Lisa was about?
Sounds to me like Cat is singing about a victim of mental disability in this Lisa, or another possiblity is she is a victim of domestic violence
Iam not sure of facts but its a very deep song with great imagery - Dave, Canberra, Australia |
| I can't believe that Cat Stevens is on a terrorist list. I wonder if America would let him in if he converted back to Christianity?? - Hayley, Cairo, Egypt |
| what has the world come to when Cat Stevens is on a terrorist list? - Danny, Sydney, Australia |
| he really is a great man before being a great artist.. my friend sarah is a huge fan of his.... - Sam, Beirut, Other |
| He did not support or approve killing anyone. The issue with Rushdie was taken out of context.
Yes Annabelle, his name change to Yusuf was a legal change.
Concerning the paintings, he also drew the album covers for Catch Bull At Four, Buddha And The Chocolate Box, and Numbers. - John, Gosford, Australia |
| Story has it he survived a near drowning and the experience led to his conversion to Islam.
- helly, NY, FL |
| 9/22/04 Heard on the news that Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens was not allowed in America becaue his name was on a "terrorist list" What is this world coming to?! He wrote PEACE TRAIN for heavens sake!
- helly, NY, FL |
| he was born in 1948 not 1947 - james, richmond, VA |
| 9/22/04
Heard on the news that Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens was not allowed in America becaue his name was on a "terrorist list"
What is this world coming to?! He wrote PEACE TRAIN for heavens sake! - Amanda, Tulsa, OK |
| Fans were shocked when Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusuf Islam. Was the change actually a legal name change? - Annabelle, Eugene, OR |
| Story has it he survived a near drowning and the experience led to his conversion to Islam. - Charles, Charlotte, NC |
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