Presents, a Life with a Plan. My name is Karen Anastasia Placek, I am the author of this Google Blog. This is the story of my journey, a quest to understanding more than myself. The title of my first blog delivered more than a million views!! The title is its work as "The Secret of the Universe is Choice!; know decision" will be the next global slogan. Placed on T-shirts, Jackets, Sweatshirts, it really doesn't matter, 'cause a picture with my slogan is worth more than a thousand words, it's worth??.......Know Conversation!!!
Savant. A savant
is someone who is or appears to be exceptionally good at one or a few
narrow skills, without having the general intelligence to put that skill
to practical use or even understand what one is doing. ... A savant is never a genius, gifted, or prodigy.
Genius, Gifted, Prodigy or Savant? - by Paul Cooijmans...
I would like the country, my country, the United States of America to understand how I feel as I suffered a tremendous amount of testing as a child. The stress and abandonment that followed the results is as easy as saying that it is already written? The publishing of a post is comprehension at the age of three years old. https://anindependentmindknotlogic.blogspot.com/2018/06/you-dont-understand-prejudice-and.html
As a last thought to this day of wonderful packing of my belongings to
move home I wish to say a piece to a puddle of tears and pain. Often in
the past few years people of the United States of America have spoken
of bigotry and prejudice. This has been the main vein of the heart of
this country's talk radio and television, the video clips on Youtube
have far surpassed the main vein and been gut wrenching. To have had
witness to all this disorganization I would like to say to each and
every one of you, you have no idea what bigotry and prejudice is in
reality. Your premise of dismissal to reality at hand is that you
refuse to recognize what is real prejudice and what bigotry does to a
human being.
I am the only prodigy that tested genius and was found to be a savant
walking the Earth today. Not one person has said hello or acknowledged
one tweet, email and or letter that I have sent. I have been ostracized
in such a manner but because I am a Caucasian/White I can say nothing.
Should I have been any other Race on the face of the Planet the News
would have recorded it.
As the only Prodigy, that is a Genius, and has now been saddled with
being a Savant I have had my wish come true because I told you.
Thank you for your attention in this matter of bigotry and prejudice
and cruelty against a human as it is not funny and in my life so far all
people have done is laugh. Sadly this has been allowed to happen
because I am only one person.
The subject of ‘Care’:
The everyday life of an American in the year of 2019 shows that “care” is not
part of their existence.The affair of
better than or lesser than is so found by the ignorance that staffs this
country, my country, the United States of America in such prevalence as bigots
and the prejudice behavior shows around the U.S. in all aspect.From the housing crisis to the everyday
priced items, these indicative stages of humanity in or on human growth are
certainly the most painful of paths to have witnessed. The removal of family
from the path of happiness is best served by our government by example as that
is the most prevalent road that Americans have allowed to take place in the
most recent of years, circa 1970 to 2008. Now to expound upon that ridiculous measure our country the United
States of America now breaks in fathom distances.Now the families of what are referred to as
immigrants are torn from their countries and families.
The found: Evidence that
certainly finds that breaking the American family first gave precedence to the
previous history circa 1680s.What is
good for the citizen is better for the exchange.Is this a “Trade Secret”? Perhaps it is the human
trafficking of the slavery times that brought the African to the Americas as
our land was subject to Spain and its prowess for detail.The 1600s brought to our shores with ships
and dockets full to the brim with human beings a people that were foreign to us
and yet somehow, someway we are all still trying to work it out today however these
people, the African once again suffered the horror of being removed from their
families and separated from any and all traditions, ancestors to the hold as my
country now their country also had the United States of America that at least
held the animal spirit as an accepted belief.
The relief although circumspect will be communicated through the street
level existence of us all, or, and, the tent to tent type of communication or talk
in simple conversations.This loving
nature has seen more than I through the rough times and will most certainly see
more human beings, us Americans through, as this World is a Planet made of
dirt.
The rock that most would
believe the core to be formed from is just a distance grip that muck collected
around and will bust as the duty of the classic statue, that makes memory the
form of simplified.
Dialing for more of care
in the ignorance of discrimination is as looking to the waves of the ocean at
the Pacific.My country does not know
the Liberty Bell as it cracked leaving only a shell of a bell in a museum, a
replica at that and can be seen in Philadelphia however for point of
understanding today the Liberty Bell was cast at London's
Whitechapel Bell Foundry.
The
only viable bell that would be known to have replaced our Liberty Bell would be
found at Wall Street in New York City now.Twice a day and only Monday thru Friday that bell is rung, and only in
announcement of the hours that any well-seated citizen will find to be the
“Care times”.
These are not the basic
terms of agreement as by instruction of a Chief in Fresno announcing in slow
cadence, we have a Constitution.However
is that care?Or is it just a posture of
points?
To fathom:March to that date and the feeling is of
courting a sure thing however is the Constitution a sure thing or is it based
on the court of the land, and, if that is the case does that not mean that it
is the ‘We the people’ and the posture of the duty to juror, or, is itjust the everyday judgment on the street
before you may be heard?To the
hearing
there is not a spot of construction that the Liberty Bell demonstrates
our
ability to at the very least trombone a complaint of prejudice (I keep
it at this point of posture as other points pressure the law in or with
conditions and I don't like that). It is left
for the actual act to inheritance of acting out, what a shame plagues
those
that have removed the Square for the oath of ignorance to indulge the
truth
that sampling not caring has destroyed the United States of America in
front of
the entire world.
Note to honor: My mother (Died: January 11, 2017) always asked "Where is
Liberty?!?"
All the politicians do is
fight: Should the word 'care' been an
action would we as Americans not stopped the breaking of families and
implemented an emergency order of cadence to revive at the very least our fireplace?To work for our homes, to engage with our
city, to support our Goods and then Trade would have found the legs of balance
and the "Give me your tired, your poor, Your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my
lamp beside the golden door” would have been some sort of lost flux
replaced by ‘care’ of the ones that would have inhabited this land with
wisdom.The reason for this
determination is simplified as the Statue of Liberty was a gift from
France.These words have lifted
Americans and yet the actual or the assault of that gift in the Statue of
Liberty was lost as that gift came from a country that cared?
This duplex of society in
America, or, is it the United States as North Americans in a sort of agreement
that measured the care to light the land?In this life I am meant to be learning to be mean.This strange stagger caused me to follow
particular rules, in other words or plain English or is it American?
I follow
the airline instructions by putting my oxygen mask on first and then helping
the person closest to me, at least this gave to me the comprehension of more
than just a Pilots instruction as it was the standard edition of instructions
made by the FAA.In direction of
simplicity it means, I have had to learn to take care of myself first and then
aid the person closest to me in order for them to take care of their self.Is this the care of only two?This repeated pattern should have brought
care to a more bearable agreement as the one by one would have grown to the two
by done.
What is it in this country; my
country, the United States of America that care has become just verbiage to say
that torture is the outcome?These
plural foundations have delivered a more critical environment as should ‘We the
people’ cared than our fellow American would not be without a roof, our fellow
American would have had money in their pocket and that is just based on
following the airplane rules however should only one be following such easy
instructions than what has happened will become the measure.The horrid advantage taking that has plagued
our nation on such a level that “Go Fund Me” pages have taken the nines to the
platters and in findings have discovered many Americans taking advantage of
other Americans.This wretched behavior has
such a bad effect that now ‘We the people’ have found that silence is no longer
silent’s do good, it is become recluses’? That obvious measure has become evident as the
cell phone users have nothing on their mind but the next App. and the outcome
of the speed to get another “like” or “share” for their latest rip on whom may
or may not bring their five minutes of fame a new term.
There is no good answer
as I am living being in a world that does not understand genius.This world does not understand prodigy.This world does not understand savant.This world should understand that I am all
three.
A new Civil War in the United States of America? What privy would have thought that the prices on the West Coast would have had to be negotiated in order for our country to have coast to coast safety in a World that has had World Wars? The people.
All around our nation the citizens of the United States have forgotten W.W.I and W.W.II. This does not even consider the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf Wars, or more recently the Iraq War. To engage thought to the citizens of the United States of America I employ 'Go West'!!
For that I would include that most citizens enjoy living the safety of the middle of this country as that is the peaceful and serenity of Montana, Wyoming, Utah and many other States that have those plateaus that answer our wonderful song 'Home, Home On The Range'. To this I simply state that the Bay Area must be being attacked by the east Coast on some surf of their prowess as the West Coast has yet to develop to the amazing standards of structure, i.e., the Empire State Building.
As the obvious bears upon this year 2019 I strongly advise the people on the east Coast to rival their minds with more than the dollar as now that the E.U. has taken Europe by storm the inevitable greed will most certainly begin to infect your coastline cities as you have much more development than we do here on the West Coast. Also, Europe is full to the brim as those people have utilized every corner of their lands and according to the Netherlands the sea has been controlled by the gates and energy is now being produced by their Windmills.
Interestingly a Port City is the in and out of our very existence however it also provides a country with a Port of Entry and fortunately we Americans were able to "Go West" and purchase our coastline from Santa Ana after a great war. In such we as Americans have a coast to coast security however with the price gouging in the Bay Area has put at risk our security as a Nation and is subject to no liberty and of course the Statue of Liberty only stands in New York City harbor as provided by France, kiss both cheeks and finish the rest of this saying and the Ass will be the dawn key of my post. These simple subjects and statues show the World how pliable we, the citizens of the United States of America are vulnerable. We have only the 250 years of government and the countries worldwide have thousands of years of experience.
Don't give your bowel to the expressed, "It is very expensive in the Bay Area", this is a repeated quote that the commercial technique of bartering "Realtors" and/or Newscasters reporting on the local television (KRON Channel 4, San Francisco or Armstrong & Getty KGO AM Radio reporting out of Sacramento) bravo stories of house prices and what is affordable. The newest story just fires to the Middle Class of America in the United States however the Middle Class fell with the citizens of the 1930s. As what would be hindsight should we lose our coastline? A landlocked country with a wall, and the wall would be called "The East Coast".
Nov 29, 2017 - The announcement of the 60th Recording Academy's GRAMMY Awards sees Yusuf / Cat Stevens receive his first ever nomination. The honour ...
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the liberation war in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 to the fall of ...... :133–135 This crash program reached parity in 1977 when the first weapon design ..... "Islamic Pakistan: Illusions and Reality". ghazali.net.
This is a timeline of incidents in 1977 that have been labelled as "terrorism" and are not ... Nation of Islam splinter group "Hanafi" take over three buildings in Washington, D.C., Washington City Hall, ... Rhodesian Bush War ... December 19, Bombing, Paris, France, A bomb destroyed the luxury food shop Fauchon in Paris.
Jun 10, 2018 - In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam, and he adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all of his ...
Steven Georgiou, born on 21 July 1948 in the Marylebone area of London,[17] was the youngest child of a Greek Cypriot father, Stavros Georgiou (1900–1978),[18] and a Swedish mother, Ingrid Wickman (1915–1989).[19] He has an older sister, Anita (b. 1937), and a brother, David Gordon.[17] The family lived above the Moulin Rouge, a restaurant his parents operated on the north end of Shaftesbury Avenue, a short walk from Piccadilly Circus in the Sohotheatre district of London. All family members worked in the restaurant.[17] His parents divorced when he was about eight years old, but continued to maintain the family restaurant and live above it.
Although his father was Greek Orthodox and his mother was a Baptist, Georgiou was sent to St Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School, Macklin Street, which was closer to his father's business on Drury Lane.[20]
Georgiou developed an interest in piano at a young age, eventually
using the family baby grand piano to work out the chords, since no one
else there played well enough to teach him.[21] At 15, inspired by the popularity of the Beatles, he became interested in the guitar.[10] He persuaded his father to pay £8 (equivalent to £200 in 2018[22]) for his first guitar, and began playing it and writing songs.[21]
He occasionally escaped his family responsibilities by going to the
rooftop above their home and listening to the tunes of the musicals
drifting from around the corner[17] on Denmark Street, then the centre of the British music industry.[10] Stevens said that West Side Story particularly affected him, and gave him a "different view of life".[23] With interests in both art and music, he and his mother moved to Gävle,
Sweden, where he attended primary school (Solängsskolan) and started
developing his drawing skills after being influenced by his uncle Hugo
Wickman, a painter. They subsequently returned to England.[24]
He attended other local West End
schools, where he says he was constantly in trouble, and did poorly in
everything but art. He was called "the artist boy", and said, "I was
beat up, but I was noticed".[25] He took a one-year course at Hammersmith School of Art,[26] considering a career as a cartoonist. Though he enjoyed art (his later record albums featured his original artwork),[25] he decided to pursue a music career. He began performing under the name "Steve Adams" in 1965 while at Hammersmith.[26][27] At that point, his goal was to become a songwriter. As well as the Beatles, other musicians who influenced him were the Kinks,[28]Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, blues artists Lead Belly and Muddy Waters,[29]Biff Rose (particularly Rose's first album), Leo Kottke[25] and Paul Simon.[30] He also sought to emulate composers of musicals, like Ira Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. In 1965 he signed a publishing deal with Ardmore & Beechwood and recorded several demos, including "The First Cut Is the Deepest".[31]
Musical career (1966–70)
Early musical career
Cat Stevens (Dutch TV, 1966)
Georgiou began performing his songs in London coffee houses and pubs.
At first he tried forming a band, but realised he preferred performing
solo.[21]
Thinking his given name might not be memorable, he chose the stage name
Cat Stevens, in part because a girlfriend said he had eyes like a cat,
but mainly because "I couldn't imagine anyone going to the record store
and asking for 'that Steven Demetre Georgiou album'. And in England, and
I was sure in America, they loved animals."[32] In 1966, at age 18, he was heard by manager/producer Mike Hurst, formerly of British vocal group the Springfields. Hurst arranged for him to record a demo and helped him get a record deal. Stevens's first singles were hits: "I Love My Dog" reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart; and "Matthew and Son", the title song from his debut album, reached number 2 in the UK.[33] "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun" was his second UK top 10 single, reaching number 6, and the album Matthew and Son reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart.[34] The original version of the Tremeloes' hit "Here Comes My Baby" was written and recorded by Stevens.
Over the next two years, Stevens recorded and toured with an eclectic group of artists ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Engelbert Humperdinck. He was considered a fresh-faced teen star, placing several single releases in the British pop music charts.[35] Some of that success was attributed to the pirate radio station Wonderful Radio London,
which gained him fans by playing his records. In August 1967, he went
on the air with other recording artists who had benefited from the
station to mourn its closure.[36][37]
His December 1967 album New Masters failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The album is now most notable for his song "The First Cut Is the Deepest", a song he sold for £30 (equivalent to £500 in 2018[22]) to P. P. Arnold that was to become a massive hit for her,[38] and an international hit for Keith Hampshire, Rod Stewart, James Morrison, and Sheryl Crow.
Forty years after he recorded the first demo of the song, it earned him
two back-to-back ASCAP "Songwriter of the Year" awards, in 2005 and
2006.[39][40]
Tuberculosis
Stevens contracted tuberculosis in 1969[25][41] and was close to death at the time of his admittance to the King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, West Sussex.[41] He spent months recuperating in the hospital and a year of convalescence.
During this time Stevens began to question aspects of his life and
spirituality. He later said, "to go from the show business environment
and find you are in hospital, getting injections day in and day out, and
people around you are dying, it certainly changes your perspective. I
got down to thinking about myself. It seemed almost as if I had my eyes
shut."[33]
He took up meditation, yoga, and metaphysics;[42] read about other religions; and became a vegetarian.[32] As a result of his serious illness and long convalescence,[42]
and as a part of his spiritual awakening and questioning, he wrote as
many as 40 songs, many of which would appear on his albums in years to
come.[11]
Changes in musical sound after illness
The
lack of success of Stevens' second album mirrored a difference of
personal tastes in musical direction, and a growing resentment of
producer Mike Hurst's attempts to re-create another album like that of
his debut, with heavy-handed orchestration, and over-production,[30] rather than the folk rock
sound Stevens was attempting to produce. He admits having purposefully
sabotaged his own contract with Hurst, making outlandishly expensive
orchestral demands and threatening legal action, which resulted in his
goal: release from his contract with Deram Records, a sub-label of Decca Records.[33]
Upon regaining his health at home after his release from the hospital,
Stevens recorded some of his newly written songs on his tape recorder,
and played his changing sound for a few new record executives. After
hiring agent Barry Krost, who had arranged for an audition with Chris Blackwell of Island Records,
Blackwell offered him a "chance to record [his songs] whenever and with
whomever he liked, and more importantly to Cat, however he liked".[42] With Krost's recommendation, Stevens signed with Paul Samwell-Smith, previously the bassist of the Yardbirds, to be his new producer.[43]
Musical career (1970–78)
Height of popularity
Stevens performing in Böblingen, West Germany, in 1976
Around this time, Stevens had a catalogue of new songs that reflected
his new perspective on what he wanted to bring to the world with his
music. His previous work had sold at home in the UK, but Stevens was
still relatively unknown by the public across the Atlantic. To rectify
this, after signing with Island Records in 1970, an American distribution deal was arranged with A&M Records' Jerry Moss in North America. Stevens began work on Mona Bone Jakon, a folk rock based album.
Producer Paul Samwell-Smith paired Stevens with guitarist Alun Davies, who was at that time working as a session musician. Davies was the more experienced veteran of two albums which had already begun to explore the emerging genres of skiffle and folk rock music. Davies was also thought a perfect fit with Stevens in particular for his "fingerwork" on the guitar, harmonising and his backing vocals. They originally met just to record Mona Bone Jakon,[44] but soon developed a friendship. Davies, like Stevens, was a perfectionist,[45] appearing at all sound checks to be sure that all the equipment and sound were prepared for each concert.[46]
He collaborated with Stevens on all but two of the succeeding albums
Stevens released, and performed and recorded with him until Stevens'
retirement. Their friendship continued, however, and when Stevens
re-emerged as Yusuf Islam after 27 years, Davies appeared again
performing at his side, and has remained there.
The first single released from Mona Bone Jakon was "Lady D'Arbanville", which Stevens wrote about his young American girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville. The record, with a madrigal sound unlike most music played on pop radio, with sounds of djembes and bass in addition to Stevens' and Davies' guitars, reached number 8 in the UK.[34] It was the first of his hits to get real airplay in the US.[33] It sold over 1 million copies, and was awarded a gold record in 1971.[47] Other songs written for D'Arbanville included "Maybe You're Right", and "Just Another Night".[48] In addition, the song "Pop Star", about his experience as a teen star, and "Katmandu", featuring Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel playing flute, were featured. Mona Bone Jakon was an early example of the solo singer-songwriter album format that was becoming popular for other artists as well. Rolling Stone magazine compared its popularity with that of Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection, saying it was played "across the board, across radio formats".[49] Mona Bone Jakon was the precursor for Stevens' international breakthrough album, Tea for the Tillerman, which became a Top 10 Billboard
hit. Within six months of its release, it had sold over 500,000 copies,
attaining gold record status in the United Kingdom and the United
States. The combination of Stevens' new folk rock style and accessible
lyrics which spoke of everyday situations and problems, mixed with the
beginning of spiritual questions about life, would remain in his music
from then on. The album features the Top 20 single "Wild World"; a parting song after D'Arbanville moved on. "Wild World" has been credited as the song that gave Tea for the Tillerman
'enough kick' to get it played on FM radio; and the head of Island
Records, Chris Blackwell, was quoted as calling it "the best album we've
ever released".[30] Other album tracks include "Hard-Headed Woman", and "Father and Son",
a song sung both in baritone and tenor, about the struggle between
fathers and their sons who are faced with their own personal choices in
life. In 2001, this album was certified by the RIAA as a Multi-Platinum
record, having sold 3 million copies in the United States at that time.[50] It is ranked at No. 206 in the 2003 list of "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[51]
After the end of his relationship with D'Arbanville, Stevens
noted the effect it had on writing his music, saying, "Everything I
wrote while I was away was in a transitional period and reflects that.
Like Patti. A year ago we split; I had been with her for two years. What
I write about Patti and my family ... when I sing the songs now, I
learn strange things. I learn the meanings of my songs late ..."[51]
Having established a signature sound, Stevens enjoyed a string of successes over the following years. 1971's Teaser and the Firecat
album reached number two and achieved gold record status within three
weeks of its release in the United States. It yielded several hits,
including "Peace Train", "Morning Has Broken", and "Moonshadow".
This album was also certified by the RIAA as a Multi-Platinum record in
2001, with over 3 million sold in the United States through that time.
When interviewed on a Boston radio station, Stevens said about Teaser and the Firecat:
I get the tune and then I just keep on singing the tune
until the words come out from the tune. It's kind of a hypnotic state
that you reach after a while when you keep on playing it where words
just evolve from it. So you take those words and just let them go
whichever way they want ...'Moonshadow'? Funny, that was in Spain, I
went there alone, completely alone, to get away from a few things. And I
was dancin' on the rocks there ... right on the rocks where the waves
were, like, blowin' and splashin'. Really, it was so fantastic. And the
moon was bright, ya know, and I started dancin' and singin' and I sang
that song and it stayed. It's just the kind of moment that you want to
find when you're writin' songs.[52]
For seven months from 1971 to 1972 Stevens was romantically linked to popular singer Carly Simon
while both were produced by Samwell-Smith. During that time both wrote
songs for and about one another. Simon wrote and recorded at least two
Top 50 songs, "Legend in Your Own Time" and "Anticipation" about Stevens. He reciprocated in his song to her, after their romance, titled, "Sweet Scarlet".[53][54][55]
His next album, Catch Bull at Four,
released in 1972, was his most rapidly successful album in the United
States, reaching gold record status in 15 days, and holding the
number-one position on the Billboard charts for three weeks. This
album continued the introspective and spiritual lyrics that he was
known for, combined with a rougher-edged voice and a less acoustic sound
than his previous records, using synthesisers and other instruments.
Although the sales of the album indicated Stevens' popularity, the album
did not produce any real hits, with the exception of the single
"Sitting", which charted at number 16. Catch Bull at Four was Platinum certified in 2001.
Movie and television soundtracks
In July 1970, Stevens recorded one of his songs, "But I Might Die Tonight", for the Jerzy Skolimowski film, Deep End.[56] In 1971, Stevens provided nine songs to the soundtrack of the black comedyHarold and Maude which became a popular cult film
celebrating the free spirit, and brought Stevens' music to a wider
audience, continuing to do so long after he stopped recording in the
late 1970s. Among the songs were "Where Do the Children Play?", "Trouble", and "I Think I See the Light". Two of the songs, "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out", were not released on any album until their inclusion in 1984 on a second "greatest hits" collection, Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.
After his religious conversion in the late 1970s, Stevens stopped
granting permission for his songs to be used in films. However, almost
20 years later, in 1997, the movie Rushmore received his permission to use his songs "Here Comes My Baby" and "The Wind", showing a new willingness on his part to release his music from his Western "pop star" days.[23] This was followed in 2000 by the inclusion of "Peace Train" in the movie Remember the Titans,[57] in 2000 by the use in Almost Famous of the song "The Wind",[58] and in 2006 the inclusion of "Peace Train" on the soundtrack to We Are Marshall.[59]
Since then, permission has been given for Cat Stevens songs to be used
in the soundtracks for several movies and TV shows, including the song
"Tea for The Tillerman" used as the theme tune for the Ricky GervaisBBC-HBO sitcom Extras. A Christmas-season television commercial for gift-giving by the diamond industry aired in 2006 with Cat Power's cover of "How Can I Tell You".
In 2011, "Don't Be Shy" was used in the pilot episode of the ABC television series Once Upon A Time. In 2014, "Cat and the Dog Trap" (from the Tell 'Em I'm Gone album released as Yusuf) was used on an episode of the CBS television series Elementary. In 2016, the single "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" appeared in a television commercial for the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The following year, "Father and Son" was used in the closing scene of the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. His version for "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was used on the trailer of the fourth season of the TV series Skam.
Later recordings
Cat Stevens poster advertising a concert from WMMS in 1976.
Subsequent releases in the 1970s also did well on the charts and in
ongoing sales, although they did not touch the success he had from 1970
to 1973. In 1973, Stevens moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a tax exile from the United Kingdom, however, he later donated the money to UNESCO.[60] During that time he created the album Foreigner,
which was a departure from the music that had brought him to the height
of his fame. It differed in several respects: entirely written by
Stevens, he dropped his band and produced the record without the
assistance of Samwell-Smith, who had played a large role in catapulting
him to fame. With the exception of some guitar on the title track and
"100 I Dream",[61]
he played keyboard instruments throughout the album. It was intended to
show a funk/soul element rising in popularity that Stevens had come to
appreciate. One side of Foreigner was continuous, much different
from the radio-friendly pop tunes fans had come to expect. In November
1973 he performed side two of the album at the Aquarius Theater in Hollywood, with a pre-arranged uninterrupted quadraphonicsimulcast on the ABC network.
The show was titled the "Moon and Star" concert. This performance did
include his band, but they were all but overshadowed by an orchestra.
The album produced a couple of singles including "The Hurt", but did not
reach the heights he had once enjoyed.
The follow-up to Foreigner was Buddha and the Chocolate Box, largely a return to the instrumentation and styles employed in Teaser and the Firecat and Tea for the Tillerman. Featuring the return of Alun Davies and best known for "Oh Very Young", Buddha and the Chocolate Box reached platinum status in 2001. Stevens' next album was the concept albumNumbers, a less successful departure for him.
In April 1977, his Izitso album updated his pop rock and folk rock style with the extensive use of synthesisers,[62] giving it a more synthpop style.[63] "Was Dog a Doughnut" in particular was an early techno-pop fusion track and a precursor to the 1980s electro music genre,[64] making early use of a music sequencer.[65]Izitso included his last chart hit, "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard", an early synthpop song[63] that used a polyphonic synthesiser; it was a duet with fellow UK singer Elkie Brooks.[65]Linda Lewis
appears in the song's video, with Cat Stevens singing to her, as they
portray former schoolmates, singing to each other on a schoolyard
merry-go-round. This is one of the few music videos that Stevens made,
other than simple videos of concert performances.[citation needed]
His final original album under the name Cat Stevens was Back to Earth,
released in late 1978, which was also the first album produced by
Samwell-Smith since his peak in single album sales in the early 1970s.
Several compilation albums were released before and after he stopped
recording. After Stevens left Decca Records they bundled his first two
albums together as a set, hoping to ride the commercial tide of his
early success; later his newer labels did the same, and he himself
released compilations. The most successful of the compilation albums
was the 1975 Greatest Hits which has sold over 4 million copies in the United States. In May 2003 he received his first Platinum Europe Award from the IFPI for Remember Cat Stevens, The Ultimate Collection, indicating over one million European sales.[66]
Religious conversion
While on holiday in Marrakesh, Morocco, Stevens was intrigued by the sound of the Aḏhān, the Islamic ritual call to prayer, which was explained to him as "music for God".
Stevens said, "I thought, music for God? I'd never heard that before –
I'd heard of music for money, music for fame, music for personal power,
but music for God!"[67]
In 1976 Stevens nearly drowned off the coast of Malibu, California, United States,
and said he shouted: "Oh, God! If you save me I will work for you." He
related that right afterward a wave appeared and carried him back to
shore. This brush with death intensified his long-held quest for
spiritual truth. He had looked into "Buddhism, Zen, I Ching, numerology, tarot cards, and astrology".[32] Stevens' brother David Gordon, a convert to Judaism,[68] brought him a copy of the Qur'an as a birthday gift from a trip to Jerusalem.[23] Stevens was quickly taken with its content, and he began his transition to Islam.
During the time he was studying the Qur'an, Stevens began to identify more and more with the story of Joseph, a man bought and sold in the market place, which is how he said he had increasingly felt within the music business.[43] Regarding his conversion, in his 2006 interview with Alan Yentob,[69] he stated, "To some people, it may have seemed like an enormous jump, but for me, it was a gradual move to this." And, in a Rolling Stone
magazine interview, he reaffirmed this, saying, "I had found the
spiritual home I'd been seeking for most of my life. And if you listen
to my music and lyrics, like "Peace Train" and "On The Road To Find
Out", it clearly shows my yearning for direction and the spiritual path I
was travelling."[70]
Stevens formally converted to the Muslim faith on 23 December 1977, taking the name Yusuf Islam in 1978. Yusuf is the Arabic rendition of the name Joseph; he stated that he "always loved the name Joseph" and was particularly drawn to the story of Joseph in the Qur'an.[43]
Although he discontinued his pop career, he was persuaded to perform
one last time before what would become his twenty-five-year musical
hiatus. Appearing with his hair freshly shorn and an untrimmed beard, he
headlined a charity concert on 22 November 1979 in Wembley Stadium to benefit UNICEF's International Year of the Child.[71] The concert closed with his performance along with David Essex, Alun Davies, and Islam's brother, David Gordon, who wrote the finale song "Child for a Day".[71]
After a brief engagement to Louise Wightman,[72] Islam married Fauzia Mubarak Ali on 7 September 1979,[71] at Regent's Park Mosque in London. They have one son and four daughters and nine grandchildren;[73] a second son died in infancy.[74] They currently live in London, spending part of each year in Dubai.[12]
Life as Yusuf Islam (1978–present)
Muslim faith and musical career
Islam appearing at the Islam Expo in London (2008)
Following his conversion, Islam abandoned his musical career for nearly three decades. In 2007, he said that when he became a Muslim in 1977, the Imam
at his mosque told him that it was fine to continue as a musician, as
long as the songs were morally acceptable, but others were saying that
"it was all prohibited", and he decided to avoid the question by ceasing
to perform.[75]
He has said that there was "a combination of reasons, really", and that
the continuing demands of the music business had been "becoming a
chore, and not an inspiration anymore".[75] In a 2004 interview on Larry King Live,
he said "A lot of people would have loved me to keep singing. You come
to a point where you have sung, more or less ... your whole repertoire
and you want to get down to the job of living. You know, up until that
point, I hadn't had a life. I'd been searching, been on the road."[20]
Estimating in January 2007 that he was continuing to earn approximately US$1.5 million a year from his Cat Stevens music,[76]
he said he would use his accumulated wealth and ongoing earnings from
his music career on philanthropic and educational causes in the Muslim
community of London and elsewhere. In 1983, he founded the Islamia Primary School in Brondesbury Park, later moved to Salusbury Road,[77] in the north London area of Queen's Park[1] and, soon after, founded several Muslim secondary schools; in 1992, he set up The Association of Muslim Schools (AMS-UK), a charity that brought together all the Muslim schools in the UK. He is also the founder and chairman of the Small Kindness charity, which initially assisted famine victims in Africa and now supports thousands of orphans and families in the Balkans, Indonesia, and Iraq.[78] He served as chairman of the charity Muslim Aid from 1985 to 1993.[79]
In 1989 following an address by Islam to students at London's Kingston University, where he was asked about the fatwacalling for the killing of Salman Rushdie, author of the novel The Satanic Verses,
Islam made a series of comments that appeared to show his support for
the fatwa. He released a statement the following day denying that he
supported vigilantism, and claiming that he had merely recounted the legal Islamic punishment
for blasphemy. In a 2006 BBC interview, he displayed a newspaper
clipping from that period, with quotes from his statement. Subsequent
comments made by him in 1989 on a British television programme were also
seen as being in support of the fatwa. In a statement in the FAQ
section of one of his websites, Islam asserted that while he regretted
the comments, he was joking and that the show was improperly edited.[80] In the years since these comments, he has repeatedly denied ever calling for the death of Rushdie or supporting the fatwa.[11][70]
I wish to express my heartfelt horror at the indiscriminate
terrorist attacks committed against innocent people of the United States
yesterday. While it is still not clear who carried out the attack, it
must be stated that no right-thinking follower of Islam could possibly
condone such an action. The Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent
person with the murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the
families of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of
violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect the feelings of
all Muslims and people around the world whose sympathies go out to the
victims of this sorrowful moment.[81][82]
He appeared on videotape on a VH1 pre-show for the October 2001 Concert for New York City, condemning the attacks and singing his song "Peace Train" for the first time in public in more than 20 years, as an a cappella
version. He also donated a portion of his box-set royalties to the fund
for victims' families, and the rest to orphans in underdeveloped
countries.[83] During the same year, he dedicated time and effort in joining the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism,
an organisation that worked towards battling misconceptions and acts
against others because of their religious beliefs or their racial
identity (or both), after many Muslims reported a backlash against them
due in part to the grief caused by the events in the United States on 11
September.[60]
Denial of entry into the United States
On 21 September 2004, Islam was on a United Airlines flight from London to Washington, travelling to a meeting with US entertainer Dolly Parton,
who had recorded "Peace Train" several years earlier and was planning
to include another Cat Stevens song on an upcoming album.[69] While the plane was in flight, his name was flagged as being on the No Fly List. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers alerted the United States Transportation Security Administration, which then diverted his flight to Bangor, Maine, where he was detained by officers from the Department of Homeland Security.[84]
The following day, he was denied entry and flown back to the
United Kingdom. A spokesman for Homeland Security claimed there were
"concerns of ties he may have to potential terrorist-related
activities".[85] The Israeli government had deported Islam in 2000 over allegations that he provided funding to the Palestinian organisation Hamas,[86] but he denied doing so knowingly.[87] Islam, who has repeatedly condemned terrorism and Islamic extremism, stated "I have never knowingly supported or given money to Hamas".[88]
"At the time I was reported to have done it, I didn't know such a group
existed. Some people give a political interpretation to charity. We
were horrified at how people were suffering in the Holy Land."[87]
However, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added him to a "watch list"[26] which provoked an international controversy and led the British Foreign SecretaryJack Straw to complain personally to the United States Secretary of StateColin Powell at the United Nations.[89]
Powell responded by stating that the watchlist was under review,
adding, "I think we have that obligation to review these matters to see
if we are right".[90]
Islam believed his inclusion on a "watch list" may have simply
been an error: a mistaken identification of him for a man with the same
name, but different spelling. On 1 October 2004 he requested the removal
of his name, "I remain bewildered by the decision of the US authorities
to refuse me entry to the United States".[91]
According to his statement, the man on the list was named "Youssef
Islam", indicating that Islam was not the suspected terrorism supporter.[20]Romanisation of Arabic names can easily result in different spellings: the transliteration of the Islamic name for Joseph lists a dozen spellings.
Two years later, in December 2006, Islam was admitted without
incident into the United States for several radio concert performances
and interviews to promote his new record.[92]
He said of the incident at the time, "No reason was ever given, but
being asked to repeat the spelling of my name again and again, made me
think it was a fairly simple mistake of identity. Rumours which
circulated after made me imagine otherwise."[93]
Islam wrote a song about his 2004 exclusion from the US, titled "Boots and Sand", recorded in 2008 and featuring Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, and Terry Sylvester.[94]
Libel cases
Lawsuit over News UK newspaper reports that he had supported terrorism
In October 2004 the News UK newspapers The Sun and The Sunday Times voiced their support for Islam's exclusion from the United States and claimed that he had supported terrorism. He sued for libel
and received an out-of-court financial settlement from the newspapers,
which both published apology statements saying that he had never
supported terrorism and mentioning that he had recently been given a Man of Peace award from the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. However The Sunday Times
managing editor Richard Caseby said that while there was an "agreed
settlement", they "always denied liability" and "disagreed with Cat
Stevens' lawyers interpretation", but took a "pragmatic view" of the
lawsuit.[95]
Islam responded that he was "delighted by the settlement [which]
helps vindicate my character and good name. ... It seems to be the
easiest thing in the world these days to make scurrilous accusations
against Muslims, and in my case it directly impacts on my relief work
and damages my reputation as an artist. The harm done is often difficult
to repair", and added that he intended to donate the financial award
given to him by the court to help orphans of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.[95] He wrote about the experience in a newspaper article titled "A Cat in a Wild World".[96]
Lawsuit about allegations that he would not talk to unveiled women
On 18 July 2008, Islam received substantial undisclosed damages from the World Entertainment News Network following their publication of a story which claimed that the singer refused to speak to unveiled women.[97] The allegations first surfaced in the German newspaper BZ after Islam's trip to Berlin in March 2007 to collect the Echo music award for "life achievements as musician and ambassador between cultures".[98] Once again he was awarded damages after the World Entertainment News Network allowed an article to be published on Contactmusic.com
alleging that he would not speak to unveiled women with the exception
of his wife. His solicitor said "he was made out to be 'so sexist and
bigoted that he refused at an awards ceremony to speak to or even
acknowledge any women who were not wearing a veil'".[97][99]
The news agency apologised and issued a statement saying that Islam has
never had any problem in working with women and that he has never
required a third party to function as an intermediary at work.[98] The money from this lawsuit went to his Small Kindness Charity.[97]
On his website, he discussed the false allegation, saying,
The accusation that I do not speak
or interact with ladies who are not veiled is an absurdity.... It's true
that I have asked my manager to respectfully request that lady
presenters refrain from embracing me when giving awards or during public
appearances, but that has nothing to do with my feelings or respect for
them. Islam simply requires me to honour the dignity of ladies or young
girls who are not closely related to me, and avoid physical intimacy,
however innocent it may be.
... My four daughters all follow the basic wearing of clothes
which modestly cover their God-given beauty. They're extremely well
educated; they do not cover their faces and interact perfectly well with
friends and society.[100]
Islam gradually resumed his musical career in the 1990s. His initial
recordings had not included any musical instruments other than
percussion, and featured lyrics about Islamic themes, some in spoken word or hamd
form. He invested in building his own recording studio which he named
Mountain of Light Studios in the late 1990s, and he was featured as a
guest singer on "God Is the Light", a song on an album of nasheeds by the group Raihan. In addition, he invited and collaborated with other Muslim singers, including Canadian artist Dawud Wharnsby. After Islam's friend, Irfan Ljubijankić, the Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was killed by a Serbian rocket attack, Islam appeared at a 1997 benefit concert in Sarajevo and recorded a benefit album named after a song written by Ljubijankić, I Have No Cannons That Roar.[101]
Realising there were few educational resources designed to teach
children about the Islamic religion, Islam wrote and produced a
children's album, A Is for Allah, in 2000[102] with the assistance of South African singer-songwriter Zain Bhikha.
The title song was one Islam had written years before to introduce his
first child to both the religion and the Arabic alphabet. He also
established his own record label, "Jamal Records", and Mountain of Light
Productions, and he donates a percentage of his projects' proceeds to
his Small Kindness charity, whose name is taken from the Qur'an.[103]
On the occasion of the 2000 re-release of his Cat Stevens albums,
Islam explained that he had stopped performing in English due to his
misunderstanding of the Islamic faith. "This issue of music in Islam is
not as cut-and-dried as I was led to believe ... I relied on heresy [sic],[104] that was perhaps my mistake."[102]
Islam has reflected that his decision to leave the Western pop
music business was perhaps too quick with too little communication for
his fans. For most, it was a surprise, and even his long-time guitarist,
Alun Davies, said in later interviews that he hadn't believed that his
friend would actually go through with it, after his many forays into
other religions throughout their relationship.[43]
Islam himself has said the "cut" between his former life and his life
as a Muslim might have been too quick, too severe, and that more people
might have been better informed about Islam, and given an opportunity to
better understand it, and himself, if he had simply removed those items
that were considered harām,
in his performances, allowing him to express himself musically and
educate listeners through his music without violating any religious
constraints.[105]
In 2003, after repeated encouragement from within the Muslim world,[106] Islam once again recorded "Peace Train" for a compilation CD, which also included performances by David Bowie and Paul McCartney. He performed "Wild World" in Nelson Mandela's 46664 concert with his former session playerPeter Gabriel, the first time he had publicly performed in English in 25 years. In December 2004, he and Ronan Keating released a new version of "Father and Son": the song entered the charts at number two, behind Band Aid 20's "Do They Know It's Christmas?"
They also produced a video of the pair walking between photographs of
fathers and sons, while singing the song. The proceeds of "Father and
Son" were donated to the Band Aid charity. Keating's former group, Boyzone,
had a hit with the song a decade earlier. As he had been persuaded
before, Islam contributed to the song, because the proceeds were marked
for charity.
On 21 April 2005 Islam gave a short talk before a scheduled musical performance in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the anniversary of the prophet Muhammad's birthday. He said:
There
is a great deal of ignorance in the world about Islam today, and we
hope to communicate with the help of something more refined than
lectures and talks. Our recordings are particularly appealing to the
young, having used songs as well as Qur'an verses with pleasing sound
effects ...[107]
Islam observed that there are no real guidelines about instruments
and no references about the business of music in the Qur'an, and that Muslim travellers first brought the guitar to Moorish Spain.
He noted that Muhammad was fond of celebrations, as in the case of the
birth of a child, or a traveller arriving after a long journey. Thus,
Islam concluded that healthy entertainment was acceptable within
limitations, and that he now felt that it was no sin to perform with the
guitar. Music, he now felt, is uplifting to the soul; something sorely
needed in troubled times.[108]
At that point, he was joined by several young male singers who sang
backing vocals and played a drum, with Islam as lead singer and
guitarist. They performed two songs, both half in Arabic, and half in
English; "Tala'a Al-Badru Alayna",
an old song in Arabic which Islam recorded with a folk sound to it, and
another song, "The Wind East and West", which was newly written by
Islam and featured a distinct R&B sound.
With this performance, Islam began slowly to integrate
instruments into both older material from his Cat Stevens era (some with
slight lyrical changes) and new songs, both those known to the Muslim
communities around the world and some that have the same Western flair
from before with a focus on new topics and another generation of
listeners.[105]
In a 2005 press release, he explained his revived recording career:
After I embraced Islam, many people
told me to carry on composing and recording, but at the time I was
hesitant, for fear that it might be for the wrong reasons. I felt unsure
what the right course of action was. I guess it is only now, after all
these years, that I've come to fully understand and appreciate what
everyone has been asking of me. It's as if I've come full circle;
however, I have gathered a lot of knowledge on the subject in the
meantime.[106]
"In Islam there is
something called the principle of common good. What that means is that
whenever one is confronted by something that is not mentioned in the
scriptures, one must observe what benefit it can bring. Does it serve
the common good, does it protect the spirit, and does it serve God? If
the scholars see that it is something positive, they may well approve of
what I'm doing."
In early 2005, Islam released a new song, titled "Indian Ocean",
about the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami disaster. The song
featured Indian composer/producer A. R. Rahman, a-ha keyboard player Magne Furuholmen and Travis drummer Neil Primrose. Proceeds of the single went to help orphans in Banda Aceh, one of the areas worst affected by the tsunami, through Islam's Small Kindness charity. At first, the single was released only through several online music stores but later featured on the compilation album Cat Stevens: Gold.
"I had to learn my faith and look after my family, and I had to make
priorities. But now I've done it all and there's a little space for me
to fill in the universe of music again."[110]
On 28 May 2005, Islam delivered a keynote speech and performed at the Adopt-A-Minefield Gala in Düsseldorf.
The Adopt-A-Minefield charity, under the patronage of Paul McCartney,
works internationally to raise awareness and funds to clear landmines
and rehabilitate landmine survivors. Islam attended as part of an honorary committee which also included George Martin, Richard Branson, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Klaus Voormann, Christopher Lee and others.[111]
In mid-2005, Islam played guitar for the Dolly Parton album, Those Were the Days, on her version of his "Where Do the Children Play?" (Parton had also covered "Peace Train" a few years earlier.)
Islam has credited his then 21-year-old son Muhammad Islam, also a
musician and artist, for his return to secular music, when the son
brought a guitar back into the house, which Islam began playing.[11] Muhammad's professional name is Yoriyos[12] and his debut album was released in February 2007.[112][113] Yoriyos created the art on Islam's album An Other Cup, something that Cat Stevens did for his own albums in the 1970s.
In May 2006, in anticipation of his forthcoming new pop album, the BBC1 programme Imagine aired a 49-minute documentary with Alan Yentob called Yusuf: The Artist formerly Known as Cat Stevens.
This documentary film features rare audio and video clips from the late
1960s and 1970s, as well as an extensive interview with Islam, his
brother David Gordon, several record executives, Bob Geldof, Dolly Parton,
and others outlining his career as Cat Stevens, his conversion and
emergence as Yusuf Islam, and his return to music in 2006. There are
clips of him singing in the studio when he was recording An Other Cup
as well as a few 2006 excerpts of him on guitar singing a few verses of
Cat Stevens songs including "The Wind" and "On the Road to Find Out".[69]
In December 2006, Islam was one of the artists who performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, in honour of the prize winners, Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank.
He performed the songs "Midday (Avoid City After Dark)", "Peace Train",
and "Heaven/Where True Love Goes". He also gave a concert in New York
City that month as a Jazz at Lincoln Center event, recorded and broadcast by KCRW-FM radio, along with an interview by Nic Harcourt. Accompanying him, as in the Cat Stevens days, was Alun Davies, on guitar and vocals.
2006–present: as Yusuf
2006–08: An Other Cup and appearances
In March 2006, Islam finished recording his first all-new pop album since 1978.[114] The album, An Other Cup, was released internationally in November 2006 on his own label, Ya Records (distributed by Polydor Records in the UK, and internationally by Atlantic Records)—the 40th anniversary of his first album, Matthew and Son. An accompanying single, called "Heaven/Where True Love Goes", was also released. The album was produced with Rick Nowels, who has worked with Dido and Rod Stewart.
The performer is noted as "Yusuf", with a cover label identifying him
as "the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens". The art on the album is
credited to Yoriyos. Islam wrote all of the songs except "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood",[115] and recorded it in the United States and the United Kingdom.[114]
Islam actively promoted this album, appearing on radio,
television and in print interviews. In November 2006, he told the BBC,
"It's me, so it's going to sound like that of course ... This is the
real thing ... When my son brought the guitar back into the house, you
know, that was the turning point. It opened a flood of, of new ideas and
music which I think a lot of people would connect with."[116]
Originally, he began to return only to his acoustic guitar as he had in
the past, but his son encouraged him to "experiment", which resulted in
the purchase of a Stevie Ray VaughanFender Stratocaster[117] in 2007.
Also in November 2006, Billboard magazine was curious as to why the artist is credited as just his first name, "Yusuf" rather than "Yusuf Islam".[110] His response was "Because 'Islam' doesn't have to be sloganised.
The second name is like the official tag, but you call a friend by
their first name. It's more intimate, and to me that's the message of
this record." As for why the album sleeve says "the artist formerly
known as Cat Stevens", he responded, "That's the tag with which most
people are familiar; for recognition purposes I'm not averse to that.
For a lot of people, it reminds them of something they want to hold on
to. That name is part of my history and a lot of the things I dreamt
about as Cat Stevens have come true as Yusuf Islam." [110]
Islam was asked by the Swiss periodicalDas Magazin why the title of the album was An Other Cup, rather than "Another Cup". The answer was that his breakthrough album, Tea for the Tillerman
in 1970, was decorated with Islam's painting of a peasant sitting down
to a cup of steaming drink on the land. He commented that the two worlds
"then, and now, are very different". His new album shows a steaming cup
alone on this cover. His answer was that this was actually an other
cup; something different; a bridge between the East and West, which he
explained was his own perceived role. He added that, through him,
"Westerners might get a glimpse of the East, and Easterners, some
understanding of the West. The cup, too, is important; it's a meeting
place, a thing meant to be shared."[109]
On CBS Sunday Morning in December 2006, he said, "You
know, the cup is there to be filled ... with whatever you want to fill
it with. For those people looking for Cat Stevens, they'll probably find
him in this record. If you want to find [Yusuf] Islam, go a bit deeper,
you'll find him."[11] He has since described the album as being "over-produced" and refers to An Other Cup as being a necessary hurdle he had to overcome before he could release his new album, Roadsinger.[citation needed]
In April 2007, BBC1 broadcast a concert given at the Porchester Hall by Islam as part of BBC Sessions, his first live performance in London in 28 years (the previous one being the UNICEF
"Year of the Child" concert in 1979). He played several new songs along
with some old ones like "Father and Son", "The Wind", "Where Do the
Children Play?", "Don't Be Shy", "Wild World", and "Peace Train".[118]
In July 2007, he performed at a concert in Bochum, Germany, in benefit of Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Peace Centre in South Africa and the Milagro Foundation of Deborah and Carlos Santana. The audience included Nobel Laureates Mikhail Gorbachev, Desmond Tutu and other prominent global figures. He later appeared as the final act in the German leg of Live Earth
in Hamburg performing some classic Cat Stevens songs and more recent
compositions reflecting his concern for peace and child welfare. His set
included Stevie Wonder's "Saturn", "Peace Train", "Where Do the Children Play?", "Ruins", and "Wild World". He performed at the Peace One Day concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 21 September 2007.[119]
In 2008 Islam contributed the song "Edge of Existence" to the charity album Songs for Survival, in support of the indigenous rights organisation Survival International.
In January 2009, Islam released a single in aid of children in Gaza, a rendition of the George Harrison song, "The Day the World Gets Round", along with the German bassist Klaus Voorman, who had formerly collaborated with The Beatles. To promote the new single, Voormann redesigned his famous Beatles Revolveralbum cover, drawing a picture of a young Cat Stevens along with himself and Harrison.[120] Proceeds from the single were donated to charities and organisations including UNESCO, UNRWA, and the nonprofit group Save the Children, with the funds earmarked for Gaza children.[121] Israeli ConsulDavid Saranga
criticised Islam for not dedicating the song to all of the children who
are victims of the conflict, including Israeli children.[122]
On 5 May 2009, Islam released Roadsinger,
a new pop album recorded in 2008. The lead track, "Thinking 'Bout You",
received its debut radio play on a BBC programme on 23 March 2009.[123] Unlike An Other Cup, he promoted the new album with appearances on American television as well as in the UK. He appeared on The Chris Isaak Hour on the A&E
network in April 2009, performing live versions of his new songs,
"World O'Darkness", "Boots and Sand", and "Roadsinger". On 13 May he
appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in Los Angeles, and on 14 May, on The Colbert Report in New York City, performing the title song from the Roadsinger album. On 15 May, he appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, performing "Boots and Sand" and "Father and Son". On 24 May he appeared on the BBC's The Andrew Marr Show, where he was interviewed and performed the title track of Roadsinger. On 15 August, he was one of many guests at Fairport Convention's annual Fairport's Cropredy Convention where he performed five songs accompanied by Alun Davies, with Fairport Convention as his backing band.[citation needed]
A world tour was announced on his web site to promote the new
album. He was scheduled to perform at an invitation-only concert at New
York City's Highline Ballroom on 3 May 2009[124] and to go on to Los Angeles, Chicago and Toronto, as well as some to-be-announced European venues.[12]
However, the New York appearance was postponed due to issues regarding
his work visa. He appeared in May 2009 at Island Records' 50th
Anniversary concert in London.[12] In November and December 2009, Islam undertook his "Guess I'll Take My Time Tour" which also showcased his musical play Moonshadow.
The tour took him to Dublin, where he had a mixed reception;
subsequently he was well received in Birmingham and Liverpool,
culminating in an emotional performance at the Royal Albert Hall in
London. In June 2010 he toured Australia for the first time in 36 years,[125] and New Zealand for the first time ever.[126]
Islam in Sydney in 2012
On 30 October 2010 Islam appeared at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's spoof Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, DC, singing alongside Ozzy Osbourne. Islam performed "Peace Train" and Ozzy performed "Crazy Train" at the same time, followed by The O'Jays performance of "Love Train".[127]
On 2 March 2011, Islam released his latest song, "My People", as a
free download available through his official website, as well as
numerous other online outlets.[128]
Said to have been recorded at a studio located within a hundred yards
of the site of the Berlin Wall, the song is inspired by a series of
popular uprisings in the Arab world, known as the Arab Spring.[129]
On 1 April 2011, he launched a new tour website
(yusufinconcert.com) to commemorate his first European tour in over 36
years scheduled from 7 May to 2 June 2011. The ten-date tour visited
Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and cities such as Stockholm, Hamburg, Oberhausen, Berlin, Munich, Rotterdam, Paris, Mannheim, Vienna and Brussels.[130]
In May 2012, Moonshadow, a new musical featuring music from throughout his career opened at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. The show received mixed reviews and closed four weeks early.[131][132]
In October 2013, Islam was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work under the Cat Stevens name (this was his second nomination – the first being an unsuccessful nomination in 2005).[133][134][135][136] He was selected and was inducted by Art Garfunkel in April 2014 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where he performed "Father and Son", "Wild World", and "Peace Train".[137][138][139] A record of his travel from Dubai to New York is captured in an episode of the National Geographic Channel television show Ultimate Airport Dubai
(season 2, episode 6), first aired in China on 17 January 2015. In this
episode he talks about his difficulty in entering the US.[140]
2014–2017: Tell 'Em I'm Gone, "He Was Alone" and tours
On 15 September 2014, Islam announced the forthcoming release on 27 October 2014 of his new studio album, Tell 'Em I'm Gone,
and two short tours: a November 2014 (9-date) Europe tour and a
December 2014 (6-date) North America tour, the latter being his first
one since 1976.[141][142] On 4 December 2014, he played to his first public US audience since the 1970s at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia.[143]
Islam performed two shows in early 2015: on 27 February at the Viña del Mar Festival, Quinta Vergara, Viña del Mar, Chile and on 22 April at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, area of Cardiff, Wales, UK.
On 1 June 2016, Islam shared a new song called "He Was Alone" and
its corresponding video. Part of his newly launched fundraising
campaign for child refugees, #YouAreNotAlone, the song was inspired by a
trip to southern Turkey's camps for Syrian refugees.[144]
He performed the song live for the first time in a special charity
concert, his first show in more than a year, on 14 June 2016 at the
Westminster Central Hall in London.[144][145]
On 26 July 2016, Islam announced he would be part of the Global Citizen Festival held on 24 September 2016 in Central Park, New York, New York.[146]
On 9 August 2016, Islam announced "A Cat's Attic Tour", his
second North American tour since 1978, beginning on 12 September 2016 at
the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto and ending on 7 October 2016 at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. The string of 12 dates roughly coincides with the 50th anniversary of his first single, I Love My Dog, and would "feature a limited run of stripped down, introspective performances."[147] The tour included three shows in New York City (two shows at the Beacon Theatre and one show in Central Park at the Global Citizen Festival),[146] his first shows in New York City since 1976.[16] In keeping with his spirit of humanitarianism,[148] he would be donating a portion of the revenue from each ticket sale towards his charity Small Kindness, as well as UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee[149] in an effort to assist children affected by the current Syrian refugee crisis.
2017–present: The Laughing Apple
On 15 September 2017, he released his fifteenth studio album, The Laughing Apple.[150] The album is credited to "Cat Stevens / Yusuf" and is his first record under the Cat Stevens name since Back to Earth in 1978.[151][152] The album earned him his first nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.
In July 2018, Yusuf signed with BMG Rights Management, which will publish his songwriting credits worldwide and distribute nine of his studio albums.[153]
Awards
Humanitarian awards
2003: World Award (also known as the "World Social Award"), an award organised by Mikhail Gorbachev, for "humanitarian relief work helping children and victims of war".[154]
2007: Honorary doctorate (LLD) by the University of Exeter, in recognition of "his humanitarian work and improving understanding between Islamic and Western cultures".[160][161]
Kelly Boyer Sagert (1 January 2007). The 1970s. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 166–. ISBN978-0-313-33919-6.
Alfred William Cramer (2009). Musicians & Composers of the 20th Century: Gram Parsons-Igor Stravinsky. Salem Press. pp. 1405–1406. ISBN978-1-58765-516-6.
Samir Amghar; Amel Boubekeur; Michael Emerson (2007). European Islam: Challenges for Public Policy and Society. CEPS. pp. 71–. ISBN978-92-9079-710-4.
"Songwriter of the Year". The American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers. 2006. Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2008.
O'Driscoll, Michelle (29 July 1972). "Tea with the Tillerman". Disc Magazine. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
Hely, Allan (1972). "Cat Stevens 1972 Concert Programme". Festival Records PTY, Limited. The Paul Dainty Corporation (Australia) Pty. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
Forbes, Jim (host) (2000). Cat Stevens: Behind the Music (TV series). United States: VH1.
"Cat's Man". Disc and Music Echo. 5 February 1972. Retrieved 24 October 2008.
Fox-Cumming, Ray (1972). "Taff at the Top". Majicat.com. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 286. ISBN0-214-20512-6.
DesBarres, Pamela; D'Arbanville, Patti (1 September 2008). Helter Skelter Publishing, ed. Let's Spend the Night Together. Chicago Review Press. p. 54. ISBN1-55652-789-6. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
Fong-Torres, Ben (1 April 1971). "Cat Stevens Out of a Bag". Magazine article and interview. Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 1 March 2010.
Richard Thompson; Cat Stevens (1979). "International Year of the Child". 'Together for Children' (a joint Oxfam/Unicef Programme) presents:. Performance at the Year of the Child Concert. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
Williamson, Nigel (17 November 2006). "The Billboard Q and A: Yusuf Islam". Billboard Magazine. Interview with Yusuf Islam; Return to Music. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
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