Folk music owes its mainstream success to a few people, with one of the trailblazers being a singer-songwriter that has changed his name a few times. Let’s take a deep dive into the musical world of Cat Stevens…
- His real name is a bit longer and more interesting, Steven Demetre Georgiou. In 1977, he changed his name yet again to Yusuf Islam when he became a Muslim. In 1979, he auctioned off his guitars and gave the money to charity in an effort to show his devotion to Islam
- He tells Uncut magazine that his girlfriend at the time helped him pick his most famous stage name: Cat Stevens. “Christine said to me one day ‘you look so much like a cat.’ That kind of stuck.”
- In 1968, Stevens contracted Tuberculosis. After a long recovery, he started writing more introspective songs that lead him to his signature folk sound and message. “I was smoking a lot,” he tells Mojo Magazine. “Dope as well but mostly cigarettes. So then along came this disease and I was stuck with it. It was a kind of godsend in a way for me. That period was my blossoming into who I wanted to be.”
- The late 60s and early 70s were Stevens’ heyday, hitting success with songs like Father and Son, Wild World, Moonshadow, Peace Train, and Morning Has Broken
- Not only can he sing and write, he can paint as well. His artwork graces the front of three of his albums
- 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 9/11 terrorist attacks on America
- Yusuf continues to perform today, mostly without any interest in commercial success, but instead for enlightenment and to assist his religion. He has released new albums occasionally and gone back on tour, only to donate some or most of the proceeds to charities
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