You know by what name: Who is Yusuf Islam or Cat Stevens?

Born in London in July 1948 to a Greek father and Swedish mother, Steven Demetre Georgiou spent his youth in the neon-lit streets of the West End of London.

Of course, it corresponded to the time called the British Invasion, which was also called a period in music at that time. Almost the whole music market of the world was walking with the artists on the island. Discovered in a music competition in this environment, Stevens' career began.

Undoubtedly, the most competent period for his music was the 70s. He entered the top ten in the UK charts with "Matthew and Son", which is also the name of his debut album in 1967. After his sudden fame and the life he brought, he fell ill with tuberculosis in 1969, a disease that would take a long time to treat. This period, when he was on the brink of death, was the beginning of his first spiritual searches. His album "Tea for the Tillerman", which made him internationally famous and whose impact lasted for years, is the product of the expansions he experienced in this period's hospital room, where he meditated while staring at the ceiling. His subsequent album "Catch Bull at Four" was named after Zen Buddhism, a reflection of his search for meaning in his life. “Peace Train”, “Morning Has Broken” and “Moonshadow,” he wrote in the following years had already added him to the legends of music.

The first echo of Islam in his soul would be with the adhan, which he heard during his vacation in Marrakech and which the Moroccans described to him as "the music of God". God and the music duo appeared in his mind as a very unusual expression, as he constantly equated music with money, fame, and power. It wasn't just his body that breathed and came back to life while escaping at the last minute from drowning at sea in California.

In the early period of his spiritual change, Yusuf Islam severely radically separated God and music. God had spoken to him through music, but he sent his music into exile for 20 years. Perhaps he blamed his music and the splendid life it provided for keeping him away from the truth for years, but in reality, the immense compassion, love, and longing reflected in his songs had a very deep connection with the sacred and the transcendent.

While returning to music, a few educational and 'permissible' music he wrote for children, such as "A is for Allah" and "God is the Light", were in a sense the bridges that reconciled Cat Stevens and Yusuf Islam. At the heart of this peace was his desire to use his music as an intermediary in order to convey the "cause" of his religion, which he saw as a great blessing, to more people and to introduce this message, which was good news for him, to humanity.

On the other hand, as anyone with a developed musical taste and without prejudice can admit, the post-Islamic music of Yusuf Islam cannot keep up with the first period in terms of musicality, verbal power, or aesthetic depth.

Life story

Cat Stevens or Yusuf Islam (born Stephen Demetre Georgiou, born 21 July 1948 in London) is an English songwriter and musician. He is generally known by his stage name Cat Stevens, which he took at the beginning of his music career. He converted to Islam in 1977 and changed his name to Yusuf Islam two years later.

Georgiou has sold more than 60 million albums, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly under the pseudonym Cat Stevens. He is remembered for his famous hits such as "Wild World", "Father and Son", "Morning Has Broken", "Peace Train" and "The First Cut Is the Deepest", "Lady D'Arbanville". The artist was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

Although his father was Greek Orthodox, Steven attended a Catholic school. When he was 8 years old, his parents divorced and they lived together for a while, but his mother took her son and returned to Sweden. He dropped out at the age of 16, then entered the Art School but dropped out as well.

He made his first hit track and album at the age of 18. The song "I Love my Dog" signified the birth of Cat Stevens. He released his album, Matthew and Son, in 1966. It was during this period that he took the name, Cat Stevens. The album New Masters, released in 1967, was not very popular, this album is remembered by many people with the song The First Cut Is the Deepest, which was later interpreted by many.

In early 1968, at the age of 19, Stevens contracted tuberculosis. It took 1970 for him to return to music after being hospitalized for months.

Mona Bone Jakon was released in 1970, which is based on folk music and is considered a little different from his previous albums. This album also includes the song "Lady D'Arbanville" (which later became a classic) for her then-love, Patti D'Arbanville. Cat Stevens continued on his path with the internationally successful album Tea for the Tillerman, released in the second half of 1970. Wild World was the most liked and popular track in this album.

Stevens, who created his own unique music, continued to enjoy success with his 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat. This album included many hit tracks such as "Peace Train", "Morning Has Broken" and "Moonshadow". He continued to release new albums in the 70s.

Being a Muslim

Cat Stevens, who was about to drown in an accident in 1976 and prayed to God, says on VH1 years later that he was thinking: "Oh God! If you save me I will work for you." This near-death experience changed his mood. His brother David gave the Qur'an to Cat Stevens as a gift because he saw it in a mosque in Jerusalem and thought it comforted him, and thus his conversion to Islam began. In 1977, he changed his name to Yusuf Islam as a Muslim.

After his conversion, he took a break from his music career for a long time. He walked away from the stage and even asked music companies not to distribute their albums anymore, but this request was denied. He changed this decision 28 years later, with the guitar he picked up at his son's house in 2006. First, he sang his old song Father and Son with Ronan Keating. He then released the album An Other Cup in 2006. Then, on May 5, 2009, his critically acclaimed album, Roadsinger, was released. The musician finally released his latest album, Tell 'Em I'm Gone, at the end of 2014.

He currently lives in London with his wife, Fauzia Mubarak Ali, and their six children.

Albums

By the name of Cat Stevens

• Matthew & Son (1966)
• New Masters (1967)
• Mona Bone Jakon (1970)
• Tea for the Tillerman (1970)
• Teaser and the Firecat (1971)
• Catch Bull at Four (1972)
• Foreigner (1973)
• Buddha and the Chocolate Box (1974)
• Saturnight (Live in Tokyo) (1974)
• Numbers (1975)
• Izitso (1977)
• Back to Earth (1978)
• Majikat (2005)
• Gold (2005 compilation)
• My lady d'arbanville