Cat Stevens bio

Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou on 21 July, 1948 in London, England) performed under the name Cat Stevens from 1966 to 1978. He is an English musician, singer-songwriter, educator, philanthropist, and a prominent convert to Islam. Under the name Cat Stevens he has sold over 60 million albums around the world from the late 60s to the present day. His albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified by the RIAA as having achieved Triple Platinum status in the United States (3 million sales each); his album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release and was Billboard's #1 LP for three consecutive weeks. His songwriting has also earned him two ASCAP songwriting awards (for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", which has been a hit single for four different artists.) Stevens became a convert to Islam in 1977 and in 1978 adopted the name Yusuf Islam, leaving his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. As a high-profile voice for Islam, he caused controversy in 1989 with public statements that were widely interpreted as support for the fatwa against Salman Rushdie, an interpretation which he has denied. In 2006 he returned to pop music, with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including the 2004 Man for Peace award and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. He lives with his wife, Fauzia Mubarak Ali and five children in London and spends part of each year in Dubai. magazine in 1972]]

Source: Wikipedia