Cat Stevens

A London teenage pop star who returned from illness in 1970 with a quieter, folk-based sound, made Tea for the Tillerman, left pop music for about 25 years after taking the name Yusuf Islam, and came back to the stage in the 2000s.

Origin: Marylebone, London, England
Years active: 1965-present
Genres: folk rock, pop, singer-songwriter, Islamic music
Labels: Deram, Island, A&M, Ya Records, Cat-O-Log Records
Also known as: Yusuf Islam, Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Steven Demetre Georgiou

From Shaftesbury Avenue to Island

Steven Demetre Georgiou was born on 21 July 1948 in Marylebone, London, the youngest child of a Greek Cypriot father and a Swedish mother. The family lived above the restaurant they ran on Shaftesbury Avenue. He took a one-year course at Hammersmith School of Art, then chose music, and picked the stage name Cat Stevens because he could not imagine anyone asking a record shop for a Steven Demetre Georgiou album. In 1966 the manager and producer Mike Hurst heard him and Decca signed him. I Love My Dog reached number 28 in the UK and Matthew and Son reached number 2. His next album, New Masters, did not chart, and around then he sold The First Cut Is the Deepest for 30 pounds to P. P. Arnold. The song later became a hit for Rod Stewart, Sheryl Crow and others, and earned him ASCAP Songwriter of the Year awards in 2005 and 2006.

A spell in hospital with tuberculosis and a collapsed lung, and a year of recovery in which he wrote a large number of new songs, changed his direction. He left Deram and auditioned for Chris Blackwell of Island Records, who offered him the chance to record whenever and however he liked. His agent recommended Paul Samwell-Smith, formerly of the Yardbirds, as producer, and Samwell-Smith paired him with the guitarist Alun Davies. Mona Bone Jakon (April 1970) was sparse and acoustic, and its single Lady D'Arbanville reached number 8 in the UK.

The peak, 1970 to 1972

Tea for the Tillerman followed on 23 November 1970, recorded in London in 1970. It reached number 8 in the US and number 20 in the UK, and sold over 500,000 copies within six months. It holds Wild World, Father and Son and Where Do the Children Play?. Ben Gerson wrote in Rolling Stone in 1971 that it was an album affirming the simple life and the individual's search for values.

Teaser and the Firecat (October 1971) reached the top three in both the UK and the US. It gave him Moonshadow, Peace Train, his first US top 10 single at number 7, and Morning Has Broken, with Rick Wakeman on piano, which reached number 9 in the UK and number 6 in the US. Catch Bull at Four (1972) spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard 200. The Guardian's Alexis Petridis writes that Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat each sold nearly 4 million copies worldwide.

Yusuf Islam

Foreigner (1973) was written entirely by Stevens and made without his band and without Samwell-Smith. Buddha and the Chocolate Box went back to acoustic folk and reached the top three in both the US and the UK. Back to Earth, in late 1978, peaked at number 33.

On 23 December 1977 he entered Regent's Park Mosque in London and formally embraced Islam, and in 1978 he took the name Yusuf Islam. On 22 November 1979 he headlined a UNICEF charity concert at Wembley Stadium, then stayed away from pop for roughly 25 years. In the 1990s he began to record again with little beyond percussion, and in 2000 he wrote and produced the children's album A Is for Allah.

Return

In October 2001 he sang Peace Train a cappella on a VH1 pre-show for the Concert for New York City. In December 2004 a new Father and Son with Ronan Keating entered the UK chart at number 2, with the profits going to the Band Aid Trust. An Other Cup (November 2006), his first all-new pop album since 1978, was credited to Yusuf. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Art Garfunkel in April 2014. The Laughing Apple (September 2017) was his first record under the Cat Stevens name since 1978, and Tea for the Tillerman 2 (18 September 2020) re-recorded the 1970 album for its 50th anniversary.

On 25 June 2023 he played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, closing with Wild World and Father and Son. Petridis headlined his review of the set a lowkey triumph. His memoir, Cat on the Road to Findout, came out from Constable in September 2025. Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Peter Gabriel, Carly Simon and Rick Wakeman are among the artists who have cited him as an influence or praised his music. Rolling Stone placed Tea for the Tillerman at number 205 in its 2020 list of the 500 greatest albums.

Records

Tea for the Tillerman 1970 · Island (UK), A&M (North America)
The fourth album, with Wild World, Father and Son and Where Do the Children Play?, and a US top 10.
Mona Bone Jakon 1970 · Island (UK), A&M (US and Canada)
The 1970 return after illness: sparse, acoustic and built on a small band.
Teaser and the Firecat 1971
The 1971 follow-up with Moonshadow, Peace Train and Morning Has Broken.
Catch Bull at Four 1972
His biggest US chart success, three weeks at number one.
Tea for the Tillerman 2 2020 · Cat-O-Log Records (through Island)
The same songs re-imagined for the 50th anniversary, with the voice of the 22-year-old alongside the 72-year-old.

Songs

Wild World Tea for the Tillerman · 1970
A single from Tea for the Tillerman that Jimmy Cliff and Maxi Priest later took up the UK chart.
Father and Son Tea for the Tillerman · 1970
A dialogue in two registers between a father who wants his son to stay and a son who has to go.
Moonshadow Teaser and the Firecat · 1971
A song written in Spain after seeing his own shadow by moonlight, later an animated short and a stage musical.
Peace Train Teaser and the Firecat · 1971
His first US top 10 single, which he went on singing in public long after he left pop.
Morning Has Broken Teaser and the Firecat · 1971
A 1931 hymn that his recording with Rick Wakeman on piano turned into one of his best-known singles.
Where Do the Children Play? Tea for the Tillerman · 1970
The opening track of Tea for the Tillerman, still in his live sets.

Peter Gabriel, Dolly Parton, Rick Wakeman, Carly Simon

Where to go next

Official

Yusuf / Cat Stevens The official site, with news, the store and the autobiography.

Reference

Cat Stevens A full career history.
Tea for the Tillerman The 1970 album, its personnel and reissues.
Mona Bone Jakon The 1970 album that came before Tea for the Tillerman.
Teaser and the Firecat The 1971 album and its personnel.
Catch Bull at Four The 1972 album, with tracklist and personnel.
Tea for the Tillerman 2 The 2020 re-imagining.
Alun Davies The guitarist who accompanied Stevens from 1970 to 1978.

Writing and criticism

Rolling Stone review, 1971 Ben Gerson's contemporary review of Tea for the Tillerman.
Rolling Stone on the 2020 reissues What the 50th anniversary boxes hold.
The Guardian on the memoir Alexis Petridis reviews Cat on the Road to Findout.
The Guardian at Glastonbury, 2023 A review of the Pyramid Stage set.
The Guardian: Yusuf / Cat Stevens The newspaper's archive of reviews and news.
Pitchfork on the memoir The announcement of Cat on the Road to Findout.

Live performance archives

Jack White and Cat Stevens at the Ryman Clips from his first Nashville show in 40 years.

Sources

Cat Stevens, Wikipedia
Tea for the Tillerman, Wikipedia
Tea For The Tillerman, Rolling Stone (1971-02-18)
Cat on the Road to Findout review, The Guardian (2025-09-26)
Yusuf/Cat Stevens at Glastonbury review, The Guardian (2023-06-25)
Yusuf / Cat Stevens to Publish Memoir Cat on the Road to Findout, Pitchfork
Yusuf / Cat Stevens, Official site