Short Biography

Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou on 21 July 1948), best known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British musician of Greek Cypriot and Swedish ancestry. He is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist and prominent convert to Islam.

As Cat Stevens, he sold over 60 million albums around the world since the late 1960s. His albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified as Triple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States; his album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone, and was Billboard`s number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. His songwriting has also earned him two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years, for "The First Cut Is the Deepest," which has been a hit single for four different artists, and has been instrumental for others in establishing their musical careers.

Stevens converted to Islam at the height of his fame in 1977. The following year, he adopted his Muslim name Yusuf Islam, sold all his instruments and awards for charity,[citation needed] and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003`s World Award,the 2004 Man for Peace award, and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. In 2006, he returned to pop music, with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup.

He lives with his wife and children in London, and spends part of each year in Dubai.

Steven Georgiou was the third child of a Greek-Cypriot father, Stavros Georgiou (b. 1900)[1] and a Swedish mother, Ingrid Wickman (b. 1915).[2] The family lived above Moulin Rouge, the restaurant that his parents operated on Shaftesbury Avenue, a few steps from Piccadilly Circus in the Soho theatre district of London. Every family member worked in the restaurant.[3] His parents divorced when he was about 8 years old, but they continued to maintain and live above the family restaurant.

Although his father was Greek Orthodox and his mother a Swedish Baptist, Georgiou was sent to a Catholic school, St. Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School in Macklin Street, which was closer to his father`s business on Drury Lane.[4] Georgiou developed an interest in piano at a fairly 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. At age 15, he extended this interest, and after convincing his father to buy him a guitar for £8, began practicing playing it and writing songs.[5] He would escape at times from his family responsibilities to the rooftop above their home, and listen to the tunes of the musicals drifting from just down the street.[3] With interests in both art and music, he and his mother travelled to Gävle, Sweden, where he started developing his drawing skills after being influenced by his uncle Hugo, a painter.[citation needed]

At age 16, he left school, where he says he was constantly in trouble, and did poorly in everything but art. He was called "the artist boy", he reflects, and mentions that, "I was beat up, but I was noticed." [6] Instead, he was accepted by, then later dismissed from, Hammersmith Art School.[7] He originally wanted to be a cartoonist, however, though he enjoyed art, --his later record albums would feature his original artwork on the cover

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