Interview

For anyone who grew up in the ’60s or ’70s, the voice of Cat Stevens was a permanent and very beautiful part of the cultural landscape. A self-taught musician, born and raised in London, he’s written many pop standards—“The First Cut is the Deepest,” “Peace Train,” and “Miles from Nowhere,” to name a few—and from 1966, when he released his debut album, Matthew & Son, until 1979, he was one of the biggest pop stars in the world.

In December of 1977, Stevens converted to the Islamic faith, and shortly thereafter took the name Yusuf Islam. Two years later he turned his back on music entirely, and spent the next 28 years devoting himself to spiritual studies, raising his children, and philanthropic work. He’s received numerous awards for his efforts to promote world peace, and has given away quite a lot of money. Yusuf and his family now split their time between homes in London and Dubai.

In 2006, Yusuf returned to the public stage with an album of new songs, An Other Cup. The follow-up, Roadsinger (UMe), is out this month and includes a guest vocal by Alison Krauss, as well as two songs written for his forthcoming stage musical, Moonshadow, which debuts in London in July.

In conversation, Yusuf is sincere, modest, and witty, and he seems content with the life he has made for himself. It has been generally assumed that something about him changed when he converted to the Islamic faith, but, in fact, the music he’s making today addresses exactly the same themes that were central to the first chapter of his career: peace, the many wonders of the world we live in, and love.