Interview

MCKENNA: Where did you run into Paulo Coelho?

ISLAM: At this thing called the Fortune Forum in London where Ted Turner was giving a talk. Turner has given away a billion dollars, and I like people like that. Fortune Forum is a philanthropic organization that concentrates on one charity or objective every year. Joss Stone was singing.

MCKENNA: What are you currently listening to?

ISLAM: I’ve been listening to George Harrison. Klaus Voorman recently made a record for his 70th birthday and asked various musicians to select a song he’d played on and do a duet with him. Klaus played on most of George’s records, so I chose “All Things Must Pass” and “The Day the World Gets Round.” I love listening to George’s music again—his spirit is fantastic.

MCKENNA: Your son is a musician. How did you feel about him going into the music business?

ISLAM: I had some trepidation about that, but he has his own views about what he wants to do, and I have to accommodate that. My son advises me a lot these days. He introduced me to the Red Hot Chili Peppers because he wanted me to hear the production on their records. It was quite impressive, I must say. He also likes Eddie Vedder, who I met recently. I happened to be having breakfast at Shutters [the Los Angeles hotel] one day, and Sean Penn was across the room. We kind of clocked each other, then made arrangements to meet the next day, and Sean brought Eddie along to breakfast. He’s got a great aura about him.

MCKENNA: Are there musicians who you would like to work with?

ISLAM: I’d like to work with Bob Dylan someday. His son Jesse did a lovely film for a new song that didn’t find a home on this album. It’s kind of a joke song about the incident in 2004 when I was on my way to the States to make a record and was denied entry into the country. [Ed. note: Available only as a single, Yusuf’s song about the incident, “Boots & Sand,” features Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton.]

MCKENNA: How do you feel about America?

ISLAM: America was my home for a very long time, and it’s a fascinating, pioneering country that many people look to. In the recent past it hasn’t been doing very well, but there’s a great new hope now with the election of Obama. America took a very big leap there and proved that it still has the edge as far as being able to do things many other countries may find difficult.

Photo: Yusuf Islam, May 2007. Photo: © Greer Studios/Corbis Outline.

Kristine McKenna is a Los Angeles–based curator and writer.

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