Preview: Yusuf Islam/ Nobel Peace Prize Concert, City Hall, Oslo
He's back - the artist formerly known as Cat
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Your support makes all the difference.Yusuf Islam blinks through horn-rimmed glasses at the unexpectedly bright November sun. A neatly trimmed Mod fringe and raffishly cut beard give him the air of an ultra-hip businessman. But he's actually a multi-million-selling pop star on the comeback trail (An Other Cup, his first album in 28 years), who is also a leading figure in the British Muslim community.
One of the aims of his new album is, he said in a recent BBC documentary, to establish the "moderate middle ground" of Islam. He was born Steven Demetre Georgiu in July 1948 and, after becoming Sixties pop star Cat Stevens, Yusuf made one of his generation's most striking journeys of spiritual discovery.
Raised by his Swedish mother and Greek Cypriot father in the flat above their theatre-land eatery, he was perfectly placed to be enriched by several musical explosions. "For me, pop came alive with The Beatles. But John Lennon's roaring chorus on 'Twist and Shout' was the one that broke the sound barrier - that's when I knew, this is the way I've got to go."
During his teens, he began to write songs. His brother David Gordon, who gave him the copy of the Koran that led to his conversion in 1977, was so impressed that he went to amusic business hangout and asked for help; a plea that resulted in his first recording contract. "I'd sing to my mother and brothers and then in the local kebab shop, but it was quite frightening performing for others."
Despite the stage fright, his talent was and still is formidable. As Cat Stevens, he flirted with a variety of disciplines - numerology, Hinduism and Buddhism. An Other Cup, its booklet quoting verses from The Prophet Mohammed, puts Yusuf's Islamic belief, if not surname, to the fore.
"Music by its very nature should be universal and overcome any barriers. That's why I didn't use my name Islam on the record, slogans sometimes frighten people. It's not needed, especially in music where there are no barriers."
Yusuf Islam plays the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo on 11 December. 'An Other Cup' is out now. He appears on 'Later... with Jools Holland' on BBC2 tomorrow
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