107-562: New Masters is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens , released in December 1967 by Deram Records (a new subsidiary of Decca Records ) as a follow-up to the highly successful debut album, Matthew and Son . The label was disappointed by Cat Stevens' second album's poor sales, given that the previous album made the UK Top Ten and produced several hit singles. New Masters generated little interest, failing to chart in either
214-417: A Rolling Stone magazine interview, he reaffirmed that, saying, "I had found the spiritual home I'd been seeking for most of my life. And if you listen to my music and lyrics, like "Peace Train" and "On The Road To Find Out", it clearly shows my yearning for direction and the spiritual path I was travelling." Stevens formally converted to Islam on 23 December 1977, taking the name Yusuf Islam in 1978. Yusuf
321-545: A Swedish mother, Ingrid Wickman (1915–1989). He has an older sister, Anita (b. 1937), and a brother, David Gordon. The family lived above the Moulin Rouge, a restaurant his parents operated on the north end of Shaftesbury Avenue , a short walk from Piccadilly Circus in the Soho theatre district of London. All family members worked in the restaurant. His parents divorced when he was about eight years old but continued to maintain
428-555: A fatwa against Rushdie, resulting in several failed assassination attempts on the author, who was granted police protection by the UK government, and attacks on connected individuals, including the Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi who was stabbed to death in 1991. Assassination attempts against Rushdie continued, including an attempt on his life in August 2022. The Satanic Verses consists of
535-491: A frame narrative , using elements of magical realism, interlaced with a series of sub-plots that are narrated as dream visions experienced by one of the protagonists. The frame narrative involves Indian expatriates in contemporary England. The two protagonists, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, are both actors of Indian Muslim background. Farishta is a Bollywood superstar who specialises in playing Hindu deities (the character
642-456: A madrigal sound, unlike most music played on pop radio, with djembes and bass in addition to Stevens' and Davies' guitars. It reached number eight in the UK and was the first of his hits to get real airplay in the US. The single sold over one million copies and earned him a gold record in 1971. Other songs written for D'Arbanville included "Maybe You're Right" and "Just Another Night". "Pop Star",
749-655: A "watch list" which provoked an international controversy and led the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to complain personally to the United States Secretary of State Colin Powell at the United Nations. Powell responded by stating that the watchlist was under review, adding, "I think we have that obligation to review these matters to see if we are right". Islam believed his inclusion on
856-560: A "watch list" may have simply been an error: a mistaken identification of him for a man with the same name, but different spelling. On 1 October 2004 he requested the removal of his name, "I remain bewildered by the decision of the US authorities to refuse me entry to the United States". According to his statement, the man on the list was named "Youssef Islam", indicating that Islam was not the suspected terrorism supporter. Romanisation of Arabic names can easily result in different spellings:
963-468: A 2003 volume of criticism of Rushdie's career, the influential critic Harold Bloom named The Satanic Verses "Rushdie's largest aesthetic achievement". Timothy Brennan called the work "the most ambitious novel yet published to deal with the immigrant experience in Britain" that captures the immigrants' dream-like disorientation and their process of "union-by-hybridization". The book is seen as "fundamentally
1070-620: A cat, but mainly because "I couldn't imagine anyone going to the record store and asking for 'that Steven Demetre Georgiou album'. And in England, and I was sure in America, they loved animals." In 1966, at age 18, he was heard by manager/producer Mike Hurst , formerly of British vocal group the Springfields . Hurst arranged for him to record a demo and helped him get a record deal. Stevens's first singles were hits: " I Love My Dog " reached number 28 on
1177-726: A climate of "fear and nervousness". In mid-February 1989, following the violent riot against the book in Pakistan, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , then Supreme Leader of Iran and a Shiite scholar, issued a fatwa calling for the death of Rushdie and his publishers, and called for Muslims to point him out to those who can kill him if they cannot themselves. Although the British Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher gave Rushdie round-the-clock police protection, many politicians on both sides were hostile to
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#17328630753401284-498: A conciliatory statement by Iran in 1998, and Rushdie's declaration that he would stop living in hiding, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported in 2006 that the fatwa would remain in place permanently since fatawa can only be rescinded by the person who first issued them, and Khomeini had since died. Hitoshi Igarashi , Rushdie's Japanese translator, was found by a cleaning lady, stabbed to death in his office at
1391-582: A convert to Judaism , brought him a copy of the Qur'an as a birthday gift from a trip to Jerusalem . Stevens said on BBC's Desert Island Discs : "I would never have picked up the Qur'an myself as a free spirit; I was more aligned to my father's Greek Orthodox beliefs." His brother's timely gift was quickly absorbed and he was taken with its content, soon beginning his transition and conversion to Islam, which would change forever his private and professional life. During
1498-517: A home in London while currently preferring to spend a major part of each year in Dubai . Following his conversion to Islam, he abandoned his musical career for nearly two decades. When he became a Muslim in 1977, the imam at his mosque told him that it was fine to continue as a musician, as long as the songs were morally acceptable. However, because others said that "it was all prohibited", he decided to avoid
1605-516: A misleading way. In a 2007 letter to the editor of The Daily Telegraph , Rushdie complained of what he believed was Islam's attempts to "rewrite his past", and called his claims of innocence "rubbish". On 12 August 2022, Salman Rushdie suffered a knife attack as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York , United States. In response to
1712-600: A musical career. He began performing under the name "Steve Adams" in 1965 while at Hammersmith. At that point, his goal was to become a songwriter. As well as the Beatles, other musicians who influenced him were the Kinks , Bob Dylan , Nina Simone , blues artists Lead Belly and Muddy Waters , Biff Rose (particularly Rose's first album), Leo Kottke and Paul Simon . He also sought to emulate composers of musicals, such as Ira Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein . In 1965, he signed
1819-508: A novel which happened to contain a castigation of Western materialism . The tone is comic." After the Satanic Verses controversy developed, some scholars familiar with the book and the whole of Rushdie's work, like M. D. Fletcher, saw the reaction as ironic. Fletcher wrote "It is perhaps a relevant irony that some of the major expressions of hostility toward Rushdie came from those about whom and (in some sense) for whom he wrote." He said
1926-453: A painter. They subsequently returned to England. He attended other local West End schools, where he says he was constantly in trouble and did poorly in everything but art. He was called 'the artist boy' and said, "I was beat up, but I was noticed". He took a one-year course at Hammersmith School of Art , considering a career as a cartoonist. Though he enjoyed art (his later record albums featured his original artwork), he decided to pursue
2033-462: A publishing deal with Ardmore & Beechwood and recorded several demos, including " The First Cut Is the Deepest ". Georgiou began performing his songs in London coffee houses and pubs. At first he tried to form a band, but realised he preferred performing solo. Thinking his birth name might be difficult to remember, he chose the stage name Cat Stevens, partly because a girlfriend said he had eyes like
2140-437: A rally in defense of Dr. Uhuru Simba, a controversial Black activist seemingly framed for a series of gruesome serial killings. Simba dies suspiciously in police custody, and Sikh youth on community patrol catch the real murderer, a white man. The police plan a cover-up and raid a popular South Asian nightclub, inflaming tensions and leading to riots. Pamela and Jumpy intend to photocopy and distribute compromising information about
2247-535: A relationship under the impression that Chamcha perished in the explosion. Jumpy convinces the Shaandaars, a family operating a hostel, to let Chamcha stay with them. Chamcha's devil-like appearance intensifies until he recognizes his anger at Farishta for not defending him from arrest and abandoning him after the plane crash, after which he is transformed back into his human shape. Chamcha wants to take revenge on Farishta for having forsaken him after their joint fall from
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#17328630753402354-464: A similar vein of postmodern satire pioneered by Joseph Heller in Catch-22 . The Satanic Verses continued to exhibit Rushdie's penchant for organising his work in terms of parallel stories. Within the book "there are major parallel stories, alternating dream and reality sequences, tied together by the recurring names of the characters in each; this provides intertexts within each novel which comment on
2461-404: A song about his experience as a teen star, and "Katmandu", with Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel playing flute, were also featured. Mona Bone Jakon was an early example of the solo singer-songwriter album format that was becoming popular for other artists as well. Rolling Stone magazine compared its popularity with that of Elton John 's Tumbleweed Connection , saying it was played "across
2568-572: A song to her, written after their romance, titled "Sweet Scarlet". His next album, Catch Bull at Four , released in 1972, was his most rapidly successful album in the United States, reaching gold record status in 15 days and holding the number-one position for three weeks on the Billboard 200 and fifteen weeks at number one in the Australian ARIA Charts . In July 1970, Stevens recorded one of his songs, "But I Might Die Tonight", for
2675-480: A statement in the FAQ section of one of his websites, Islam asserted that while he regretted the comments, he was joking and that the show was improperly edited. In the years since these comments, he has repeatedly denied ever calling for the death of Rushdie or supporting the fatwa. Appearing on BBC's Desert Island Discs on 27 September 2020, Yusaf claimed clever "sharp-toothed" journalists had framed his fatwa comment in
2782-405: A study in alienation". Muhammad Mashuq ibn Ally wrote that " The Satanic Verses is about identity, alienation, rootlessness, brutality, compromise, and conformity. These concepts confront all migrants, disillusioned with both cultures: the one they are in and the one they join. Yet knowing they cannot live a life of anonymity, they mediate between them both. The Satanic Verses is a reflection of
2889-405: A vegetarian. As a result of his serious illness and long convalescence and as a part of his spiritual awakening and questioning, he wrote as many as 40 songs, many of which would appear on his albums in later years. The lack of success of Stevens' second album mirrored a difference of personal tastes in musical direction. He felt a growing resentment of producer Mike Hurst's attempts to re-create
2996-426: A 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 15, inspired by the popularity of the Beatles , he became interested in the guitar. He persuaded his father to pay £8 (equivalent to £200 in 2023 ) for his first guitar, and he began playing it and writing songs. He occasionally escaped his family responsibilities by going to
3103-507: Is a series of half-magic dream vision narratives, ascribed to the mind of Farishta. One of the sequences is a fictionalised narration of the life of Muhammad (called " Mahound " or "the Messenger" in the novel) in Mecca (called Jahilia in the novel). At its centre is the episode of the so-called satanic verses , in which the prophet first proclaims a revelation requiring the adoption of three of
3210-548: Is arrested and is subjected to police abuse as a suspected illegal immigrant. Both characters struggle to piece their lives back together. Farishta seeks and finds his lost love, the English mountaineer Alleluia "Allie" Cone. However, their relationship is overshadowed by his growing sense that he is the Angel Gibreel and other symptoms of schizophrenia . After attempting unsuccessfully to evangelize in London, Farishta steps into
3317-441: Is partly based on Indian film stars Amitabh Bachchan and N. T. Rama Rao ). Chamcha, an Anglophile emigrant who has cut himself off from his Indian heritage, works as a voiceover artist in England. At the beginning of the novel, both are trapped in a plane hijacked by Sikh separatists, flying from India to Britain. The separatists land the plane and take many of the passengers hostage for months, but after negotiations fail,
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3424-576: Is the Arabic rendition of the name Joseph; he stated that he "always loved the name Joseph" and was particularly drawn to the story of Joseph in the Qur'an . Although he discontinued his pop career, he was persuaded to perform one last time before what became his 25-year musical hiatus. Appearing with his hair freshly shorn and an untrimmed beard, he headlined a charity concert on 22 November 1979 in Wembley Stadium to benefit UNICEF 's International Year of
3531-458: The Balkans , Indonesia, and Iraq. He was chairman of the charity Muslim Aid from 1985 to 1993. In 1989, following an address by Islam to students at London's Kingston Polytechnic (now Kingston University ), where he was asked about the fatwa calling for the killing of Salman Rushdie , author of the novel The Satanic Verses , Islam made a series of comments that appeared to show support for
3638-766: The Islamia Primary School in Brondesbury Park, later moved to Salusbury Road, in the north London area of Queen's Park and, soon after, founded several Muslim secondary schools; in 1992, he set up The Association of Muslim Schools (AMS-UK), a charity that brought together all the Muslim schools in the UK. He is also the founder and chairman of the Small Kindness charity, which initially assisted famine victims in Africa and now supports thousands of orphans and families in
3745-459: The Jerzy Skolimowski film Deep End . He contributed two songs to the 1971 film Harold and Maude , but was annoyed when director Hal Ashby decided to use the original demos instead of allowing Stevens to finish them. The film used seven other Stevens songs as well but, perhaps because of the dispute, the soundtrack album was not released until 2007. After his religious conversion in
3852-685: The Jools Holland Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. All tracks are written by Cat Stevens Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou ; 21 July 1948 ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens , Yusuf , and Yusuf / Cat Stevens , is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion streams. His musical style consists of folk, rock, pop, and, later in his career, Islamic music . Following two decades in which he performed only music which met strict religious standards, he returned to making secular music in 2006. He
3959-822: The No Fly List . Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers alerted the United States Transportation Security Administration , which then diverted his flight to Bangor , Maine, where he was detained by officers from the Department of Homeland Security . The following day, he was denied entry and flown back to the United Kingdom. A spokesman for Homeland Security claimed there were "concerns of ties he may have to potential terrorist-related activities". The Israeli government had deported Islam in 2000 over allegations that he provided funding to
4066-605: The Palestinian organisation Hamas , but he denied doing so knowingly. Islam stated "I have never knowingly supported or given money to Hamas". "At the time I was reported to have done it, I didn't know such a group existed. Some people give a political interpretation to charity. We were horrified at how people were suffering in the Holy Land." However, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added him to
4173-431: The Satanic Verses , a group of Quranic verses about three pagan Meccan goddesses: Allāt , Al-Uzza , and Manāt . The part of the story that deals with the satanic verses was based on accounts from the historians al-Waqidi and al-Tabari . The book was a 1988 Booker Prize finalist (losing to Peter Carey 's Oscar and Lucinda ), and won the 1988 Whitbread Award for novel of the year. Timothy Brennan called
4280-607: The UK Singles Chart ; and " Matthew and Son ", the title song from his debut album, reached number 2 in the UK. " I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun " was his second UK top 10 single, reaching number 6, and the album Matthew and Son , released in March 1967, reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart . Over the next two years, Stevens recorded and toured with an eclectic group of artists ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Engelbert Humperdinck . He
4387-646: The University of Tsukuba on 13 July 1991. Ten days prior to Igarashi's killing, Rushdie's Italian translator Ettore Capriolo was seriously injured by an attacker at his home in Milan by being stabbed multiple times on 3 July 1991. William Nygaard , the Norwegian publisher of The Satanic Verses , was critically injured by being shot three times in the back by an assailant on 11 October 1993 in Oslo . Nygaard survived, but spent months in
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4494-600: The transliteration of Yusuf gives rise to a dozen spellings. The Satanic Verses The Satanic Verses is the fourth novel from the Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie . First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters. The title refers to
4601-515: The Archangel Gibreel. She entices all her village community to embark on a foot pilgrimage to Mecca, claiming that they will be able to walk across the Arabian Sea . The pilgrimage ends in a catastrophic climax as the believers all walk into the water and disappear, amid disturbingly conflicting testimonies from observers about whether they simply drowned or were in fact miraculously able to cross
4708-635: The Cat Stevens name for the first time in 39 years. In September 2020, he released Tea for the Tillerman 2 , a reimagining of his album Tea for the Tillerman to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and in June 2023, King of a Land , a new studio album. Steven Demetre Georgiou, born on 21 July 1948 in the Marylebone area of London , was the youngest child of a Greek Cypriot father, Stavros Georgiou (1900–1978), and
4815-465: The Child . The concert closed with his performance along with David Essex , Alun Davies, and Islam's brother, David Gordon, who wrote the finale song "Child for a Day". After a brief engagement to Louise Wightman , Islam married Fauzia Mubarak Ali on 7 September 1979, at Regent's Park Mosque in London. They have one son, four daughters, and nine grandchildren; a second son died in infancy. They have
4922-659: The Rushdie affair. They did not invite the author Fay Weldon , who spoke out against burning books, but did invite Shabbir Akhtar , a Cambridge philosophy graduate who called for "a negotiated compromise" that "would protect Muslim sensibilities against gratuitous provocation". The journalist and author Andy McSmith wrote at the time "We are witnessing, I fear, the birth of a new and dangerously illiberal 'liberal' orthodoxy designed to accommodate Dr. Akhtar and his fundamentalist friends." In September 2012, Rushdie expressed doubt that The Satanic Verses would be published today because of
5029-464: The UK or the United States. The single "Kitty"/"Blackness of the Night" languished at number 47, becoming Stevens' first single to miss the top 40. This was a sudden and steep commercial decline from the considerable success that Stevens enjoyed with his earlier recordings. " The First Cut Is the Deepest " has been covered successfully by several artists. Prior to the release of New Masters , Stevens had sold
5136-457: The US Billboard 200 and spent weeks at the top of several other major charts. He earned ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for " The First Cut Is the Deepest ", which has been a hit for four artists. His other hit songs include " Father and Son ", " Wild World ", " Moonshadow ", " Peace Train ", and " Morning Has Broken ". Stevens converted to Islam in December 1977, and adopted
5243-407: The United Kingdom. The album is now most notable for " The First Cut Is the Deepest ", a song he sold for £30 (equivalent to £700 in 2023 ) to P. P. Arnold and which became a massive hit for her and an international hit for Keith Hampshire , Rod Stewart , James Morrison and Sheryl Crow . Forty years after he recorded the first demo of the song, it earned him back-to-back ASCAP "Songwriter of
5350-420: The United States yesterday. While it is still not clear who carried out the attack, it must be stated that no right-thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action. The Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the families of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect
5457-510: The United States. It yielded several hits, including " Peace Train ", " Morning Has Broken ", and " Moonshadow ". The album was also certified by the RIAA as a Multi-Platinum record in 2001, with over three million sold in the United States through that time. When interviewed on a Boston radio station, Stevens said about Teaser and the Firecat : I get the tune and then I just keep on singing the tune until
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#17328630753405564-837: The Year" awards, in 2005 and 2006. Stevens contracted tuberculosis in 1969 and was close to death at the time of his admission to the King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst , West Sussex. He spent months recuperating in the hospital and a year of convalescence . During this time, Stevens began to question aspects of his life and spirituality. He later said, "To go from the show business environment and find you are in hospital, getting injections day in and day out, and people around you are dying, it certainly changes your perspective. I got down to thinking about myself. It seemed almost as if I had my eyes shut." He took up meditation, yoga , and metaphysics , read about other religions and became
5671-493: The album Foreigner , which was a departure from the music that had brought him to the height of his fame. It differed in several respects: it was entirely written by Stevens; he dropped his band; and, with the exception of some guitar on the title track and "100 I Dream", he produced the record without the assistance of Samwell-Smith, who had played a large role in catapulting him to fame. In June 1974, while in Australia, Stevens
5778-519: The attack, Yusuf tweeted, "Saddened and shocked to learn about the horrific act on Salman Rushdie my wish is for us all to live in peace. May God grant him and every one else who has suffered from the manic pandemic of violence in this world, a full recovery. Peace". Immediately following the September 11 attacks on the United States, he said: I wish to express my heartfelt horror at the indiscriminate terrorist attacks committed against innocent people of
5885-502: The authenticity of the "Messenger", has subtly altered portions of the Quran as they were dictated to him, seemingly disproving Mahound's divine revelation. When Mahound takes over Jahilia, he has Baal and the prostitutes executed, though Hind's supernatural machinations are implied to have caused Mahound's illness and eventual death. The second sequence tells the story of Ayesha, an Indian peasant girl who claims to be receiving revelations from
5992-525: The author himself, he was inspired to write the novel by the work of Mikhail Bulgakov , The Master and Margarita . Angela Carter writes that the novel contains "inventions such as the city of Jahilia, 'built entirely of sand,' that gives a nod to Calvino and a wink to Frank Herbert". Srinivas Aravamudan 's analysis of The Satanic Verses stressed the satiric nature of the work and held that while it and Midnight's Children may appear to be more "comic epic", "clearly those works are highly satirical" in
6099-444: The author's dilemmas." The work is an "albeit surreal, record of its own author's continuing identity crisis". Ally said that the book reveals the author ultimately as "the victim of nineteenth-century British colonialism ". Rushdie himself spoke confirming this interpretation of his book, saying that it was not about Islam, "but about migration, metamorphosis , divided selves, love, death, London and Bombay ". He has also said "It's
6206-533: The author. British Labour MP Keith Vaz led a march through Leicester shortly after he was elected in 1989 calling for the book to be banned, while the Conservative politician Norman Tebbit , the party's former chairman, called Rushdie an "outstanding villain" whose "public life has been a record of despicable acts of betrayal of his upbringing, religion, adopted home and nationality". Journalist Christopher Hitchens defended Rushdie and urged critics to condemn
6313-457: The bassist of the Yardbirds , as his new producer. Samwell-Smith paired Stevens with guitarist Alun Davies , who was at that time working as a session musician . Davies was the more-experienced veteran of two albums that had already begun to explore the emerging genres of skiffle and folk rock music. Davies was also thought to be a perfect fit with Stevens, particularly for his "fingerwork" on
6420-580: The beginning of spiritual questions about life, remained in his music from then on. The album features the Top 20 single " Wild World "; a parting song after D'Arbanville moved on. "Wild World" has been credited as the song that gave Tea for the Tillerman 'enough kick' to get it played on FM radio. The head of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, was quoted as calling it "the best album we've ever released". Other album tracks include "Hard-Headed Woman", and " Father and Son " – sung by Stevens in baritone and tenor, portraying
6527-456: The board, across radio formats". Mona Bone Jakon was the precursor of Stevens' international breakthrough album, Tea for the Tillerman , which became a Top 10 Billboard hit. Within six months of its release, it had sold over 500,000 copies, attaining gold record status in the United Kingdom and the United States. The combination of Stevens' new folk rock style and accessible lyrics, which spoke of everyday situations and problems, mixed with
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#17328630753406634-696: The book in Islamabad , Pakistan. Six protesters were killed in an attack on the American Cultural Center, and an American Express office was ransacked. As the violence spread, the importing of the book was banned in India and it was burned in demonstrations in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, the Commission for Racial Equality and a liberal think tank, the Policy Studies Institute , held seminars on
6741-524: The book's publication. On 12 August 2022, Rushdie was attacked onstage while speaking at an event of the Chautauqua Institution . Rushdie suffered four stab wounds to the stomach area of his abdomen, three wounds to the right side of the front part of his neck, one wound to his right eye, one wound to his chest and one wound to his right thigh. He was flown by helicopter to UPMC Hamot , a tertiary-level hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania . The attacker, Hadi Matar,
6848-511: The compilation albums was the 1975 Greatest Hits which has sold over 4 million copies in the United States. In May 2003, he received his first Platinum Europe Award from the IFPI for Remember Cat Stevens: The Ultimate Collection , indicating over one million European sales. While on holiday in Marrakesh , Stevens was intrigued by the sound of the adhān , the Islamic ritual call to prayer, which
6955-562: The family restaurant and live above it. Stevens has a half-brother, George Georgiou, born in Greece , presumably from his father's first marriage in Greece. Although his father was Greek Orthodox and his mother was a Baptist , Georgiou was sent to St Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School, Macklin Street, which was closer to his father's business on Drury Lane . Georgiou developed an interest in piano at
7062-528: The fatwa. He stated, "He (Rushdie) must be killed. The Qur'an makes it clear – if someone defames the prophet, then he must die." He released a statement the following day denying that he supported vigilantism and claiming that he had merely recounted the Islamic Sharia law punishment for blasphemy. Subsequently, he commented in a 1989 interview on Australian television that Rushdie should be killed and stated he would rather burn Rushdie instead of an effigy. In
7169-410: The feelings of all Muslims and people around the world whose sympathies go out to the victims of this sorrowful moment. He appeared on videotape on a VH1 pre-show for the October 2001 Concert for New York City , condemning the attacks and singing his song "Peace Train" for the first time in public in more than 20 years, as an a cappella version. He also donated a portion of his box-set royalties to
7276-528: The fire. Both return to India, Farishta to star in a series of movies that turn out to be unsuccessful and Chamcha to see his estranged father, who is terminally ill. Farishta is discovered to have murdered both Sisodia and Allie and visits Chamcha at his father's estate, seemingly about to shoot him, but he turns the gun on himself. Chamcha, who has found not only forgiveness from Farishta but also reconciliation with his estranged father and his own Indian identity, decides to remain in India. Embedded in this story
7383-413: The fund for victims' families and the rest to orphans in underdeveloped countries. During the same year, he dedicated time and effort in joining the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism , an organisation that worked towards battling misconceptions and acts against others because of their religious beliefs or their racial identity (or both), after many Muslims reported a backlash against them due in part to
7490-421: The grief caused by the events in the United States on 11 September. On 21 September 2004, Islam was on a United Airlines flight from London to Washington , travelling to a meeting with American entertainer Dolly Parton , who had recorded "Peace Train" several years earlier and was planning to include another Cat Stevens song on an upcoming album. While the plane was in flight, his name was flagged as being on
7597-464: The guitar, harmonising, and backing vocals. They originally met just to record Mona Bone Jakon in 1970, but soon developed a friendship. Davies, like Stevens, was a perfectionist, appearing at all sound checks to be sure that all the equipment and sound were prepared for each concert. The first single released from Mona Bone Jakon was " Lady D'Arbanville ", which Stevens wrote about his young American girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville . The record had
7704-439: The hijacked plane and resents him for his successful return to movie stardom. Aware of Farishta's pathological jealousy and paranoid schizophrenia , Chamcha harasses Farishta and Allie over the phone, using different vocal impressions and intimate details of Allie's life to insinuate that Allie is unfaithful to Farishta. Provoked by Chamcha's calls, Farishta destroys his relationship with Allie. Jumpy, Pamela, and Chamcha attend
7811-661: The hospital recovering. The book's Turkish translator Aziz Nesin was the intended target of a mob of arsonists who set fire to the Madimak Hotel after Friday prayers on 2 July 1993 in Sivas , Turkey , killing 37 people, mostly Alevi scholars, poets and musicians. Nesin escaped death when the fundamentalist mob failed to recognize him early in the attack. Known as the Sivas massacre , it is remembered by Alevi Turks who gather in Sivas annually and hold silent marches, commemorations and vigils for
7918-466: The hospital, Stevens recorded some of his newly written songs on his tape recorder and played his changing sound for several new record executives. He hired an agent, Barry Krost, who arranged an audition with Chris Blackwell of Island Records . Blackwell offered him a "chance to record [his songs] whenever and with whomever he liked and, more importantly to Cat, however he liked". With Krost's recommendation, Stevens signed Paul Samwell-Smith , previously
8025-546: The implacable nature of the hostility evoked by The Satanic Verses , even though a major theme of that novel is the dangerous nature of closed, absolutist belief systems. Rushdie's influences have long been a point of interest to scholars examining his work. According to W. J. Weatherby , influences on The Satanic Verses were listed as James Joyce , Italo Calvino , Franz Kafka , Frank Herbert , Thomas Pynchon , Mervyn Peake , Gabriel García Márquez , Jean-Luc Godard , J. G. Ballard , and William S. Burroughs . According to
8132-487: The job of living. You know, up until that point, I hadn't had a life. I'd been searching, been on the road." Estimating in January 2007 that he was continuing to earn approximately US$ 1.5 million a year from his Cat Stevens music, he said he would use his accumulated wealth and ongoing earnings from his music career for philanthropic and educational causes in the Muslim community of London and elsewhere. In 1983, he founded
8239-476: The late 1970s, Stevens stopped granting permission for his songs to be used in films. However, almost 20 years later, in 1997, the film Rushmore received his permission to use his songs " Here Comes My Baby " and "The Wind"; this showed a new willingness on his part to release music from his Western "pop star" days. In 2000, " Peace Train " was included in the movie Remember the Titans , and Almost Famous used
8346-505: The manifestations of the controversy in Britain: embodied an anger arising in part from the frustrations of the migrant experience and generally reflected failures of multicultural integration, both significant Rushdie themes. Clearly, Rushdie's interests centrally include explorations of how migration heightens one's awareness that perceptions of reality are relative and fragile, and of the nature of religious faith and revelation, not to mention
8453-505: The name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned his guitars for charity, and left his musical career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community . He has since bought back at least one of the guitars he sold as a result of the efforts of his son, Yoriyos. Stevens was embroiled in a controversy regarding comments he made in 1989, about the fatwa placed on author Salman Rushdie in response to
8560-499: The old polytheistic deities, but later renounces this as an error induced by the Devil. There are also two opponents of the "Messenger": a heathen priestess, Hind, and a skeptic and satirical poet, Baal. When the prophet returns to Mecca in triumph, Baal goes into hiding in an underground brothel, where the prostitutes assume the identities of the prophet's wives. One of the prophet's companions escapes to Jahilia and claims that he, doubting
8667-487: The other stories." The Satanic Verses also exhibits Rushdie's common practice of using allusions to invoke connotative links. Within the book he referenced everything from mythology to "one-liners invoking recent popular culture". The novel has been accused of blasphemy for its reference to the " Satanic Verses ". Pakistan banned the book in November 1988. On 12 February 1989, 10,000 protesters gathered against Rushdie and
8774-463: The police, but during the riots, masked men set fire to the building they are in, destroying the evidence and killing Pamela and Jumpy. During the riots, Farishta believes that the rioters' flames are the result of his angelic powers. He realises that Chamcha was to blame for the calls, tracking him down to the now-burning Shaandaar hostel with the intent of killing him, but relenting when he sees that Chamcha tried in vain to save Mr. and Mrs. Shandaar from
8881-415: The political manipulation of religion. Rushdie's own assumptions about the importance of literature parallel the literal value accorded the written word in Islamic tradition to some degree. But Rushdie seems to have assumed that diverse communities and cultures share some degree of common moral ground on the basis of which dialogue can be pieced together, and it is perhaps for this reason that he underestimated
8988-409: The publication of Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses . He has explained the incident stating: "I was cleverly framed by certain questions. I never supported the fatwa." In 2006, he returned to pop music by releasing his first new studio album of new pop songs in 28 years, titled An Other Cup . With that release and subsequent ones, he dropped the surname "Islam" from the album cover art – using
9095-430: The question by ceasing to perform. He has said that there was "a combination of reasons, really", and that the continuing demands of the music business had been "becoming a chore, and not an inspiration anymore". In a 2004 interview on Larry King Live , he said "A lot of people would have loved me to keep singing. You come to a point where you have sung, more or less... your whole repertoire and you want to get down to
9202-552: The rooftop above their home and listening to the tunes of the musicals drifting from around the corner on Denmark Street , then the centre of the British music industry. Stevens said that West Side Story particularly affected him and gave him a "different view of life". With interests in both art and music, he and his mother moved to Gävle , Sweden, where he attended primary school (Solängsskolan) and started developing his drawing skills after being influenced by his uncle Hugo Wickman,
9309-534: The sea. A third dream sequence presents the figure of a fanatic expatriate religious leader, the "Imam", in a late-20th-century setting, an allusion to Ruhollah Khomeini in his exile in Paris. The Imam forces Farishta, who has assumed the form of the angel Gibreel, to do supernatural battle with the Imam's bitter enemy, his exiled homeland's empress Ayesha. Overall, the book received favourable reviews from literary critics. In
9416-557: The separatists force the plane to take off and detonate it over the English Channel . While everyone else aboard the plane perishes, Farishta and Chamcha are magically saved. In a miraculous transformation, Farishta takes on the personality of the archangel Gabriel (referred to as Gibreel) and Chamcha that of a devil. Farishta develops a halo that occasionally manifests, while Chamcha grows horns and goatlike legs. After both men take refuge with an elderly English Argentine woman, Chamcha
9523-576: The slain. In March 2016, the bounty for the Rushdie fatwa was raised by $ 600,000 (£430,000). Top Iranian media contributed this sum, adding to the existing $ 2.8 million already offered. In response, the Swedish Academy , which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature , denounced the death sentence and called it "a serious violation of free speech". This was the first time it had commented on the issue since
9630-423: The song "The Wind". In 2006 "Peace Train" featured in the soundtrack to We Are Marshall . Subsequent releases in the 1970s also did well on the charts and in ongoing sales, although they did not touch the success Stevens had from 1970 to 1973. In 1973, Stevens moved to Rio de Janeiro , Brazil, as a tax exile from the United Kingdom; however, he later donated the money to UNESCO . During that time he created
9737-556: The song for £30 to P. P. Arnold (formerly of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue) which gave the former Ikette her first UK hit. In the decades to come it would also be a hit for Rod Stewart , Sheryl Crow , James Morrison and Keith Hampshire . Hampshire's version reached no. 1 on the Canadian charts in 1973. Other versions have been rendered by singer Barbara Jones, Colm Wilkinson of Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar fame, Duffy and
9844-424: The stage name Yusuf as a mononym . In 2009, he released the album Roadsinger and, in 2014, he released the album Tell 'Em I'm Gone and began his first US tour since 1978. His second North American tour since his resurgence, featuring 12 shows in intimate venues, ran from 12 September to 7 October 2016. In 2017, he released the album The Laughing Apple , now using the stage name Yusuf / Cat Stevens, using
9951-417: The street and is hit by the car of movie producer S.S. Sisodia. Sisodia takes Farishta to get treated for schizophrenia with Allie and proposes a plan to revitalize Farishta's movie career. Meanwhile, Chamcha is fired from voice acting and becomes distressed by his increasingly goatlike appearance and behavior, as well as by the revelation that his estranged wife Pamela and friend Jamshed "Jumpy" Joshi have begun
10058-457: The struggle between fathers and sons who contrast their personal choices in life. In 2001, this album was certified by the RIAA as a Multi-Platinum record, having sold three million copies in the United States at that time. It is ranked at No. 206 in the 2003 list of " Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". After his relationship with D'Arbanville ended, Stevens noted the effect it had on his writing, saying, "Everything I wrote while I
10165-469: The style of his debut album, with heavy-handed orchestration and over-production, rather than the folk rock sound Stevens was attempting to produce. He admits having purposely sabotaged his own contract with Hurst by making outlandishly expensive orchestral demands and threatening legal action, which achieved his goal: to be released from his contract with Deram Records , a sub-label of Decca Records . On regaining his health at home after his release from
10272-412: The time he was studying the Qur'an, Stevens began to identify more and more with the story of Joseph , a man bought and sold in the market place, which is how he said he had increasingly felt within the music business. Regarding his conversion, in his 2006 interview with Alan Yentob , he stated, "To some people, it may have seemed like an enormous jump, but for me, it was a gradual move to this." And, in
10379-531: The violence of the fatwa instead of blaming the novel or the author. Hitchens considered the fatwa to be the opening shot in a cultural war on freedom. In 2021, the BBC broadcast a two-hour documentary by Mobeen Azhar and Chloe Hadjimatheou, interviewing many of the principal denouncers and defenders of the book from 1988–1989, concluding that campaigns against the book were amplified by minority (racial and religious) politics in England and other countries. Despite
10486-667: The waves were, like, blowin' and splashin'. Really, it was so fantastic. And the moon was bright, ya know, and I started dancin' and singin' and I sang that song and it stayed. It's just the kind of moment that you want to find when you're writin' songs. For seven months, in 1971 and 1972, Stevens was romantically linked to popular singer Carly Simon , while both were being produced by Samwell-Smith. During that time, they each wrote songs for, and about, one another. Simon wrote and recorded at least two Top 50 songs, "Legend in Your Own Time" and " Anticipation " about Stevens. He reciprocated with
10593-458: The words come out from the tune. It's kind of a hypnotic state that you reach after a while when you keep on playing it where words just evolve from it. So you take those words and just let them go whichever way they want ...'Moonshadow'? Funny, that was in Spain, I went there alone, completely alone, to get away from a few things. And I was dancin' on the rocks there ... right on the rocks where
10700-488: The work "the most ambitious novel yet published to deal with the immigrant experience in Britain". The book and its perceived blasphemy motivated Islamic extremist bombings, killings, and riots and sparked a debate about censorship and religiously motivated violence. Fearing unrest, the Rajiv Gandhi government banned the importation of the book into India. In 1989, Supreme Leader of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini declared
10807-490: Was also the first album produced by Samwell-Smith since the peak in Stevens' single album sales in the early 1970s. Several compilation albums were released before and after he stopped recording. After Stevens left Decca Records, they bundled his first two albums together as a set, hoping to ride the commercial tide of his early success; later his newer labels did the same, and Stevens also released compilations. The most successful of
10914-481: Was an early techno-pop fusion track and a precursor to the 1980s electro music genre, making early use of a music sequencer . Izitso included his last chart hit, "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard", an early synthpop song that used a polyphonic synthesiser ; it was a duet with fellow UK singer Elkie Brooks . His final original album under the name Cat Stevens was Back to Earth , released in late 1978. It
11021-491: Was away was in a transitional period and reflects that. Like Patti. A year ago we split; I had been with her for two years. What I write about Patti and my family... when I sing the songs now, I learn strange things. I learn the meanings of my songs late ..." Having established a signature sound, Stevens enjoyed a string of successes in the following years. 1971's Teaser and the Firecat album reached number two and achieved gold record status within three weeks of its release in
11128-514: Was considered a fresh-faced teen star, placing several single releases in the British pop music charts . Some of that success was attributed to the pirate radio station Wonderful Radio London , which gained him fans by playing his records. In August 1967, he was one of several recording artists who had benefited from the station to broadcast messages during its final hour to mourn its closure. His December 1967 album New Masters failed to chart in
11235-638: Was explained to him as "music for God". Stevens said, "I thought, music for God? I'd never heard that before – I'd heard of music for money, music for fame, music for personal power, but music for God!?" In 1976, Stevens nearly drowned off the coast of Malibu, California , and said he shouted, "Oh, God! If you save me I will work for you." He stated that, immediately afterwards, a wave appeared and carried him back to shore. This brush with death intensified his long-held quest for spiritual truth. He had looked into " Buddhism , Zen , I Ching , numerology , tarot cards , and astrology ". Stevens' brother David Gordon,
11342-505: Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards. His 1967 debut album and its title song " Matthew and Son " both reached top 10 in the UK charts. Stevens' albums Tea for the Tillerman (1970) and Teaser and the Firecat (1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four went to No. 1 on
11449-482: Was presented with a plaque representing the sale of forty gold records, the largest number ever presented to an artist in Australia. Stevens released the albums Buddha and the Chocolate Box in 1974, and Numbers in 1975. In April 1977, his Izitso album updated his pop rock and folk rock style with the extensive use of synthesisers , giving it a more synthpop style. "Was Dog a Doughnut", in particular,
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