YUSUF ISLAM aka CAT STEVENS HAS PEACE TRAIN FOR PEACE PRIZE

Cat Stevens is making inroads as Yusuf Islam, and he talked about the transformation and his return to the music industry.

Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, played at the ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize on December 11 in Oslo, Norway. He was joined by contemporary artists John Legend, Rihanna, Wynonna Judd and host actress Sharon Stone. Islam performed “Peace Train,” “Midday,” and “Heaven (Where True Love Goes)”.<

Cat Stevens was on top of his game when he walked away from the music industry in the mid-seventies. He had penned several hits including “The First Cut Is The Deepest,” “Wild World,” and “Peace Train,” among others. He departed in 1978, and now in 2006 as the transformed Yusuf Islam, he has found new honesty and vigor with the album An Other Cup. He talked about his decision to leave the industry in the middle of a prosperous career.

“I needed the break, and I took the opportunity. A lot of people I suppose were very upset at the fact that there would be no more Cat Stevens records or tours for that matter, but I was seriously making a statement. Whatever I believed in, whatever I wrote about, I was sincere about it. And if I wasn’t sincere, maybe I could have gone on and just kept on making records. But here was a time to live by my ideals. Some people recognize that, but a lot of people were just sad that the music had stopped.”

Giving up music to follow the path of Islam he renounced Cat Stevens for the name Yusuf Islam and he said that An Other Cup seeks to reconcile his past and the present.

“There’s been a kind of a making of peace between my past as Cat Stevens and my present life as Yusuf Islam. That I think is very important, because I know what life is like out there. I know what it’s like also when you start to enter into a spiritual realm. I think those two worlds must meet in order for people to be balanced.”

Islam was led back to the guitar by his son. After his offspring left the instrument lying around, Islam picked it up and found his musical voice once again. The songs are spiritual about the relationship between man and god, and he’s also hoping to educate people about the difference between the religion and the fundamentalists using the name for violence.