英语名人堂：凯特·斯蒂文斯（在线收听）

凯特·斯蒂文斯（原名：Steven Demetre Georgiou 斯蒂文·德米特·乔治乌；艺名：Cat Stevens 凯特·斯蒂文斯），1948年7月21日出生于英国伦敦，民谣唱作人、社会活动家、慈善家。是二十世纪七十年代英国民谣摇滚的代表人物，1965年被制作人Mike Hurst发现后，以Cat Stevens为艺名，开始其创作生涯，1967年3月发行个人首张唱片《Matthew and Son》，1968年因感染肺结核暂别歌坛，1970年以《Mona Bone Jakon》复出，此后推出民谣摇滚史上经典之作《Tea for the Tillerman》（1970年）、《Teaser and the Firecat》（1971年），七十年代发行七张Top 10专辑，1977年底皈依伊斯兰教，次年改名为Yusuf Islam，1979年底退出歌坛。2006年在告别歌坛近三十年后发行其首张流行音乐专辑《An Other Cup》，最新专辑《Tell 'Em I'm Gone》于2014年10月27日由在索尼旗下的Legacy厂牌发行。

Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and philanthropist. He has sold over 60 million albums worldwide in a career spanning five decades. He converted to Islam at the height of his fame in 1977. The following year, he started a three-decade break from music to devote himself to helping the British Muslim community.

Yusuf Islam was born in 1948 as Steven Georgiou. His father was a Greek-Cypriot and his mother was Swedish. He lived and grew up very near London’s Piccadilly Circus. Steven started playing piano when he was 12, which led to songwriting and playing guitar. He began to perform his songs in London pubs under the stage name Cat Stevens.

At the age of 18, Stevens got a record deal. His debut album ‘Matthew and Son’ was a huge success. He became a pop sensation until he developed tuberculosis in 1968. He spent several months in hospital, where he took up meditation and read about religion. He wrote many songs that would make him world famous in the 1970s.

In 1976 Stevens nearly drowned, an event that made him question his life. His brother gave him a copy of the Koran and he converted to Islam. Yusuf Islam then abandoned his rock star career. In 1981, he established the first of many Islamia Schools in Britain. He devoted himself to Islamic charitable causes and has received many peace awards. Yusuf returned to releasing records in 2006.