Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, Cat Stevens was raised with an interest in folk music and rock and roll.  As a child he worked in his family's restaurant, Moulin Rouge, in the Soho theater district of London.  Steven's musical career began at a fairly young age when he became interested in learning the piano.

Cat Stevens

Music is a lady that I still love because she gives me the air that I breathe. We need all sorts of nourishment. And music satisfies and nourishes the hunger within ourselves for connection and harmony.

Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, Cat Stevens was raised with an interest in folk music and rock and roll.  As a child he worked in his family's restaurant, Moulin Rouge, in the Soho theater district of London.  Steven's musical career began at a fairly young age when he became interested in learning the piano.  Because he had no one to teach him he taught himself, using the family baby grand piano to sound out chords.  His musical interest soon spread to the guitar and after his father bought him his first guitar he began to play frequently and also began writing songs.  

In 1965 Stevens took on a one-year course of study at the Hammersmith School of Art in order to cultivate his growing love for art.  Though he loved this aspect of his creativity he eventually made the decision to pursue a career in music under the stage name Steve Adams.  Stevens began to write music inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and Paul Simon.  He also drew inspiration from the great composers of musicals like Ira Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein.  During the early stages of his career Stevens performed at coffee houses and pubs, an experience which led him to believe that the stage name Steve Adams was not memorable enough so he changed it to Cat Stevens.

In 1965 Stevens signed a publishing deal with Ardmore & Beechwood and released some of his first demos including The First Cut is the Deepest.  By age eighteen Stevens had caught the interest of manager/producer Mike Hurst who arranged for him to record a demo and then helped him to land a record deal.  Cat Stevens was a star from the get-go – his first singles became quick hits.  

I Love My Dog charted at number twenty-eight, Matthew and Son reached number two, and I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun reached Britain's Top Ten.  Over the next few years Stevens continued to record and went on tour with artists like Jimi Hendrix and Engelbert Humperdinck until, in 1968, he became very ill with tuberculosis and a collapsed lung.  Stevens' music changed after his recovery and he fostered a growing resentment toward producer Mike Hurst for trying to re-create his debut album rather than allowing Stevens to follow his own musical dreams.

After sabotaging his contract with Hurst Stevens was set free and began recording new music at home which he played for several new record executives then eventually signed with Paul Samwell-Smith as his new producer.  After regaining his health Stevens hit the charts with a number of popular songs including Lady D'Arbanville, Just Another Night, Tea for the Tillerman, and Morning Has Broken.  Several of Stevens' albums were quite successful – Teaser and the Firecat achieved gold status within three weeks of its release and Catch the Bull at Four, released in 1972, reached gold status within fifteen days and held the number one position on the Billboard charts for three weeks.  After the 1970's Stevens continued to record but his later music could not touch the success he had known in the early 70's.  His final original album, Back to Earth, was released in 1978.

Did you know…

-  Cat Stevens is a prominent convert to the religion of Islam; when he converted in December of 1977 he adopted a Muslim name, Yusuf Islam
-  Stevens took a one-year course of study at the Hammersmith School of Art after which he considered beginning a career as a cartoonist
-  For seven months Stevens fostered a romantic relationship with fellow artist Carly Simon; they both wrote and recorded songs about one another

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