GRAND Magazine - Summer 2021 - 20

cover story
Stardom, facing death, and his
promise to God
WENDY: Could you tell me about your spiritual
journey? So many people of our generation were on
a spiritual quest. And yours was so public. How did it
come about that you found Islam?
CBS Sunday Morning - By any name, Yusuf Islam is a legend. The
man who came to fame as Cat Stevens will soon release a new
album, a collection of songs he made famous half a century ago
and has now re-recorded with the perspective that 50 years of living
can bring.
WENDY: Do you live in Dubai part-time?
YUSUF: No, I'm full-time. I reside in Dubai and have
since 2010. I discovered Dubai in the early 2000s. I had
been coming here on holiday and things like that.
WENDY: What's your life been like during the
pandemic? Did you shelter in place, like many of
us?
YUSUF: Well, actually it's been quite reasonable for
us here in Dubai. I think that they handled it very well.
And I've had my jabs [vaccinations].
Of course, it's been tragic for many people who've
suffered so much, especially living in tenement blocks
and not being able to go out. And many have lost
their lives. I mean, it's really been tragic. I'm so grateful
that it's been much easier here.
20 GRAND Summer 2021
"
YUSUF: Well, I've always been asking questions from
a very early age, all of us do, but I took it quite seriously.
My brother was a bit of a philosopher. I think he
preached to me-over-preached to me. So I got on that
kind of thinking train a long time ago, and looking up
and looking around at the universe and not being quite
identifiably one thing or another, because of my background-my
father's Cypriot and my mother's Swedish.
And we were in London. So, it was really a struggle to
find my identity. That was the quest. And also, of course,
to find out what I was supposed to do in life.
That just opened the door for me
because it was the first time I began to
study the science of the soul, the self, and
that is where all my new songs began.
YUSUF: So, the whole journey began somewhere
around there. Then [in 1969] I got tuberculosis. After one
year of my startling career, my rapid rise to the top, playing
tours with Jimi Hendrix and Engelbert Humperdinck.
I was the number one boy on the block, you know, just
everybody wanted me to be there. Then suddenly I
wasn't, I was in [the] hospital and looking at my navel,
you know, wondering. Then, at that point, the Beatles
had started experimenting with the sort of esoteric or
Eastern philosophy. And I was given a book-actually a
Buddhist book written by a convert to Buddhism. That
just opened the door for me because it was the first time
I began to study the science of the soul, the self, and that
is where all my new songs began.
So when I came back for my second career, you could
say, all my songs were filled with that search. Time goes
on and things get really wild. Suddenly I'm a superstar
in most people's minds, much larger than I expected
to be-but to me, I was still kind of lost, still looking. I
made it my job to write songs that reflected whatever
I was going through at that time. It was very honestly
expressing myself through my music and using my music
as a vehicle to get me where I wanted to go. You could
hear those words, in " The Wind " : " I listen to my words,
but they fall far below. I let my music take me where
my heart wants to go. " " The Wind " is one of the most
important songs in my life.
"
Yusuf/Cat Stevens - The Wind (live Majikat - Earth Tour 1976. Bing
video)
Continued on next page

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0994809700/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0994809700&linkId=c0cf2342749a51234e00421ef2df453e https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B6QYSW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B003B6QYSW&linkId=74a78ba0a510c9871c2e38f745d59213 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sta2hS3y0ng https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cat+stevens+the+wind+live&view=detail&mid=6D548D7D552E7709D2DD6D548D7D552E7709D2DD&FORM=VIRE0&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dcat%2bstevens%2bthe%2bwind%2blive%26form%3dANNTH1%26refig%3d8200a1b3feeb4973a00228b01354fcb4%26sp%3d3%26q s%3dAS%26pq%3dcat%2bstevens%2bthe%2bwind%26sk%3dAS2%26sc%3d8-20%26cvid%3d8200a1b3feeb4973a00228b01354fcb4 https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=cat+stevens+the+wind+live&view=detail&mid=6D548D7D552E7709D2DD6D548D7D552E7709D2DD&FORM=VIRE0&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dcat%2bstevens%2bthe%2bwind%2blive%26form%3dANNTH1%26refig%3d8200a1b3feeb4973a00228b01354fcb4%26sp%3d3%26qs%3dAS%26pq%3dcat%2bstevens%2bthe%2bwind%26sk%3dAS2%26sc%3d8-20%26cvid%3d8200a1b3feeb4973a00228b01354fcb4

GRAND Magazine - Summer 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - Summer 2021