LOS ANGELES, 11 September 2006 — British singer Islam Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, plans a return to the pop charts this autumn by releasing a new album titled “An Other Cup,” the Al-Watan daily reported yesterday.
Islam, 58, a convert to Islam announced that he has struck a deal with Atlantic Records to release the new album. Islam’s last pop album “Back to Earth” was released in 1978.
“I feel right about making music and singing about life in this fragile world again,” Islam said, in a statement adding, “It is important for me to be able to help bridge the cultural gaps others are sometimes frightened to cross.”
Since his conversion and name change in 1977 after nearly drowning off the coast of California, Islam has released 10 Islamic albums of drum-and-vocal performances from his own UK-based Mountain of Light music company.
As a devout Muslim and noted humanitarian, the singer said he would like to build links between Islam and the West.
“Much has changed, but today I am in a unique position as a looking glass through which Muslims can see the West and the West can see Islam,” he said.
Atlantic Chairman and CEO Craig Kallman lauded Islam’s spiritual quest as “one of the most extraordinary stories of our time, a life journey marked by courage, devotion and transformation.”
Islam was born Steven Georgiou in London in 1947. Singing under the stage name Cat Stevens, Islam made enormous hits with songs such as “Morning Has Broken,” “Lady D’Arbanville,” “Wild World,” “The First Cut is the Deepest” and “Moon Shadow.”