Artist Profile: Cat Stevens

After the "folk revival" of the 1950s and 60s, the 1970s ushered in a new community of singer/songwriters that blended the new pop sensibility with a more socially conscious, introspective, and overall earnest form of songwriting. Among this early wave of folk-pop icons was James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, and Greek-Swedish-British singer/songwriter Cat Stevens.

For nearly a decade, Stevens integrated the pop sensibility and the folk aesthetic with pure earnest artistry. Then, after a near-death experience, Stevens converted to Islam in 1977, changing his name to Yusuf Islam and retiring from folk-pop for nearly 30 years; though he's returned now and then with songs to raise money for his Small Kindness charity, which helps orphans in the Balkans, Indonesia, and Iraq.
(image © A&M Records, 2000)