Yusuf Islam, the man formerly known as Cat Stevens, is back.

The folk legend has announced his first tour for 33 years and he's chosen Dublin as the city to kick it off.

The folk singer, who took a long spell out of the music business after his conversion to Islam, is planning to unveil his new stage musical.

Islam has been working on 'Moonshadow' for many months and will perform the production, which features a cast of 20, at a series of four shows.

He's also promising to include all of his classics like 'Father and Son' and 'Tea for the Tillerman'.

He'll kick off the tour at the O2 here in Dublin on November 15th, followed by dates in Birmingham, Liverpool and London.

The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens says he wants to reconnect with his audience after his abrubt departure from the music scene.

I dare say if not the whole no music rule a lot of muslims follow, Islam would already be the largest religion in the world

His new stuff didn't do much for me...but obviously a legend. Tea For The Tillerman, Teaser and The Firecat

As an aside, was it true or not that he condoned the fatwa against Salman Rushdie? I saw an interview with him saying he didn't but I thought everyone said he did.

I'm enjoying this Cat Stevens best of I just downloaded

UGH. i need to see one of these...

hope he does a few in the US eventually, i'll travel a long ways

Cat Stevens was a genius, an amazing songwriter. This fellow Yusuf Islam, like many religious fanatics, is kind of a loser.

To wit:

"Cat Stevens wanted me dead

However much Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam may wish to rewrite his past, he was neither misunderstood nor misquoted over his views on the Khomeini fatwa against The Satanic Verses (Seven, April 29). In an article in The New York Times on May 22, 1989, Craig R Whitney reported Stevens/Islam saying on a British television programme "that rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of the author Salman Rushdie, 'I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing'.''

He added that "if Mr Rushdie turned up at his doorstep looking for help, 'I might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like. I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is'.''

In a subsequent interview with The New York Times, Mr Whitney added, Stevens/Islam, who had seen a preview of the programme, said that he "stood by his comments".

Let's have no more rubbish about how 'green' and innocent this man was."

Salman Rushdie, New York

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/lett ... graph.html

do you realise how many people Morrissey has wished horrible deaths upon?

same thing, replace celibacy with religion