英語名人堂：凱特·斯蒂文斯

　　凱特·斯蒂文斯(原名：Steven Demetre Georgiou 斯蒂文·德米特·喬治烏;藝名：Cat Stevens 凱特·斯蒂文斯)，1948年7月21日出生于英國倫敦，民謠唱作人、社會活動家、慈善家。是二十世紀七十年代英國民謠搖滾的代表人物，1965年被制作人Mike Hurst發(fā)現(xiàn)后，以Cat Stevens為藝名，開始其創(chuàng)作生涯，1967年3月發(fā)行個人首張唱片《Matthew and Son》，1968年因感染肺結(jié)核暫別歌壇，1970年以《Mona Bone Jakon》復出，此后推出民謠搖滾史上經(jīng)典之作《Tea for the Tillerman》(1970年)、《Teaser and the Firecat》(1971年)，七十年代發(fā)行七張Top 10專輯，1977年底皈依伊斯蘭教，次年改名為Yusuf Islam，1979年底退出歌壇。2006年在告別歌壇近三十年后發(fā)行其首張流行音樂專輯《An Other Cup》，最新專輯《Tell 'Em I'm Gone》于2014年10月27日由在索尼旗下的Legacy廠牌發(fā)行。

　　Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, is a British musician, singer-songwriter and philanthropist. He has sold over 60 million albums worldwide in a career spanning five decades. He converted to Islam at the height of his fame in 1977. The following year, he started a three-decade break from music to devote himself to helping the British Muslim community.

　　Yusuf Islam was born in 1948 as Steven Georgiou. His father was a Greek-Cypriot and his mother was Swedish. He lived and grew up very near London’s Piccadilly Circus. Steven started playing piano when he was 12, which led to songwriting and playing guitar. He began to perform his songs in London pubs under the stage name Cat Stevens.

　　At the age of 18, Stevens got a record deal. His debut album ‘Matthew and Son’ was a huge success. He became a pop sensation until he developed tuberculosis in 1968. He spent several months in hospital, where he took up meditation and read about religion. He wrote many songs that would make him world famous in the 1970s.

　　In 1976 Stevens nearly drowned, an event that made him question his life. His brother gave him a copy of the Koran and he converted to Islam. Yusuf Islam then abandoned his rock star career. In 1981, he established the first of many Islamia Schools in Britain. He devoted himself to Islamic charitable causes and has received many peace awards. Yusuf returned to releasing records in 2006.