Yusuf Islam, Formerly Cat Stevens, Announces New Album, Europe And North America Tour

I was a big Cat Stevens fan. It was 1971 that I think I fell in love with Tea for the Tillerman. It just seemed to speak of the times and what I was going through. As time went on and Cat Stevens converted to Islam and changed his name and quit making music he faded from the music scene. Now he's back. With new music and a tour. Singer-songwriter Yusuf, who was Cat Stevens until he converted to Islam, has announced a new album and a tour that will take him to Britain, Canada and, for the first time since 1976, to the United States.Yusuf's first new studio album in five years, "Tell 'Em I'm Gone", will be released on October 27, his record label Sony announced.The album features musical contributions from some very talented musicians. Richard Thompson, blues harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite, singer-songwriter Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Tuareg group Tinariwen, and guitarist Matt Sweeney, a press release said. “Although I was to venture through many lyrical terrains, melodious valleys and cadences during my fifty-year musical and spiritual exploration, and though many would agree that I have covered a lot of ground, there was always one path I meant to take. Hidden in the background behind my renowned troubadour persona lurked an R&B alter-self waiting to be let free."