Cat stevens

Anyone remeber him from 70's..??
the performer of many good music..??
now named as "Yusuf Islam"..

Read this..

(AP) Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev honored the singer once known as Cat Stevens with a peace prize on Wednesday, praising him for charity work and for standing by his convictions despite personal hardships.

Yusuf Islam was awarded the "Man for Peace" prize in Rome at the opening of a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates. He last made headlines in September, when he turned up on Washington's no-fly list for having suspected ties to terrorists ? a claim he has strongly denied.

The "Peace Train" singer, who largely gave up music after converting to Islam in the late 1970s, mused about the strangeness of being barred from one country while being honored in another.

"Perhaps it's part of the irony that sometimes you have to go through a test in order to achieve a prize," he told reporters. "So maybe that's a symbol. Today I'm receiving a prize for peace, which is actually, I would say, a bit more descriptive of my ideas and my aims in life."

The British musician was expelled from the United States in September after authorities diverted his London-to-Washington flight to Maine to remove him, saying he was suspected of ties to terrorism.

Islam criticized what he called an "unjust and arbitrary system," and that he has denounced terrorism. He also pointed out that just a few months earlier, he had met with officials of the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to talk about philanthropy.

Lawyers for the singer have asked American officials to remove his name from the "no fly" list and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has complained to American officials about their treatment of him.

U.S. authorities provided few details about Islam's alleged connection to terrorism and would not say when he was added to the watch list.

A U.S. government official said on condition of anonymity in September that American authorities believed donations from Islam may have ended up helping fund blind sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, convicted for a plot to bomb New York City landmarks, and Hamas, a Palestinian militant group responsible for scores of suicide bombings in Israel that is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

Gorbachev's foundation and Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni's office, which presented the award, praised Islam for promoting peace and "for having condemned terrorism."

The former Soviet leader alluded to the musician's troubles.

"Cat Stevens' life has not been simple," Gorbachev said. "Every person who takes a critical stance to make the world a better place ... has a difficult life."

The two men kissed each other on the cheek as Gorbachev handed over the prize.

Islam is the founder of Small Kindness, a charity to raise money for children and families suffering from poverty and war in the Balkans and Middle East. It also donated money to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and to the fight against AIDS in South Africa.

Islam has largely shunned music in recent years, although he did record a new version of his 1971 hit "Peace Train" last year for the album "Hope," which raised money for Iraqi children.

The meeting of Nobel laureates, which ends Friday, is organized every year in Rome by the Gorbachev Foundation. Besides Gorbachev, other Nobel winners present included Lech Walesa, the founder of Poland's Solidarity democracy movement; Rigoberta Menchu Tum, who fought government oppression in Guatemala; and former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung.

Islam said he was honored to be attending ? "not as a rock 'n' roller, but as someone who is sharing a platform with these noble examples."

Other recipients of the "Man for Peace" award included Italian actor-director Roberto Benigni, who won

Wow I had no idea his life had taken such a dramatic turn.

I used to listen to his music all the time when I was in college. Still like it alot. TW2

G W thinks he is evil, Johhny A thinks he evil, Colon P ( don't you love it the guys named after a body part) thinks he O.K., I say let him in the U.S. if he looks like he is going to f--k up kill him.

OldJake...

hehe

Is he terrorist or not..??
😉

Now that I've lost everything to you
You say you wanna start something new
And it's breakin' my heart you're leavin'
Baby, I'm grievin'
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there

Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl

You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do
And it's breakin' my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad girl
Don't be a bad girl
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware

Chorus

Baby, I love you
But if you wanna leave, take good care
I hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware

Chorus

a terrorist song...hehe

Tw2
Not to worry much about it...I cant barely remember those time of "real warriors".. I was Born in 1960..
But to remember, those people from of that time have fought their ways for our freedom, love and peace ..you may call those as drug addicted SOB and flower people... fair by me.. but they've fought their way all along and this reality that we are living on it right now, could not exist without their efforts..!!

another such a SOB is Joan Baez..!!

and ah... how can anyone forget " the streets of london"...it sure must be deaf.....!!

Have you seen the old man in the closed down market,
Kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you see no pride. Hanging loosely by his side,
They're yesterday's paper telling yesterday's news.

So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say that for you the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand & lead you through the streets of
London,
I will show you something to make you change your mind

Have you seen the old girl who walks the streets of London?
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags.
She's no time for talking, she just keeps right on walking,
Carrying her home in two carrier bags.


So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say that for you the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand & lead you through the streets of
London,
I will show you something to make you change your mind


In the all night cafe at a quarter to eleven,
Same old man sitting there all alone.
Looking at the world over the rim of his tea cup,
Each tea lasts a hour, then he wanders home alone.

So how can you tell me you're lonely,
And say that for you the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand & lead you through the streets of
London,
I will show you something to make you change your mind

Have you seen the old man outside the seamen's mission?
Memory fading like the ribbons he wears.
In this lonesome city the rain cries a little pity,
For one more forgotten hero in a world that doesn't care.



man... I love this dearly...

i doubt cat was his real name either. he must suffer from an occasional identiy crisis.lol

lol, Parallax.

I have to say I love Cat Stevens' old stuff. I had a "the best of..." album, loaned it to my ex and he never gave it back - along with a bunch of other music I loaned to him. Grumble...actually it's alright, because I re-purchased almost all the music I lost to him.

I can't think of an old song of his that I don't like.

I read he's a Cancer, which would explain a lot.