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Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Steven Demetre Georgiou was born on July 21, 1948, in London to a Greek-Cypriot father and a Swedish mother britannica.com. Raised in the vibrant heart of London above his parents’ restaurant, young Steven grew up helping in the family business and absorbing the city’s multicultural energy. Music found him early – he taught himself piano and later asked for a guitar at age 15, quickly discovering a talent for songwriting britannica.com. By his late teens, he was performing under the stage name “Cat Stevens,” a moniker inspired by a girlfriend’s remark that his eyes were like a cat’s cbsnews.com. In 1967, Cat Stevens released his debut album Matthew and Son, and its title track became a Top 10 hit in the UK britannica.com. Almost overnight, the teenager from London became a rising star, known for catchy pop-folk tunes like “I Love My Dog” and “Matthew and Son,” and he even toured with the likes of Jimi Hendrix as his popularity grew britannica.com.

Despite this early success, the whirlwind of fame soon took a toll on the young artist. Stevens faced creative conflicts with his record label and the pressures of being marketed as a teen idol britannica.com. He fell into a period of excess – heavy drinking, constant work – until his body gave a dire warning. In 1968, at just 19, Cat Stevens contracted a near-fatal case of tuberculosis, collapsing with a lung infection britannica.com. This health crisis became a pivotal turning point. “Suddenly I’ve got this medieval disease… all of the spotlights are switched off. And now I say: ‘Well, hey, where is the light?’” Stevens later recalled of the months he spent recuperating in hospital, isolated from the world of pop stardom cbsnews.com. The brush with death forced him to confront deep questions about life’s purpose beyond the superficial glamour of fame cbsnews.com. During a year of convalescence, he filled notebook after notebook with new songs – over 40 of them – pouring his soul into music and reflection cbsnews.com. He also began exploring spirituality, dabbling in meditation, Eastern philosophies, and even adopting a vegetarian lifestyle as he searched for deeper meaning in life britannica.comislamawareness.net. This period of introspection planted the seeds of a lifelong quest in him: to find “a different kind of light” beyond the stage’s spotlight cbsnews.com.

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Yusuf Islam_ From Cat Stevens to a Journey of Faith and Humanity: Download