Yusuf Islam, born Steven Demetre Georgiou, and best known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist, humanitarian and philanthropist born on 21 July 1948 in Marylebone, London, England. He has amassed five platinum and six gold albums, plus two certified triple platinum by the RIAA. He has received two ASCAP songwriting awards, and the British Academy’s Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
Have you ever wondered how rich Cat Stevens is? According to sources it has been estimated that Cat Stevens’ overall net worth is $5 million, accumulated by managing a highly successful musical career for more than 50 years, significantly increased by becoming one of the most acknowledged and awarded musicians and songwriters. Since he is still an active musician, his net worth continues to grow.
Cat Stevens Net Worth $5 Million
Stevens was born the youngest of three children to a Greek father and Swedish mother, who were restaurateurs and ran the Moulin Rouge restaurant on Shaftsbury Avenue, London. Although raised as a Greek Orthodox, his parents decided to send him to a Roman Catholic school. As a child, he learned to play the piano and showed a natural artistic talent. In 1963, as an ardent fan of The Beatles, Stevens convinced his father to buy him a guitar, and quickly began composing and playing his own songs. He made his debut at a local bar in 1964, while he was studying at Hammersmith Art College, and this event launched his career as he was offered a publishing deal as a songwriter, taking the name Cat Stevens as his stage name.
It was in this period that he sold “The First Cut is the Deepest” to P.P. Arnold, which became a hit making it to No. 18 on the UK Singles Chart. At the age of 18, Stevens released his first album “Matthew and Son”, with hits such as “I Love My Dog”, “Here Comes My Baby”, and the title track charted at No.2. Although he began experiencing success as a pop star, he wanted to release tracks of different genres, however, his record label declined as they wanted him to appeal to teen audiences with pop style. This threw Stevens into depression and alcoholism, which led to additional health problems in 1968, when he was diagnosed with tuberculosis.
After three months spent in hospital, Cat reviewed his approach to life and decided to start over. In 1970 he released the “Tea for the Tillerman” album and its American release made him a star in the US as the album went gold. New hits followed including “Moon Shadow, “Peace Train” and “Morning Has Broken”, and Stevens even recorded tracks for the “Harold and Maude” film. His following album “Catch Bull at Four” came out in 1972 and stayed at the top of the charts for three weeks, becoming his most successful release in the US too. Three years later, he released a successful greatest hits compilation, and then followed his tenth album “Izitso” which also went gold. His net worth was rising rapidly.
A meaningful event happened to Stevens, around this time; the singer almost drowned while swimming at Malibu beach, and he made a vow that he would devote his life to honoring God as a divine creature that saved his life as an answer to his prayers. His brother gave him a copy of the Koran for his birthday and the book made a deep impact on him. Steven converted to the Muslim faith in 1977 and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. He also decided not to record secular music any longer, and the following year A&M records released his “Back to Earth” album, a backlog of previous tracks.
In the mid–90s, he began releasing albums of spiritual lectures and Islamic-themed music. However, Stevens returned to his previous musical style in 2004, and was named “Songwriter of the Year” in 2005 and awarded “Song of the Year” by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for his 1967 hit “The First Cut is the Deepest”. For his efforts to increase understanding between Western and Islamic cultures, Stevens was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Exeter. He released his most recent album “Tell ‘Em I’m Gone” in 2014.
When it comes to his private life, Stevens has been married to Fawzia Ali since 1979 with whom he founded a Muslim school near London. The couple currently resides in London, and have five children.
