YUSUF Islam

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Cat Stevens Hosts Indonesia Gig

BBC
28th January, 2005

Singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, is to host a concert in Indonesia for victims of the tsunami.

The concert in Jakarta on 31 January will feature a host of local artists coming together to raise money for the devastated province of Aceh.

The star has also written a charity single called Indian Ocean, with a number of other recording artists. While in Indonesia, folk singer Islam, 56, will open a regional office of his Small Kindness charity.

“Like everyone else, I was so shaken by the enormity of this human tragedy, and the song just came without effort,” Islam said in the statement on his website. “It is my contribution towards helping to rebuild the broken spirits of the victims of the disaster.”

The charity record, composed by Islam, also features musicians including Indian composer AR Rahman, A-Ha’s Magne Furuholmen and Travis drummer Neil Primrose. They recorded the single in London and it is due for release in February to raise money for children orphaned by the disaster.

Islam has rarely recorded music with instruments since his conversion to the Muslim faith in 1977. He said: “It’s not a return to Cat Stevens, I see it more as a natural response to express my concern as a Muslim and as an artist; I believe both can exist side by side, particularly when the cause is right.”

Islam recently hit headlines after he was removed from a flight from London to Washington because officials suspected he had links to terrorism. He strongly denied the claims and said it was a case of mistaken identity.

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Cat Stevens Hosts Indonesia Gig