Has he toured USA lately?
I'll be at this one.
The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens will tour Australia for the first time in 36 years in June.
The singer/songwriter, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam after converting to Islam in 1977, will play shows in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
The 61-year-old artist is famous for classic songs like Peace Train, Father & Son, (Remember The Days Of The) Old School Yard, First Cut Is The Deepest, Wild World, Moonshadow, and Morning Has Broken.
For many years it seemed unlikely that Yusuf would return to the stage, after deciding to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community.
Promoter Paul Dainty first brought Cat Stevens to Australia more than three decades ago and after more than a year of talks he has convinced him to return.
"I've been trying for a long, long time to get him back here - it's probably the longest time between an artist coming out then returning," Dainty told AAP.
"He's super excited about coming down here. He's really up for it and the show is going to be really fantastic.
"I think it's going to be a hot, hot ticket."
Dainty said Yusuf had been flirting with the idea of returning to the stage for a while, and he played a few shows in the UK at the Royal Albert Hall in December to test it out.
He said the singer is sounding better than ever, and audiences could expect to hear all the songs they fell in love with years ago.
"It will be the hits of a lifetime," Dainty said.
"He was part of everyone's musical history. So many people have Cat Stevens records and if you play them today they sound like they were recorded yesterday."
Tickets for Yusuf In Concert go on sale on Thursday May 6.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/entertainm ... australia/
