Cat Stevens/Yusuf eyes Green Day collaboration
Singer Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, has recently announced a new album entitled King of a Land and has also been confirmed to be playing the ‘Legends’ slot at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. The iconic folk artists recently opened up on the new announcements in a new interview.
He also told NME about his dream collaboration with none other than punk-rock heroes Green Day. When asked if he keeps up to date with modern music, Yusuf admitted: “Not very much. I came from one of pop’s pinnacle eras when there’d be a new milestone every week, so I tend to listen to that period most.”
He added: “But I love Green Day because of their message. ‘Know Your Enemy’ is an incredible song with a message about the Iraq war that was right on time.” Yusuf then went on to explain that he would love to work with Billie Joe Armstrong and that he thinks their music would complement each other well.
“Yeah! Wow, that’s a good idea,” Yusuf added. “I think they listened to my song ‘Bitterblue’ before making ‘Know Your Enemy’, as I can hear little titbits of it in the chords and some of the words. I reckon we could definitely get it on.” However, no such collaboration has yet been confirmed.
King of a Land is set to be released on June 16th, later this year. Discussing the new record in the same interview, Yusuf said, “I didn’t have a plan for what this album was going to be, and, in a way, I’ve been recording it for 12 years. Over the years, I’ve gradually been perfecting [the tracks]. So it’s taken a long time, but it’s benefitted from that. I wasn’t going to let go until it was ready, and I’m very, very pleased with the results. It’s probably one of my best albums.”
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