The songs that inspired Yusuf/Cat Stevens to greatness: “Impossible not to mention the impact”
Steven Demetre Georgiou, better known as Yusuf/Cat Stevens, rose to prominence in the late 1960s, finding instant success with his first singles, such as his debut, ‘I Love My Dog’. His first album, Matthew and Son, was also a chart triumph, proving Stevens to be one of Britain’s most exciting new artists.
Throughout the decades, Stevens’ music has evolved as he explored new life avenues, such as converting to Islam. Upon doing so, he stopped making music for two decades before returning in the ‘90s. These new tracks took a new musical direction, although he returned to pop music in the 2000s.
His changing views and outlook on life influenced Stevens’ return to music. However, various songs also shaped the trajectory of his comeback, and he once selected the four tracks that helped him get back into writing new music.
Talking to Red Bull, he selected an early cut by The Beatles, ‘There’s A Place’, which appeared on the Fab Four’s debut album, Please Please Me. “It would be impossible not to mention the impact of The Beatles,” Stevens explained. Adding that ‘There’s A Place’ is “about a place, which I think is a [common theme in] all the songs I love,” Stevens’ continued. “It depicts the destination we all want to end up in: that one place where everything is fine.”
Stevens is also a big fan of Booker T and the MG’s ‘Green Onions’, the classic 1962 track. “Growing up in the West End of London, there were clubs and everything, and the big thing then was R&B,” he explained. “Back then, R&B was the development of the blues, but it became more accessible, and there were some instrumentals that just drove me wild. This track was one of them. I would always dance to this – I love it.”
Elsewhere, Stevens heaped praise on Stevie Wonder, who he called one of his favourite artists. He stated: “He turned everything around when he came out of his shell. He did something musically that was incomparable.” Selecting ‘Saturn’ as his particular go-to track by the music legend, he said, “It’s about how we’re destroying this world, and how some people are thinking of leaving it to find a better place, but there ain’t going to be one.”
In keeping with this theme, Stevens picked out Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth Song’, which was featured on HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. Claiming not to have heard the song upon its release in 1995, Stevens said, “When I finally got round to listening to what had been happening in music while I was away… I’ve got to say, Michael Jackson just did it. ‘Oh my God’, I thought to myself. ‘What a brilliant tune.’”
Taken together, Stevens’ selections reveal a consistent throughline rather than a scattered set of influences. Each song is concerned less with style or trend than with place, whether that place is emotional, spiritual, or planetary. From the inward refuge described by The Beatles to the environmental warnings of Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, these tracks mirror the same questions Stevens had been asking himself during his years away from the spotlight.
Rather than dragging him back to his former life as a pop star, these songs offered permission to write again on his own terms. They reinforced the idea that music could still function as reflection, guidance, and conscience without needing fame attached to it. In that sense, Stevens’ return was never about reclaiming his past success, but about reconnecting with the deeper purpose that had driven him to make music in the first place.
The songs that inspired Cat Stevens:
- The Beatles – ‘There’s A Place’
- Booker T and the MGs – ‘Green Onions’
- Stevie Wonder – ‘Saturn’
- Michael Jackson – ‘Earth Song’
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