Cat Stevens Announces First Tour In 33 Years

The cat is back. Back on the road that is. Legendary singer-songwriter Cat Stevens is about to tour for the first time in 33 years.

His first show is set for Dublin in November and finishes at London’s Royal Albert Hall in December. Cat, also known in some circles as Yusuf, is expected to play many of his greatest hits, plus debut tunes from his new musical, Moonshadow.

The 61-year-old said this week:

“It’s taken a long time to arrive, but it’s always been a dream of mine to write a musical,” he said.

“Growing up in the West End of London, surrounded by theatres and shows, obviously left a strong impression on me. I originally wanted to be a composer, not a pop star. Strange how it’s taken almost a lifetime, but it had to – the story is somewhat a metaphorical mirror of my own journey so I suppose it had to wait to reach where I am today.”

For a quick, Cat back story, Stevens pretty much walked away from music when he was a superstar in the mid-seventies and then converted to Islam.

It was goodbye “Wild World” and hello very long beard.

But his music has definitely remained popular, despite his dropping out of sight from the public eye.

Out of the music game for years, Stevens (as Yusuf Islam) released his first collection of songs since his conversion, An Other Cup, in 2006.

Maybe it was back in May, when Stevens performed a show of his hits in London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Island Records, that he got to thinking about a tour.

His latest album – Roadsinger – was released in May.

Oh yeah, and earlier this year Stevens accused Coldplay of ripping off the melody of 1973 tune “Foreigner Suite” for their big hit “Viva La Vida.” The Cat eventually absolved the band of their sins.

No word on any U.S. dates, but hopefully Cat Stevens will have such a wonderful time performing the great oldies and the new goodies that he’ll feel the need to expand the comeback tour.