Yusuf Islam, the 1970s British singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, admitted he was “really upset” Monday when he announced the cancelation of a planned tour of North America over unspecified “visa issues.”
The 77-year-old singer-songwriter, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam after embracing the Muslim faith in 1977, had to cancel his U.S. Cat on the Road to Findout Book Tour due to a problem with production logistics and administrative issues.
The tour, in support of his new memoir Cat on the Road to Findout, was slated to kick off in the U.S. this week.
In a post shared on social media, he said: “Sadly, my Cat on the Road to Findout Book Tour in the U.S. and Canada looks like it won’t go ahead as scheduled in October. Waiting months for visa approvals, we held out as long as we could. However, at this point, the production logistics necessary for my show cannot be arranged in time.
“I am really upset! Not least for my fans who have bought tickets and made travel plans to see me perform.”
He added: “North American audiences may still get a chance to see the tour if visa approvals eventually come through. Those dates would be some time away because of other travel tour plans but, hopefully, fans will be able to hop on the Peace Train route at some time in the future.
“Meanwhile, tour delays should not affect the book, which you’ll still be able to enjoy… the obvious benefit of it being — books don’t need visas!”
The tour was set to start Oct. 2 in Philadelphia and had various stops scheduled across the country for the rest of the month. His Oct. 8 tour stop in Toronto, Canada, was also postponed.
File/British musician Yusuf Islam (born Steven Georgiou, also known as Cat Stevens) speaks during a press conference at a hotel, Chicago, Illinois, July 30, 1984. The press conference was held to announce his defamation lawsuit against the Globe newspaper. (Paul Natkin/Getty Images)
The announcement comes just weeks after Yusuf had originally said earlier in September the tour was hitting snags dealing with U.S. immigration, saying the venture was in “serious jeopardy.”
The British singer-songwriter rose to fame in the 1960s and put his career on hold for two decades after converting to Islam in the late 1970s.
He returned to secular music in the 2000s and had a six-city concert tour in North America in 2014.
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