A SEVENTIES pop legend has been forced to cancel his latest tour and admitted he’s “really upset” by the turn of events.
Administrative issues and lack of “production logistics” have forced the 77-year-old to make the dramatic u-turn on the dates penned for next month.
A top British popstar has been forced to cancel his upcoming tour and admitted ‘I’m really upset’[/caption]
Cat Stevens was due to entertain the crowds in America[/caption]
He has issued an emotional statement to fans after scrapping October plans for the Cat on the Road to Findout Book Tour[/caption]
British singer-songwriter Cat Stevens has issued an emotional statement to fans after scrapping October plans for the Cat on the Road to Findout Book Tour.
The Father and Son hitmaker, who became Yusuf after converting to Islam, has expanded his music offerings to include his new autobiography, which will detail his “journey through the triumphs, trials, and boundless quest of one of music’s most enigmatic figures of all time.”
Yet he will not be able to tour it around the US due to visa issues.
In a heartfelt message he said: “Sadly, my Cat on the Road to Findout Book Tour in the U.S. 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.
“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!”
Fans can now pre-order the tome despite the tour issues.
OPENING UP
We previously reported how his new release will focus on his brushes with death – and how they have shaped him.
The first of them happened in his early teens when the teeming streets — and inviting rooftops — of London’s West End were his playground.
One night, while out gallivanting with his best friend Andy, he found himself clinging by his fingertips to a ledge, several storeys up, near Prince’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue.
Fall and his short life would be over but, as “the dark abyss” beckoned, Andy stretched out, grabbed his arm and pulled him to safety in the nick of time.
“It was the moment I first faced up to mortality,” Yusuf told The Sun, casting his mind back to the early Sixties.
“I already considered myself as a thinker by then and, as such, you can’t help thinking that one day you won’t be here.
“Whether it’s through an accident or illness or by dying in your sleep, it’s all one thing. You leave this world.
“That to me was a problem. I just had to understand more about it.”
So began a spiritual quest that Yusuf has carried with him to this day.
In 1969, he then contracted a life-threatening bout of TB which required months of recuperation.
Then, in 1976, he nearly drowned while swimming off the coast of Malibu, California.
His thoughtful but hook-laden songs then began flowing freely — Father And Son, Wild World, Moonshadow and Peace Train among them — and they made him a global superstar and bedsit pin-up.
Administrative issues and lack of “production logistics” have forced the 77-year-old to make the dramatic u-turn[/caption]
The Father and Son hitmaker, who became Yusuf after converting to Islam[/caption]
