Cat Stevens cancels concerts after being ripped off
Yusuf Islam, the singer once known as Cat Stevens, has cancelled a New York gig in protest at laws allowing ticket touts to profit from fans.
Islam, 66, who is promoting his new album Tell ‘Em I’m Gone, told New York he was gone and has moved the show to Philadelphia.
The singer-songwriter, who was born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London in 1948, said that fans had told him of “extortionate” prices for tickets to his scheduled New York show.
Yusuf said that New York state law required paper tickets, “enabling them to be bought and sold at inflated prices”. He added, in a statement on his website, “I have been a longtime supporter of paperless tickets to my shows worldwide and avoiding scalpers.” In the US, touts are known as scalpers.
It is his first full tour of North America since 1976. In 1977, he converted to being a Muslim and stopped touring the US. Islam says he hopes to return to play New York if the situation can be resolved and added, in a jokey reference to his 1971 hit: “Looks like the Peace Train is going to arrive at New York a little bit later than expected.”
He will now play Philadelphia on on December 4 and will also perform in Toronto, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Islam, who also had hits with Wild World, Moonshadow and Morning Has Broken, is also due to return to the UK in November for shows at the Eventim Hammersmith Apollo in London.
Source: The Telegraph
