Yusuf Cat Stevens. Current photo - credit: Aminah Yusuf
So here we are, decades after the peace train first left the station, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens, one of the greatest songwriters of his generation and then walked away from it all, has decided to tell his own story. And not in the rickety voice of celebrity confessional, either. Cat On The Road To Findout, is what you might expect from a pop mystic who once wrote chart hits that doubled as philosophical koans: generous, lyrical, often luminous.
This is no ghostwritten cash-in, it’s an illustrated, introspective, self-penned journey through the many identities he’s worn and shed: teenage hitmaker, existential seeker, Islamic convert, philanthropist, and, yes, reluctant icon. He was a pop star who nearly died young (tuberculosis at 19), survived, and decided there had to be more. There was.
The book unpacks the arc from swinging Soho to Mecca, from ‘Matthew and Son’ to Muhammad and back again. But what makes Findout sing is the same thing that made ‘Father and Son’ eternal: emotional clarity in the face of life’s mess. Yusuf writes with the steady humility of someone who’s been mistaken for a prophet and knows better. “What finally elevated my perspective,” he notes, “was a luminous Book that perfectly alchemized my thoughts, beliefs, with human nature.” It’s a line only he could write, and mean.
This isn’t just spiritual autobiography, either. It’s full of memories that snap into focus like old Kodachrome: the pinballing thrills of 60s pop culture, the uneasy spotlight of 70s superstardom, the silence that followed his conversion, and the slow return to public life with albums that dare to ask where the soul fits in the Spotify era. Along the way, Yusuf has sold 100 million records, picked up peace prices, and become an interfaith advocate.
In Cat On The Road To Findout, he lays his cards on the table and we get Yusuf/Cat Stevens in his own voice. It’s weathered, sure, but undiminished. Still asking big questions. Still looking for answers. Still riding the peace train, now with a full map of where it’s been.
Further information
Cat On The Road To Findout will be published in hardback, ebook and audiobook format (narrated by the author). The book will be published by Constable in the UK and Commonwealth on 18th September 2025, and by Genesis Publications in North America on 7th October 2025.
To preorder the book and join the presale for his upcoming book tour, visit catstevens.com
