Dave Matthews, Haim, Brandon Boyd of Incubus and 37 other artists will pay tribute to Yusuf/Cat Stevens with live performances this week.
The CatSong Festival will honor the 50th anniversary of his 1970 albums Tea for the Tillerman and Mona Bone Jakon.
“It’s great to see and hear these covers of my songs given new life,” Yusuf said in a statement. “There’s no better honor for a songwriter than to have his songs performed by talented musicians with such love and sincerity. Thank you.”
Other performers include Jack Johnson, Feist, Passenger, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Sad13, Imelda May and more. The virtual festival will broadcast live on YouTube on Dec. 5 at 12pm PS/3pm EST/8pm GMT, which you can watch here.
Despite the milestone, Yusuf had to cancel touring plans due to the pandemic. However, he’s still shared new, unseen content related to the Tea for the Tillerman and Mona Bone Jakon reissues. The anniversary boxsets, containing 24 recordings, demos, alternate takes, live recordings and more, will release on Dec. 4.
Preorder Tea for the Tillerman here and Mona Bone Jakon here.
