His December 1967 album New Masters failed to chart in the United Kingdom. In August 1967, he went on the air with other recording artists who had benefited from the station to mourn its closure. Some of that success was attributed to the pirate radio station Wonderful Radio London, which gained him fans by playing his records. Stevens was considered a fresh-faced teen star, placing several single releases in the British pop music charts. The music business hadn't yet begun targeting specific audiences, so he frequently toured with what now would be considered an unusual array of celebrities. Over the next two years, Stevens recorded and toured with artists ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Engelbert Humperdinck. The original version of the The Tremeloes cover hit, "Here Comes My Baby", was written and recorded by Stevens. "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun" reached Britain's Top 10, and the album Matthew and Son itself began charting. "I Love My Dog" charted at #28, and "Matthew and Son", the title song from his debut album, went to #2. And in England, and I was sure in America, they loved animals." In 1966, at age 18, he impressed manager/producer Mike Hurst, formerly of British vocal group The Springfields, with his songs and Hurst arranged for him to record a demo and then helped him get a record deal. Thinking that his given name might not be memorable to prospective fans, he chose a stage name Cat Stevens, in part because a girlfriend said he had eyes like a cat, but mainly because he said, "I couldn't imagine anyone going to the record store and asking for 'that Steven Demetre Georgiou album'. At first he tried forming a band, but soon realised he preferred performing solo. Georgiou began to perform his songs in coffee houses and pubs. His newest album, Roadsinger, was released on. He now goes professionally by the single name Yusuf. In 2006, he returned to pop music with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003's World Award, the 2004 Man for Peace Award, and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. In 1979, he auctioned all his guitars away for charity and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. Stevens converted to Islam at the height of his fame, in December 1977, and adopted his Muslim name, Yusuf Islam, the following year. He has also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", which has been a hit single for four different artists. His early 1970s record albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat were both certified as Triple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States his 1972 album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone and was Billboard's number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. He is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam. Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou 21 July 1948 in London, England), commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British musician.