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Cat Stevens

CAT STEVENS

YEAR

2014

INDUCTED BY

Art Garfunkel

CATEGORY

Performers

A true Seventies singer-songwriter—Cat Stevens gave hushed, mesmerizing performances.

Stevens’ body of work is one of sophistication, truth-seeking and creativity informed by spirituality. His music was both what he was looking for and his way of looking.

Cat Stevens

Cat Stevens

HALL OF FAME
ESSAY

By Jim Farber

Use the fewest words, sing in the quietest voice, place fingers on strings with the lightest touch. Such are the apparent strategies of Cat Stevens.

In his classic songs, there’s a hush at the core, a whisper willed by a singer in search of focus. Take “The Wind.” The vocal that sits at the song’s center doesn’t seem so much performed as channeled, as if it’s emanating not from the singer, but from the inner mind of the listener.

The only accompaniment: two acoustic guitars that stroke and trace the vocals, forming chords that curl into rounds. Listen closely and you’ll hear a third element – uncredited, but palpable.

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