title: Cat Stevens

text: Steven Demetre Georgiou, born on 21 July 1948 in the Marylebone area of London, was the youngest child of a Cypriot father, Stavros Georgiou (1900–1978), and a Swedish mother, Ingrid Wickman (1915–1989). He has an older sister, Anita (b. 1937), and a brother, David Gordon. The family lived above the Moulin Rouge, a restaurant his parents operated on the north end of Shaftesbury Avenue, a short walk from Piccadilly Circus in the Soho theatre district of London. All family members worked in the restaurant. His parents divorced when he was about eight years old but continued to maintain the family restaurant and live above it. Stevens has a half-brother, George Georgiou, born in Greece, presumably from his father's first marriage in Greece, where he served in the Macedonian Mule Corps.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Although his father was Greek Orthodox and his mother was a Baptist, Georgiou was sent to St Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School, Macklin Street, which was closer to his father's business on Drury Lane. Georgiou developed an interest in piano at a young age, eventually using the family baby grand piano to work out the chords, since no one else there played well enough to teach him. At 15, inspired by the popularity of the Beatles, he became interested in the guitar. He persuaded his father to pay £8 () for his first guitar, and he began playing it and writing songs. He occasionally escaped his family responsibilities by going to the rooftop above their home and listening to the tunes of the musicals drifting from around the corner on Denmark Street, then the centre of the British music industry. Stevens said that "West Side Story" particularly affected him and gave him a "different view of life". With interests in both art and music, he and his mother moved to Gävle, Sweden, where he attended primary school (Solängsskolan) and started developing his drawing skills after being influenced by his uncle Hugo Wickman, a painter. They subsequently returned to England.


title: Cat Stevens

text: He attended other local West End schools, where he says he was constantly in trouble and did poorly in everything but art. He was called "the artist boy" and said, "I was beat up, but I was noticed". He took a one-year course at Hammersmith School of Art, considering a career as a cartoonist. Though he enjoyed art (his later record albums featured his original artwork), he decided to pursue a music career. He began performing under the name "Steve Adams" in 1965 while at Hammersmith. At that point, his goal was to become a songwriter. As well as the Beatles, other musicians who influenced him were the Kinks, Bob Dylan, Nina Simone, blues artists Lead Belly and Muddy Waters, Biff Rose (particularly Rose's first album), Leo Kottke and Paul Simon. He also sought to emulate composers of musicals, like Ira Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. In 1965 he signed a publishing deal with Ardmore & Beechwood and recorded several demos, including "The First Cut Is the Deepest".


title: Cat Stevens

text: Georgiou began performing his songs in London coffee houses and pubs. At first he tried forming a band, but realised he preferred performing solo. Thinking his birth name might be difficult to remember, he chose the stage name Cat Stevens, in part because a girlfriend said he had eyes like a cat, but mainly because "I couldn't imagine anyone going to the record store and asking for 'that Steven Demetre Georgiou album'. And in England, and I was sure in America, they loved animals."


title: Cat Stevens

text: In 1966, at age 18, he was heard by manager/producer Mike Hurst, formerly of British vocal group the Springfields. Hurst arranged for him to record a demo and helped him get a record deal. Stevens's first singles were hits: "I Love My Dog" reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart; and "Matthew and Son", the title song from his debut album, reached number 2 in the UK. "I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun" was his second UK top 10 single, reaching number 6, and the album "Matthew and Son" reached number 7 on the UK Albums Chart.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Over the next two years, Stevens recorded and toured with an eclectic group of artists ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Engelbert Humperdinck. He was considered a fresh-faced teen star, placing several single releases in the British pop music charts. Some of that success was attributed to the pirate radio station Wonderful Radio London, which gained him fans by playing his records. In August 1967, he was one of several recording artists who had benefited from the station to broadcast messages during its final hour to mourn its closure.


title: Cat Stevens

text: His December 1967 album "New Masters" failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The album is now most notable for his song "The First Cut Is the Deepest", a song he sold for £30 () to P. P. Arnold that became a massive hit for her and an international hit for Keith Hampshire, Rod Stewart, James Morrison, and Sheryl Crow. Forty years after he recorded the first demo of the song, it earned him back-to-back ASCAP "Songwriter of the Year" awards, in 2005 and 2006.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Stevens contracted tuberculosis in 1969 and was close to death at the time of his admission to the King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, Sussex. He spent months recuperating in the hospital and a year of convalescence. During this time, Stevens began to question aspects of his life and spirituality. He later said, "to go from the show business environment and find you are in hospital, getting injections day in and day out, and people around you are dying, it certainly changes your perspective. I got down to thinking about myself. It seemed almost as if I had my eyes shut."


title: Cat Stevens

text: He took up meditation, yoga, and metaphysics; read about other religions; and became a vegetarian. As a result of his serious illness and long convalescence and as a part of his spiritual awakening and questioning, he wrote as many as 40 songs, many of which would appear on his albums in years to come.


title: Cat Stevens

text: The lack of success of Stevens' second album mirrored a difference of personal tastes in musical direction and a growing resentment of producer Mike Hurst's attempts to re-create another album like that of his debut, with heavy-handed orchestration and over-production, rather than the folk rock sound Stevens was attempting to produce. He admits having purposefully sabotaged his own contract with Hurst, making outlandishly expensive orchestral demands and threatening legal action, which resulted in his goal: release from his contract with Deram Records, a sub-label of Decca Records.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Upon regaining his health at home after his release from the hospital, Stevens recorded some of his newly written songs on his tape recorder and played his changing sound for a few new record executives. After hiring agent Barry Krost, who had arranged for an audition with Chris Blackwell of Island Records, Blackwell offered him a "chance to record [his songs] whenever and with whomever he liked and, more importantly to Cat, however he liked". With Krost's recommendation, Stevens signed with Paul Samwell-Smith, previously the bassist of the Yardbirds, to be his new producer.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Samwell-Smith paired Stevens with guitarist Alun Davies, who was at that time working as a session musician. Davies was the more experienced veteran of two albums which had already begun to explore the emerging genres of skiffle and folk rock music. Davies was also thought a perfect fit with Stevens in particular for his "fingerwork" on the guitar, harmonising, and backing vocals. They originally met just to record "Mona Bone Jakon", but soon developed a friendship. Davies, like Stevens, was a perfectionist, appearing at all sound checks to be sure that all the equipment and sound were prepared for each concert.


title: Cat Stevens

text: The first single released from "Mona Bone Jakon" was "Lady D'Arbanville", which Stevens wrote about his young American girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville. The record, with a madrigal sound unlike most music played on pop radio, with sounds of djembes and bass in addition to Stevens' and Davies' guitars, reached number 8 in the UK. It was the first of his hits to get real airplay in the US. It sold over 1 million copies and was awarded a gold record in 1971. Other songs written for D'Arbanville included "Maybe You're Right" and "Just Another Night". In addition, the song "Pop Star", about his experience as a teen star, and "Katmandu", featuring Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel playing flute, were featured. "Mona Bone Jakon" was an early example of the solo singer-songwriter album format that was becoming popular for other artists as well. "Rolling Stone" magazine compared its popularity with that of Elton John's "Tumbleweed Connection", saying it was played "across the board, across radio formats".


title: Cat Stevens

text: "Mona Bone Jakon" was the precursor for Stevens' international breakthrough album, "Tea for the Tillerman", which became a Top 10 "Billboard" hit. Within six months of its release, it had sold over 500,000 copies, attaining gold record status in the United Kingdom and the United States. The combination of Stevens' new folk rock style and accessible lyrics which spoke of everyday situations and problems, mixed with the beginning of spiritual questions about life, remained in his music from then on. The album features the Top 20 single "Wild World"; a parting song after D'Arbanville moved on. "Wild World" has been credited as the song that gave "Tea for the Tillerman" 'enough kick' to get it played on FM radio; and the head of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, was quoted as calling it "the best album we've ever released". Other album tracks include "Hard-Headed Woman", and "Father and Son", a song sung both in baritone and tenor, about the struggle between fathers and their sons who are faced with their own personal choices in life. In 2001, this album was certified by the RIAA as a Multi-Platinum record, having sold 3 million copies in the United States at that time. It is ranked at No. 206 in the 2003 list of "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".


title: Cat Stevens

text: After the end of his relationship with D'Arbanville, Stevens noted the effect it had on writing his music, saying, "Everything I wrote while I was away was in a transitional period and reflects that. Like Patti. A year ago we split; I had been with her for two years. What I write about Patti and my family ... when I sing the songs now, I learn strange things. I learn the meanings of my songs late ..."


title: Cat Stevens

text: Having established a signature sound, Stevens enjoyed a string of successes over the following years. 1971's "Teaser and the Firecat" album reached number two and achieved gold record status within three weeks of its release in the United States. It yielded several hits, including "Peace Train", "Morning Has Broken", and "Moonshadow". This album was also certified by the RIAA as a Multi-Platinum record in 2001, with over 3 million sold in the United States through that time. When interviewed on a Boston radio station, Stevens said about "Teaser and the Firecat":


title: Cat Stevens

text: I get the tune and then I just keep on singing the tune until the words come out from the tune. It's kind of a hypnotic state that you reach after a while when you keep on playing it where words just evolve from it. So you take those words and just let them go whichever way they want ...'Moonshadow'? Funny, that was in Spain, I went there alone, completely alone, to get away from a few things. And I was dancin' on the rocks there ... right on the rocks where the waves were, like, blowin' and splashin'. Really, it was so fantastic. And the moon was bright, ya know, and I started dancin' and singin' and I sang that song and it stayed. It's just the kind of moment that you want to find when you're writin' songs.


title: Cat Stevens

text: For seven months from 1971 to 1972 Stevens was romantically linked to popular singer Carly Simon while both were produced by Samwell-Smith. During that time both wrote songs for and about one another. Simon wrote and recorded at least two Top 50 songs, "Legend in Your Own Time" and "Anticipation" about Stevens. He reciprocated in his song to her, after their romance, entitled, "Sweet Scarlet".


title: Cat Stevens

text: His next album, "Catch Bull at Four", released in 1972, was his most rapidly successful album in the United States, reaching gold record status in 15 days and holding the number one position for three weeks on the "Billboard" 200 and fifteen weeks at number one in the Australian ARIA Charts.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In July 1970, Stevens recorded one of his songs, "But I Might Die Tonight", for the Jerzy Skolimowski film "Deep End". He contributed two songs to the 1971 film "Harold and Maude", but was annoyed when director Hal Ashby decided to use the original demos instead of allowing Stevens to finish them. The film used seven other Stevens songs as well; but perhaps because of the dispute, no soundtrack album was released until 2007.


title: Cat Stevens

text: After his religious conversion in the late 1970s, Stevens stopped granting permission for his songs to be used in films. However, almost 20 years later, in 1997, the film "Rushmore" received his permission to use his songs "Here Comes My Baby" and "The Wind", showing a new willingness on his part to release his music from his Western "pop star" days. This was followed in 2000 by the inclusion of "Peace Train" in the movie "Remember the Titans", in 2000 by the use in "Almost Famous" of the song "The Wind", and in 2006 the inclusion of "Peace Train" on the soundtrack to "We Are Marshall".


title: Cat Stevens

text: Subsequent releases in the 1970s also did well on the charts and in ongoing sales, although they did not touch the success he had from 1970 to 1973. In 1973, Stevens moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as a tax exile from the United Kingdom; however, he later donated the money to UNESCO. During that time he created the album "Foreigner", which was a departure from the music that had brought him to the height of his fame. It differed in several respects: entirely written by Stevens, he dropped his band and produced the record without the assistance of Samwell-Smith (who had played a large role in catapulting him to fame) with the exception of some guitar on the title track and "100 I Dream"


title: Cat Stevens

text: In June 1974, while in Australia, Cat Stevens was presented with a plaque representing the sale of forty Gold records, the largest number ever presented to an artist in Australia.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In April 1977, his "Izitso" album updated his pop rock and folk rock style with the extensive use of synthesisers, giving it a more synthpop style. "Was Dog a Doughnut" in particular was an early techno-pop fusion track and a precursor to the 1980s electro music genre, making early use of a music sequencer. "Izitso" included his last chart hit, "(Remember the Days of the) Old Schoolyard", an early synthpop song that used a polyphonic synthesiser; it was a duet with fellow UK singer Elkie Brooks.


title: Cat Stevens

text: His final original album under the name Cat Stevens was "Back to Earth", released in late 1978, which was also the first album produced by Samwell-Smith since his peak in single album sales in the early 1970s. Several compilation albums were released before and after he stopped recording. After Stevens left Decca Records they bundled his first two albums together as a set, hoping to ride the commercial tide of his early success; later his newer labels did the same, and he himself released compilations. The most successful of the compilation albums was the 1975 "Greatest Hits" which has sold over 4 million copies in the United States. In May 2003 he received his first Platinum Europe Award from the IFPI for "Remember Cat Stevens, The Ultimate Collection", indicating over one million European sales.


title: Cat Stevens

text: While on holiday in Marrakesh, Stevens was intrigued by the sound of the adhān, the Islamic ritual call to prayer, which was explained to him as "music for God". Stevens said, "I thought, music for God? I'd never heard that before – I'd heard of music for money, music for fame, music for personal power, but music for God!"


title: Cat Stevens

text: In 1976, Stevens nearly drowned off the coast of Malibu, California, and said he shouted, "Oh, God! If you save me I will work for you." He stated that, immediately afterwards, a wave appeared and carried him back to shore. This brush with death intensified his long-held quest for spiritual truth. He had looked into "Buddhism, Zen, I Ching, numerology, tarot cards, and astrology". Stevens' brother David Gordon, a convert to Judaism, brought him a copy of the Qur'an as a birthday gift from a trip to Jerusalem.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Stevens said on BBC's "Desert Island Discs": "I would never have picked up the Qur'an myself as a free spirit; I was more aligned to my father's Greek Orthodox beliefs." His brother's timely gift was quickly absorbed and he was taken with its content, soon beginning his transition and conversion to Islam, which would change forever his private and professional life.


title: Cat Stevens

text: During the time he was studying the Qur'an, Stevens began to identify more and more with the story of Joseph, a man bought and sold in the market place, which is how he said he had increasingly felt within the music business. Regarding his conversion, in his 2006 interview with Alan Yentob, he stated, "To some people, it may have seemed like an enormous jump, but for me, it was a gradual move to this." And, in a "Rolling Stone" magazine interview, he reaffirmed that, saying, "I had found the spiritual home I'd been seeking for most of my life. And if you listen to my music and lyrics, like "Peace Train" and "On The Road To Find Out", it clearly shows my yearning for direction and the spiritual path I was travelling."


title: Cat Stevens

text: Stevens formally converted to the Muslim faith on 23 December 1977, taking the name Yusuf Islam in 1978. Yusuf is the Arabic rendition of the name Joseph; he stated that he "always loved the name Joseph" and was particularly drawn to the story of Joseph in the Qur'an. Although he discontinued his pop career, he was persuaded to perform one last time before what became his 25-year musical hiatus. Appearing with his hair freshly shorn and an untrimmed beard, he headlined a charity concert on 22 November 1979 in Wembley Stadium to benefit UNICEF's International Year of the Child. The concert closed with his performance along with David Essex, Alun Davies, and Islam's brother, David Gordon, who wrote the finale song "Child for a Day".


title: Cat Stevens

text: After a brief engagement to Louise Wightman, Islam married Fauzia Mubarak Ali on 7 September 1979, at Regent's Park Mosque in London. They have one son and four daughters and nine grandchildren; a second son died in infancy. They have a home in London while currently preferring to spend a major part of each year in Dubai.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Following his conversion to Islam, Cat Stevens (now named Yusuf Islam), abandoned his musical career for nearly two decades. When he became a Muslim in 1977, the Imam at his mosque told him that it was fine to continue as a musician, as long as the songs were morally acceptable, but others were saying that "it was all prohibited", and he decided to avoid the question by ceasing to perform. He has said that there was "a combination of reasons, really", and that the continuing demands of the music business had been "becoming a chore, and not an inspiration anymore". In 1987 he released an album of "jihadi" nasheed around the theme of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which was produced and sold by "Mirror of the Afghan Jihad", a division of Maktab al-Khidamat.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In a 2004 interview on "Larry King Live", he said "A lot of people would have loved me to keep singing. You come to a point where you have sung, more or less ... your whole repertoire and you want to get down to the job of living. You know, up until that point, I hadn't had a life. I'd been searching, been on the road."


title: Cat Stevens

text: Estimating in January 2007 that he was continuing to earn approximately US$1.5 million a year from his Cat Stevens music, he said he would use his accumulated wealth and ongoing earnings from his music career for philanthropic and educational causes in the Muslim community of London and elsewhere. In 1983, he founded the Islamia Primary School in Brondesbury Park, later moved to Salusbury Road, in the north London area of Queen's Park and, soon after, founded several Muslim secondary schools; in 1992, he set up The Association of Muslim Schools (AMS-UK), a charity that brought together all the Muslim schools in the UK. He is also the founder and chairman of the "Small Kindness" charity, which initially assisted famine victims in Africa and now supports thousands of orphans and families in the Balkans, Indonesia, and Iraq. He was chairman of the charity Muslim Aid from 1985 to 1993.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In 1989, following an address by Islam to students at London's Kingston Polytechnic (now Kingston University), where he was asked about the fatwa calling for the killing of Salman Rushdie, author of the novel "The Satanic Verses", Islam made a series of comments that appeared to show support for the fatwa. He stated, "He (Rushdie) must be killed. The Qur'an makes it clear – if someone defames the prophet, then he must die." He released a statement the following day denying that he supported vigilantism and claiming that he had merely recounted the Islamic Sharia law punishment for blasphemy. Subsequently, he commented in a 1989 interview on Australian television that Rushdie should be killed and stated he would rather burn Rushdie instead of an effigy. In a statement in the FAQ section of one of his websites, Islam asserted that while he regretted the comments, he was joking and that the show was improperly edited. In the years since these comments he has repeatedly denied ever calling for the death of Rushdie or supporting the fatwa, a position contradicted by his contemporary public statements in 1989. Yusuf appearing on BBC's Desert Island Discs on 27 September 2020 claimed clever "sharp-toothed" journalists had framed his fatwa comment in a misleading way. In a 2007 letter to the editor of "The Daily Telegraph", Rushdie complained of what he believed was Islam's attempts to "rewrite his past," and called his claims of innocence "rubbish."


title: Cat Stevens

text: He appeared on videotape on a VH1 pre-show for the October 2001 Concert for New York City, condemning the attacks and singing his song "Peace Train" for the first time in public in more than 20 years, as an a cappella version. He also donated a portion of his box-set royalties to the fund for victims' families and the rest to orphans in underdeveloped countries. During the same year, he dedicated time and effort in joining the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism, an organisation that worked towards battling misconceptions and acts against others because of their religious beliefs or their racial identity (or both), after many Muslims reported a backlash against them due in part to the grief caused by the events in the United States on 11 September.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 21 September 2004, Islam was on a United Airlines flight from London to Washington, travelling to a meeting with US entertainer Dolly Parton, who had recorded "Peace Train" several years earlier and was planning to include another Cat Stevens song on an upcoming album. While the plane was in flight, his name was flagged as being on the No Fly List. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers alerted the United States Transportation Security Administration, which then diverted his flight to Bangor, Maine, where he was detained by officers from the Department of Homeland Security.


title: Cat Stevens

text: The following day, he was denied entry and flown back to the United Kingdom. A spokesman for Homeland Security claimed there were "concerns of ties he may have to potential terrorist-related activities". The Israeli government had deported Islam in 2000 over allegations that he provided funding to the Palestinian organisation Hamas, but he denied doing so knowingly. Islam stated "I have never knowingly supported or given money to Hamas". "At the time I was reported to have done it, I didn't know such a group existed. Some people give a political interpretation to charity. We were horrified at how people were suffering in the Holy Land."


title: Cat Stevens

text: However, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) added him to a "watch list" which provoked an international controversy and led the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to complain personally to the United States Secretary of State Colin Powell at the United Nations. Powell responded by stating that the watchlist was under review, adding, "I think we have that obligation to review these matters to see if we are right".


title: Cat Stevens

text: Islam believed his inclusion on a "watch list" may have simply been an error: a mistaken identification of him for a man with the same name, but different spelling. On 1 October 2004 he requested the removal of his name, "I remain bewildered by the decision of the US authorities to refuse me entry to the United States". According to his statement, the man on the list was named "Youssef Islam", indicating that Islam was not the suspected terrorism supporter. Romanisation of Arabic names can easily result in different spellings: the transliteration of Yusuf gives rise to a dozen spellings.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Two years later, in December 2006, Islam was admitted without incident into the United States for several radio concert performances and interviews to promote his new record. He said of the incident at the time, "No reason was ever given, but being asked to repeat the spelling of my name again and again, made me think it was a fairly simple mistake of identity. Rumours which circulated after made me imagine otherwise."


title: Cat Stevens

text: Islam wrote a song about his 2004 exclusion from the US, entitled "Boots and Sand", recorded in 2008 and featuring Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, and Terry Sylvester.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In October 2004, "The Sun" and "The Sunday Times" newspapers voiced their support for Yusuf's exclusion from the United States and claimed that he had supported terrorism. He sued for libel and received an out-of-court financial settlement from the newspapers, which both published apology statements saying that he had never supported terrorism and mentioning that he had recently been given a Man of Peace award from the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. However "The Sunday Times" managing editor Richard Caseby said that while there was an "agreed settlement", they "always denied liability" and "disagreed with Cat Stevens' lawyers interpretation", but took a "pragmatic view" of the lawsuit.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Yusuf responded that he was "delighted by the settlement [which] helps vindicate my character and good name. ... It seems to be the easiest thing in the world these days to make scurrilous accusations against Muslims and, in my case, it directly impacts on my relief work and damages my reputation as an artist. The harm done is often difficult to repair", and added that he intended to donate the financial award given to him by the court to help orphans of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. He wrote about the experience in a newspaper article entitled "A Cat in a Wild World".


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 18 July 2008, Islam received substantial undisclosed damages from the World Entertainment News Network following their publication of a story which claimed that the singer refused to speak to unveiled women. The allegations first surfaced in the German newspaper BZ after Islam's trip to Berlin in March 2007 to collect the Echo music award for "life achievements as musician and ambassador between cultures". Once again he was awarded damages after the World Entertainment News Network allowed an article to be published on Contactmusic.com alleging that he would not speak to unveiled women with the exception of his wife. His solicitor said "he was made out to be 'so sexist and bigoted that he refused at an awards ceremony to speak to or even acknowledge any women who were not wearing a veil. The news agency apologised and issued a statement saying that Islam has never had any problem in working with women and that he has never required a third party to function as an intermediary at work. The money from this lawsuit went to his "Small Kindness" Charity.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Islam gradually resumed his musical career in the 1990s. These initial recordings did not include any musical instruments other than percussion, and they featured lyrics about Islamic themes, some in spoken word or hamd form. He invested in building his own recording studio which he named Mountain of Light Studios in the late 1990s, and he was featured as a guest singer on "God Is the Light", a song on an album of nasheeds by the group Raihan. In addition, he invited and collaborated with other Muslim singers, including Canadian artist Dawud Wharnsby. After Islam's friend, Irfan Ljubijankić, the Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was killed by a Serbian rocket attack, Islam appeared at a 1997 benefit concert in Sarajevo and recorded a benefit album named after a song written by Ljubijankić, "I Have No Cannons That Roar".


title: Cat Stevens

text: Realising there were few educational resources designed to teach children about the Islamic religion, Islam wrote and produced a children's album, "A Is for Allah", in 2000 with the assistance of South African singer-songwriter Zain Bhikha. The title song was one Islam had written years before to introduce his first child to both the religion and the Arabic alphabet. He also established his own record label, "Jamal Records", and Mountain of Light Productions, and he donates a percentage of his projects' proceeds to his "Small Kindness" charity, whose name is taken from the Qur'an.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On the occasion of the 2000 re-release of his Cat Stevens albums, at the urging of his label rep Sujata, Islam agreed to interviews with the media to tell his story and reconnect with his fans. Islam explained that he had stopped performing in English due to his misunderstanding of the Islamic faith. "This issue of music in Islam is not as cut-and-dried as I was led to believe ... I relied on heresy, that was perhaps my mistake." He also participated in the first documentary on his life for a two-part VH1 "Behind the Music".


title: Cat Stevens

text: Islam has reflected that his decision to leave the Western pop music business was perhaps too quick with too little communication for his fans. For most it was a surprise, and even his long-time guitarist Alun Davies said in later interviews that he hadn't believed that his friend would actually go through with it after his many forays into other religions throughout their relationship. Islam himself has said the "cut" between his former life and his life as a Muslim might have been too quick, and too severe, and that more people might have been better informed about Islam, and given an opportunity to better understand it, and himself, if he had simply removed those items that were considered "harām", in his performances, allowing him to express himself musically and educate listeners through his music without violating any religious constraints.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In 2003, after repeated encouragement from within the Muslim world, Islam once again recorded "Peace Train" for a compilation CD, which also included performances by David Bowie and Paul McCartney. He performed "Wild World" in Nelson Mandela's 46664 concert with his earlier collaborator, Peter Gabriel, the first time he had publicly performed in English in 25 years. In December 2004, he and Ronan Keating released a new version of "Father and Son": the song entered the charts at number two, behind Band Aid 20's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" They also produced a video of the pair walking between photographs of fathers and sons, while singing the song. The proceeds of "Father and Son" were donated to the Band Aid charity. Keating's former group, Boyzone, had a hit with the song a decade earlier. As he had been persuaded before, Islam contributed to the song, because the proceeds were marked for charity.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 21 April 2005 Islam gave a short talk before a scheduled musical performance in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the anniversary of the prophet Muhammad's birthday. He said: There is a great deal of ignorance in the world about Islam today, and we hope to communicate with the help of something more refined than lectures and talks. Our recordings are particularly appealing to the young, having used songs as well as Qur'an verses with pleasing sound effects ...


title: Cat Stevens

text: Islam observed that there are no real guidelines about instruments and no references about the business of music in the Qur'an, and that Muslim travellers first brought the guitar to Moorish Spain. He noted that Muhammad was fond of celebrations, as in the case of the birth of a child, or a traveller arriving after a long journey. Thus, Islam concluded that healthy entertainment was acceptable within limitations, and that he now felt that it was no sin to perform with the guitar. Music, he now felt, is uplifting to the soul; something sorely needed in troubled times. At that point, he was joined by several young male singers who sang backing vocals and played a drum, with Islam as lead singer and guitarist. They performed two songs, both half in Arabic and half in English; "Tala'a Al-Badru Alayna", an old song in Arabic which Islam recorded with a folk sound to it, and another song, "The Wind East and West", which was newly written by Islam and featured a distinct R&B sound.


title: Cat Stevens

text: With this performance, Islam began slowly to integrate instruments into both older material from his Cat Stevens era (some with slight lyrical changes) and new songs, both those known to the Muslim communities around the world and some that have the same Western flair from before with a focus on new topics and another generation of listeners.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In early 2005, Islam released a new song, entitled "Indian Ocean", about the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami disaster. The song featured Indian composer/producer A. R. Rahman, a-ha keyboard player Magne Furuholmen and Travis drummer Neil Primrose. Proceeds of the single went to help orphans in Banda Aceh, one of the areas worst affected by the tsunami, through Islam's "Small Kindness" charity. At first, the single was released only through several online music stores but later featured on the compilation album "Cat Stevens: Gold". "I had to learn my faith and look after my family, and I had to make priorities. But now I've done it all and there's a little space for me to fill in the universe of music again."


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 28 May 2005, Islam delivered a keynote speech and performed at the Adopt-A-Minefield Gala in Düsseldorf. The Adopt-A-Minefield charity, under the patronage of Paul McCartney, works internationally to raise awareness and funds to clear landmines and rehabilitate landmine survivors. Islam attended as part of an honorary committee which also included George Martin, Richard Branson, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Klaus Voormann, Christopher Lee and others.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In mid-2005, Islam played guitar for the Dolly Parton album "Those Were the Days" on her version of his "Where Do the Children Play?" (Parton had also covered "Peace Train" a few years earlier.)


title: Cat Stevens

text: Islam has credited his then 21-year-old son Muhammad Islam, also a musician and artist, for his return to secular music, when the son brought a guitar back into the house, which Islam began playing. Muhammad's professional name is Yoriyos and his debut album was released in February 2007. Yoriyos created the art on Islam's album "An Other Cup", something that Cat Stevens did for his own albums in the 1970s.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In May 2006, in anticipation of his forthcoming new pop album, the BBC1 programme "Imagine" aired a 49-minute documentary with Alan Yentob called "Yusuf: The Artist formerly Known as Cat Stevens". This documentary film features rare audio and video clips from the late 1960s and 1970s, as well as an extensive interview with Islam, his brother David Gordon, several record executives, Bob Geldof, Dolly Parton, and others outlining his career as Cat Stevens, his conversion and emergence as Yusuf Islam, and his return to music in 2006. There are clips of him singing in the studio when he was recording "An Other Cup" as well as a few 2006 excerpts of him on guitar singing a few verses of Cat Stevens songs including "The Wind" and "On the Road to Find Out".


title: Cat Stevens

text: In December 2006, Islam was one of the artists who performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, in honour of the prize winners, Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank. He performed the songs "Midday (Avoid City After Dark)", "Peace Train", and "Heaven/Where True Love Goes". He also gave a concert in New York City that month as a "Jazz at Lincoln Center" event, recorded and broadcast by KCRW-FM radio, along with an interview by Nic Harcourt. Accompanying him, as in the Cat Stevens days, was Alun Davies, on guitar and vocals.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In March 2006, Islam finished recording his first all-new pop album since 1978. The album, "An Other Cup", was released internationally in November 2006 on his own label, Ya Records (distributed by Polydor Records in the UK, and internationally by Atlantic Records)—the 40th anniversary of his first album, "Matthew and Son". An accompanying single, called "Heaven/Where True Love Goes", was also released. The album was produced with Rick Nowels, who has worked with Dido and Rod Stewart. The performer is noted as "Yusuf", with a cover label identifying him as "the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens". The art on the album is credited to Yoriyos. Islam wrote all of the songs except "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", and recorded it in the United States and the United Kingdom.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Islam actively promoted this album, appearing on radio, television and in print interviews. In November 2006, he told the BBC, "It's me, so it's going to sound like that of course ... This is the real thing ... When my son brought the guitar back into the house, you know, that was the turning point. It opened a flood of, of new ideas and music which I think a lot of people would connect with." Originally, he began to return only to his acoustic guitar as he had in the past, but his son encouraged him to "experiment", which resulted in the purchase of a Stevie Ray Vaughan Fender Stratocaster in 2007.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Also in November 2006, "Billboard" magazine was curious as to why the artist is credited as just his first name, "Yusuf" rather than "Yusuf Islam". His response was "Because 'Islam' doesn't have to be sloganised. The second name is like the official tag, but you call a friend by their first name. It's more intimate, and to me that's the message of this record." As for why the album sleeve says "the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens", he responded, "That's the tag with which most people are familiar; for recognition purposes I'm not averse to that. For a lot of people, it reminds them of something they want to hold on to. That name is part of my history and a lot of the things I dreamt about as Cat Stevens have come true as Yusuf Islam."


title: Cat Stevens

text: Islam was asked by the Swiss periodical "Das Magazin" why the title of the album was "An Other Cup", rather than "Another Cup". The answer was that his breakthrough album, "Tea for the Tillerman" in 1970, was decorated with Islam's painting of a peasant sitting down to a cup of steaming drink on the land. He commented that the two worlds "then, and now, are very different". His new album shows a steaming cup alone on this cover. His answer was that this was actually an "other" cup; something different; a bridge between the East and West, which he explained was his own perceived role. He added that, through him, "Westerners might get a glimpse of the East, and Easterners, some understanding of the West. The cup, too, is important; it's a meeting place, a thing meant to be shared."


title: Cat Stevens

text: On "CBS Sunday Morning" in December 2006, he said, "You know, the cup is there to be filled ... with whatever you want to fill it with. For those people looking for Cat Stevens, they'll probably find him in this record. If you want to find [Yusuf] Islam, go a bit deeper, you'll find him." He has since described the album as being "over-produced" and refers to "An Other Cup" as being a necessary hurdle he had to overcome before he could release his new album, "Roadsinger".


title: Cat Stevens

text: In April 2007, BBC1 broadcast a concert given at the Porchester Hall by Islam as part of "BBC Sessions", his first live performance in London in 28 years (the previous one being the UNICEF "Year of the Child" concert in 1979). He played several new songs along with some old ones like "Father and Son", "The Wind", "Where Do the Children Play?", "Don't Be Shy", "Wild World", and "Peace Train".


title: Cat Stevens

text: In July 2007, he performed at a concert in Bochum, Germany, in benefit of Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Peace Centre in South Africa and the Milagro Foundation of Deborah and Carlos Santana. The audience included Nobel Laureates Mikhail Gorbachev, Desmond Tutu and other prominent global figures. He later appeared as the final act in the German leg of Live Earth in Hamburg performing some classic Cat Stevens songs and more recent compositions reflecting his concern for peace and child welfare. His set included Stevie Wonder's "Saturn", "Peace Train", "Where Do the Children Play?", "Ruins", and "Wild World". He performed at the Peace One Day concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 21 September 2007.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In 2008 Islam contributed the song "Edge of Existence" to the charity album "Songs for Survival", in support of the indigenous rights organisation Survival International.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In January 2009, Yusuf released a single in aid of children in Gaza, a rendition of the George Harrison song, "The Day the World Gets Round", along with the German bassist Klaus Voormann, who had formerly collaborated with The Beatles. To promote the new single, Voormann redesigned his famous Beatles "Revolver" album cover, drawing a picture of a young Cat Stevens along with himself and Harrison. Proceeds from the single were donated to charities and organisations including UNESCO, UNRWA, and the nonprofit group Save the Children, with the funds earmarked for Gaza children. Israeli Consul David Saranga criticised Yusuf for not dedicating the song to all of the children who are victims of the conflict, including Israeli children.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 5 May 2009, Yusuf released "Roadsinger", a new pop album recorded in 2008. The lead track, "Thinking 'Bout You", received its debut radio play on a BBC programme on 23 March 2009. Unlike "An Other Cup", he promoted the new album with appearances on American television as well as in the UK. He appeared on "The Chris Isaak Hour" on the A&E network in April 2009, performing live versions of his new songs, "World O'Darkness", "Boots and Sand", and "Roadsinger". On 13 May he appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in Los Angeles, and on 14 May, on "The Colbert Report" in New York City, performing the title song from the "Roadsinger" album. On 15 May, he appeared on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon", performing "Boots and Sand" and "Father and Son". On 24 May he appeared on the BBC's "The Andrew Marr Show", where he was interviewed and performed the title track of "Roadsinger". On 15 August, he was one of many guests at Fairport Convention's annual Fairport's Cropredy Convention where he performed five songs accompanied by Alun Davies, with Fairport Convention as his backing band.


title: Cat Stevens

text: A world tour was announced on his web site to promote the new album. He was scheduled to perform at an invitation-only concert at New York City's Highline Ballroom on 3 May 2009 and to go on to Los Angeles, Chicago and Toronto, as well as some to-be-announced European venues. However, the New York appearance was postponed due to issues regarding his work visa. He appeared in May 2009 at Island Records' 50th Anniversary concert in London. In November and December 2009, Yusuf undertook his "Guess I'll Take My Time Tour" which also showcased his musical play "Moonshadow". The tour took him to Dublin, where he had a mixed reception; subsequently he was well received in Birmingham and Liverpool, culminating in an emotional performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In June 2010 he toured Australia for the first time in 36 years, and New Zealand for the first time ever.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 30 October 2010 Yusuf appeared at Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert's spoof Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, DC, singing alongside Ozzy Osbourne. Yusuf performed "Peace Train" and Ozzy performed "Crazy Train" at the same time, followed by The O'Jays performance of "Love Train".


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 2 March 2011, Yusuf released his latest song, "My People", as a free download available through his official website, as well as numerous other online outlets. Said to have been recorded at a studio located within a hundred yards of the site of the Berlin Wall, the song is inspired by a series of popular uprisings in the Arab world, known as the Arab Spring.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 1 April 2011, he launched a new tour website (yusufinconcert.com) to commemorate his first European tour in over 36 years scheduled from 7 May to 2 June 2011. The ten-date tour visited Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and cities such as Stockholm, Hamburg, Oberhausen, Berlin, Munich, Rotterdam, Paris, Mannheim, Vienna and Brussels.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In May 2012, "Moonshadow", a new musical featuring music from throughout his career opened at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. The show received mixed reviews and closed four weeks early.


title: Cat Stevens

text: In October 2013, Yusuf was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work under the Cat Stevens name (this was his second nomination – the first being an unsuccessful nomination in 2005). He was selected and was inducted by Art Garfunkel in April 2014 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, where he performed "Father and Son", "Wild World", and "Peace Train". A record of his travel from Dubai to New York is captured in an episode of the National Geographic Channel television show "Ultimate Airport Dubai" (season 2, episode 6), first aired in China on 17 January 2015. In this episode he talks about his difficulty in entering the US.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 15 September 2014, Yusuf announced the forthcoming release on 27 October 2014 of his new studio album, "Tell 'Em I'm Gone", and two short tours: a November 2014 (9-date) Europe tour and a December 2014 (6-date) North America tour, the latter being his first one since 1976. On 4 December 2014, he played to his first public US audience since the 1970s at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Yusuf performed two shows in early 2015: on 27 February at the Viña del Mar Festival, Quinta Vergara, Viña del Mar, Chile and on 22 April at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay, area of Cardiff, Wales.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 1 June 2016, Yusuf shared a new song called "He Was Alone" and its corresponding video. Part of his newly launched fundraising campaign for child refugees, #YouAreNotAlone, the song was inspired by a trip to southern Turkey's camps for Syrian refugees. He performed the song live for the first time in a special charity concert, his first show in more than a year, on 14 June 2016 at the Westminster Central Hall in London.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 26 July 2016, Yusuf announced he would be part of the Global Citizen Festival held on 24 September 2016 in Central Park, New York, New York.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 9 August 2016, Yusuf announced "A Cat's Attic Tour", his second North American tour since 1978, beginning on 12 September 2016 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto and ending on 7 October 2016 at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. The string of 12 dates roughly coincides with the 50th anniversary of his first single, I Love My Dog, and would "feature a limited run of stripped down, introspective performances." The tour included three shows in New York City (two shows at the Beacon Theatre and one show in Central Park at the Global Citizen Festival), his first shows in New York City since 1976. In keeping with his spirit of humanitarianism, he would be donating a portion of the revenue from each ticket sale towards his charity Small Kindness, as well as UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee in an effort to assist children affected by the current Syrian refugee crisis. The tour continued in the UK with shows in Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle and London. The London show took place at the Shaftesbury Theatre, only a block away from where he grew up.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 15 September 2017, he released his fifteenth studio album, "The Laughing Apple". The album is credited to "Yusuf / Cat Stevens" and is his first record under the Cat Stevens name since "Back to Earth" in 1978. The album earned him his first nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. In July 2018, Yusuf signed with BMG Rights Management, which will publish his songwriting credits worldwide and distribute nine of his studio albums. On 29 March 2019, Yusuf performed in Christchurch, New Zealand, at the National Remembrance Service for victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings.


title: Cat Stevens

text: On 3 March 2020, Yusuf played the Music for the Marsden benefit concert at the O2 Arena in London. On 28 May 2020, Yusuf announced his next album, "Tea for the Tillerman 2", and it was released on 18 September 2020, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original LP. Known as "TT2", "Tea for the Tillerman 2" is a re-imagining and re-recording of the songs from the earlier album, with updated interpretations and arrangements. On 25 September 2020, Yusuf was the guest on the BBC's Desert Island Discs. Yusuf is one of a small number of guests that have chosen their own music as a desert island choice, however he picked the Stevie Wonder Motown hit 'As' for his favoured choice in front of his own recording, if only one could be saved.


title: Cat Stevens

text: Teaming up with Playing for Change, in 2021 Yusuf / Cat Stevens recorded a new version of "Peace Train" with over 25 musicians from 12 countries.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: Superstore is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from November 30, 2015, to March 25, 2021. The series was created and produced by Justin Spitzer. Starring America Ferrera and Ben Feldman (who both also serve as executive producers), "Superstore" follows a group of employees working at Cloud 9, a fictional big-box chain store in St. Louis, Missouri. The ensemble and supporting cast includes Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Nico Santos, Nichole Sakura, Mark McKinney, and Kaliko Kauahi. A Spanish-language adaptation, titled "Supertitlán", debuted on the Mexican television network Azteca 7 on 30 May 2022.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: The series was one of three pilots picked up by NBC on January 14, 2015. The series was the first project for Ruben Fleischer's newly formed company The District as part of a two-year deal with Universal, as he directed the pilot episode. "Superstore" was officially picked up as a series on May 7, 2015, by NBC. The first season consisted of eleven episodes, after the episode order was reduced from thirteen on October 19, 2015. NBC announced on November 2, 2015, that the series would premiere on Monday, January 4, 2016, but before the premiere it would air two back-to-back episodes on November 30, 2015, following "The Voice".


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: On February 23, 2016, the series was renewed for a second season by NBC. On May 15, 2016, NBC announced that the series would lead off its Thursday night primetime programming in the 2016–17 season. The second season premiered on September 22, 2016, with a 22-episode order that was announced on September 23, 2016. The season concluded on May 4, 2017. A special Olympics-themed episode aired on August 19, 2016, during the network's coverage of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. On February 21, 2018, NBC renewed the series for a 22-episode fourth season, which premiered on October 4, 2018. On March 4, 2019, NBC renewed the series for a fifth season, which premiered on September 26, 2019. On February 11, 2020, the series was renewed for a sixth season. In March 2020, production on the show was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the fifth season having 21 episodes instead of the originally-planned 22. The sixth season began filming on September 8, 2020. The season premiered on October 29, 2020. In December 2020, NBC announced that the sixth season would be its last. Production on the final season was completed on February 28, 2021. The series finale aired on March 25, 2021.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: It was announced on February 20, 2015, that Lauren Ash had been cast as a series regular, and would be playing Dina, the store's assistant manager. On March 2, 2015, "Deadline" reported that "Superstore" had added three other cast members: Colton Dunn, Mark McKinney and Nico Santos. The website reported that Dunn would be playing Garrett, the often-sarcastic narrator of the piece, McKinney would be playing Glenn, the intense store manager, and Santos would be playing Mateo, another new employee and a brown-noser from an impoverished background. On March 12, 2015, Nichole Sakura was announced to have joined the show as Cheyenne, a pregnant teenage employee.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: "Deadline" announced on March 13, 2015, that Ben Feldman had landed the male lead in "Superstore", as Jonah, a new employee in the superstore Cloud 9. Three days later, "TVLine" announced on March 16, 2015, that America Ferrera had landed the female lead as the floor supervisor Amy in the Cloud 9 store. It was also reported that Ferrera was also a producer for the show.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: On May 22, 2019, NBC announced that recurring cast member Kaliko Kauahi who portrays Cloud 9 worker Sandra has been upped to a series regular for the fifth season.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: After NBC had initially announced the sixth season renewal of the series, the network revealed on February 28, 2020, that series star America Ferrera, would be departing the series at the end of the fifth season citing a desire to work on new projects and to spend more time with her family.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: After production of the fifth season was cut short by one episode due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ferrera noted her departure from the show might be delayed into season 6 in order to give her character's arc a proper closure. Ultimately, Ferrera was in the first two episodes of the sixth season as well as the final three episodes.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: Different Cloud 9 store locations have appeared in other series produced by NBCUniversal Television, including Hulu's "The Mindy Project", NBC's "Good Girls" and "I Feel Bad".


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: The Cloud 9 Superstore is a fictional big box store. In addition to typical American everyday products, Cloud 9 sells guns and liquor, and has a pharmacy. Cloud 9 has its own credit union for its employees. It also had a photo studio. The spokesman for Cloud 9 was Daniel Hertzler (as "Kyle the Cloud 9 Cloud"), until he was arrested and charged with cannibalism.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: The corporation, which is based in Chicago, Illinois, does not offer paid maternity leave, health insurance, or paid overtime to its employees. Under Cloud 9 policy, employees may take one bathroom break per shift, and are allotted 15 minutes for lunch.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: In an effort to control what is happening in the individual stores, all locks and lights, as well as temperature control and music, are controlled from the corporate office. In 2017, Cloud 9 changed its store brand from Halo to Super Cloud. Cloud 9 also has its own magazine called "Stratus".


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: The main characters for the show work at store 1217, the "Ozark Highlands" store, which is located in St. Louis, Missouri, on Ozark Highlands Road. The store fell under Jeff Sutin, who was district manager from 2006 to 2018, and then again from late 2020 (formerly Laurie Neustadt in 2018 and Maya from 2019 – 2020). The store was destroyed by a tornado during the season 2 finale, and reopened during the season 3 premiere. Other area locations include Kirkwood, Fenton, Easton, and Bel-Ridge. Additionally, there are locations mentioned in Austin, Texas, and in Detroit, Michigan. Cloud 9 has locations in multiple countries, with stores in Beijing, Mumbai, Paris, Vancouver, Taipei, and Mexico City.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: The pilot was shot at a redressed Kmart in Burbank, California (with Kmart signage visible throughout the episode), but the rest of the series was shot on sets constructed on two soundstages.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: The series debuted as a "preview" on November 30, 2015, following an episode of "The Voice" with 7 million viewers, making it the second highest new comedy behind "Life in Pieces". The series then moved to its regular Monday at 8:00 pm timeslot on January 4, 2016, with more than 6 million viewers making the highest rated NBC comedy that did not have "The Voice" as a lead-in since "The Michael J. Fox Show" back in September 2013.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 58 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews" based on reviews from 21 critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 64% rating, based on reviews from 33 critics, with an average rating of 5.01/10. The site's consensus is: ""Superstore"s talented cast and obvious potential are slightly overshadowed by a tonally jumbled presentation and thin, formulaic writing."


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: As the first season went along, reviews started to become more positive. Following the finale "Labor", the "Los Angeles Times" called it one of TV's best new comedies." Pilot Viruet of "The A.V. Club" wrote that the "first season ... got better and more confident as it moved on", and that the first-season finale "is a nice little cap to a nice little sitcom that could’ve used a little more attention." After the series aired its Olympics special, "Variety" wrote that the show was "a funny, pointed and essential workplace comedy", and that "there are no weak links in [the] ensemble".


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: The second season was lauded by critics and has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews from 7 critics. The third season has 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 11 critics. The site's consensus reads, ""Superstore" graduates from the clearance section of network comedies to stake its claim as one of the most lovable ensembles on television, fleshing out its charming cast while expertly teasing out its central romance." The fourth season received critical acclaim with critics saying ""Superstore" remains a furtively fearless riot in its comedic approach to heavy, timely issues." with a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews. The fifth season received critical acclaim with a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 9 reviews. The sixth season has received positive reviews with a score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 13 reviews.


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: In December 2020, it was reported that a spin-off, titled "Bo & Cheyenne" and starring Johnny Pemberton and Nichole Sakura, was in early development at NBC. The series was to be a co-production between Spitzer Holding Company, The District, and Universal Television, with Bridget Kyle and Vicky Luu as writers. On March 25, 2021, following "Superstore"s series finale, the showrunners stated that they did not factor the potential spin-off into the episode because its development was still in early stages. The following day Kyle said in an interview that the project appeared dead, stating, "Unfortunately, yesterday, NBC notified us that they're not going forward with the "Superstore" spin-off."


title: Superstore (TV series)

text: In February 2021, it was reported that a Spanish-language adaptation, titled "Supertitlán", is in development.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though usually in action genres, thus proving himself one of the most popular Hindi film actors of the since 1980s.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Part of the Dutt family, he is the son of actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis. Dutt made his acting debut with "Rocky" (1981). A career downturn followed, with the exception of the crime thriller "Naam" (1986), a milestone in his career. He later established himself as a prolific star with films like "Saajan" (1991), "Sadak" (1991), "Khalnayak" (1993), "Gumrah" (1993), "" (1994), "Andolan" (1995), "" (1999), "Haseena Maan Jaayegi" (1999) and "Mission Kashmir" (2000). His critically acclaimed performance in "" (1999) won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt gained widespread acclaim for playing Munna Bhai in the "Munna Bhai" series (2003–2006), his most iconic role, and his biggest sole commercial success ever. Since 2000, he was cast in notable films like "Jodi No.1" (2001), "Munna Bhai MBBS" (2003), "Parineeta" (2005), "Dus" (2005), "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" (2006), "Shootout at Lokhandwala" (2007), "Dhamaal" (2007), "" (2009), "Double Dhamaal" (2011), "Agneepath" (2012), "Son of Sardaar" (2012), and "PK" (2014). This was followed by another major career downturn with the exception of Kannada film "" (2022), the third highest-grossing Indian film, in which he played the main antagonist.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt was arrested under the TADA and the Arms Act in April 1993 and was convicted later for violation of Arms Act for possession of illegal weapons procured from other accused in the 1993 Bombay bombings. After serving his sentence, he was released in 2016. Dutt's life receives considerable media coverage in India, and in 2018, "Sanju", a biopic based on his life (which also saw a special appearance by him), starring Ranbir Kapoor as Dutt, was released to positive reviews and emerged as one of the highest-grossers of Indian cinema.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt was born in Bombay City, Bombay State, Republic of India into a Punjabi family, to parents who were noted Hindi cinema actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis Dutt. Born to a Punjabi Hindu Mohyal Brahmin father and Muslim mother of Punjabi descent, Dutt's ancestry can be traced back to the Rawalpindi Division of West Punjab. Sanjay has two sisters, Priya Dutt and Namrata Dutt. Sanjay's name was chosen by crowdsourcing via the Urdu language film magazine Shama. His mother died in 1981, shortly before his debut film's premiere; her death is cited as the instigator of his drug abuse.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt made his acting debut at an early age, playing a Qawali singer in his father's film "Reshma Aur Shera" (1971).


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt made his Bollywood film debut with the box-office super hit "Rocky" in 1981. Dutt then went on to star in "Vidhaata", the highest-grossing Hindi film of 1982, along with film veterans Dilip Kumar, Shammi Kapoor and Sanjeev Kumar. He also starred in movies like "Main Awara Hoon" (1983). In 1985, he shot "Jaan Ki Baazi", his first film in two years.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: The 1986 film "Naam" was a turning point in Dutt's career, it was a major critical and commercial success. Dutt appeared in successful films throughout the '80s such as "Imaandaar", "Inaam Dus Hazaar", "Jeete Hain Shaan Se" (1988), "Mardon Wali Baat" (1988), "Ilaaka" (1989), "Hum Bhi Insaan Hain" (1989), "Kanoon Apna Apna" (1989) and "Taaqatwar."


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: His performances in both "Kabzaa" (1988) and J. P. Dutta's "Hathyar" (1989) were both well received by critics, although both films only managed average collections at the box office. In the late 1980s, he was seen in a number of multi-starrers alongside leading actors like Govinda, Mithun, Dharmendra, Jackie Shroff and Sunny Deol.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: His successes continued in the 1990s, with films that include "Tejaa", "Khatarnaak", "Zahreelay", "Thanedaar", "Khoon Ka Karz", "Yalgaar", "Gumrah", "Sahibaan" and "". He went on to star in some of the most era-defining Indian films of the early 1990s such as "Sadak", "Sajan" (for which he was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor) and "Khalnayak", for which he earned his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor nomination.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: "The Hindu" wrote that "Dutt's earlier films (like "Naam" and "Sadak") got him a lot of favourable attention", and ""Saajan" established Dutt as the conventional soft hero.""Saajan" was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1991, and "Sadak" was the fifth highest grosser of 1991. "Khalnayak" became a blockbuster and was the second-highest grosser of 1993. This was followed by another box office success "Gumrah", this was Dutt's second consecutive hit of the year.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Bombay (now Mumbai) suffered a series of serial bombings in 1993. Dutt was among several people associated with Bollywood who were accused of involvement. It was alleged that Dutt accepted delivery of weapons at his house from Abu Salem and co-accused Riyaz Siddiqui, who had also been implicated in relation to the Mumbai blasts. It was claimed that the weapons formed a part of a large consignment of arms connected to the terrorists. Dutt, however, in his confession stated that he took only one Type-56 from the producers of his movie "Sanam", for his own family protection. It has also been reported that Sanjay Dutt's father Sunil Dutt's political rivalry caused Sanjay Dutt's conviction. Dutt's first film after his 1993 arrest was "Daud" (1997). It did average business at the box office despite getting a lot of publicity. This was followed by "Dushman" which did well financially.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: 1999 was an excellent year for Dutt and one that is regarded as his comeback, with all of his five releases being amongst the highest-grossing films of that year. He began it by starring in the Mahesh Bhatt-directed film "Kartoos", followed by "Khoobsurat", "Haseena Maan Jaayegi", "Daag: The Fire" and "", for which he won many awards, including his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. His role in 2000's "Mission Kashmir" won him critical acclaim and a number of awards and nominations. Dutt was also invited by the President of India to Rashtrapati Bhavan for his performance in the film.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: As the decade went on, he continued to play lead roles in critical and commercial successes such as "Jodi No.1" (2001), "Pitaah" (2002), "Kaante" (2002) and the National Award-winning film "Munna Bhai M.B.B.S." (2003), which garnered him several awards. At the box office, "Munna Bhai M.B.B.S." achieved a silver jubilee status (25-week run) being one of only eight films to have achieved this status since the year 2000. In its 26th week of release, the film could still be found playing on 257 screens throughout India. Later successes came with "Musafir" (2004), "Plan" (2004), "Parineeta" (2005) and "Dus" (2005). He also won critical acclaim for his performances in "Shabd" (2005) and "Zinda".


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: The sequel of "Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.", "Lage Raho Munna Bhai" was released on 1 September 2006, for which Dutt received a number of awards, along with an award from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his work in the "Munna Bhai" series. NDTV India counted the character "Munna Bhai" as one of top 20 fictional characters in Bollywood. Later Dutt starred in movies like "Dhamaal" (2007), "Shootout at Lokhandwala" (2007), "" (2009), "Double Dhamaal" (2011), "Son of Sardaar" (2012) "Agneepath" (2012) and "PK".


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: In January 2008, the Indian film Institute Filmfare listed 12 films featuring Dutt in its list of the top 100 highest-grossing movies of all time. In its May 2013 edition "100 years of Indian cinema", "Filmfare" listed three films featuring Dutt in its top 20 list of highest-grossing Hindi films of all time, adjusted for inflation these films were "Lage Raho Munna Bhai", "Khalnayak" and "Saajan".


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Vidhu Vinod Chopra on 29 September 2016 announced that the third part of Munna Bhai series, starring Dutt in the title role, would begin soon. In 2017, Dutt appeared as the lead in "Bhoomi", directed by Omung Kumar. In 2018, he starred in "Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3". In 2018, it was also announced that Dutt would feature alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Vaani Kapoor in "Shamshera," which will release on 22 July 2022. On 29 June 2018, his biopic "Sanju" released in which he made a special appearance. Dutt appeared alongside Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur in Sadak 2 in 2019. The film was universally panned and some claimed it to be one of the worst films in Dutt's career. In 2019, he joined the cast of historical film , which featured an ensemble cast consisting of Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha and Nora Fatehi. He was seen in the film Prassthanam on 20 September 2019.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt played Adheera, the main antagonist in "", the sequel to the blockbuster Kannada film, "", marking his debut in Kannada cinema. The movie, as of June 2022, is the third highest grossing Indian film. Dutt also appeared in Toolsidas Junior, a sports drama and "Samrat Prithviraj" alongside Akshay Kumar in the latter. His upcoming films include The Good Maharaja and Ghudchadi.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt co-hosted the fifth season of the Indian reality show "Bigg Boss" along with Salman Khan. The show aired on "Colors" television from 2 October 2011 to 7 January 2012. Dutt later said it was Khan who persuaded him to co-host the show. Dutt and entrepreneur Indian Premier League cricket team owner Raj Kundra together launched India's first professionally organised mixed martial arts league—the Super Fight League—on 16 January 2012.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: In the early 1980s, Dutt had a relationship with his co-star from his first film, Tina Munim. After this relationship ended, Dutt married actress Richa Sharma in 1987. She died of a brain tumour in 1996. The couple have a daughter, Trishala Dutt, born in 1988, who lives in the United States with her maternal grandparents.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt's second marriage was to air-hostess-turned-model Rhea Pillai on 14 February 1998. The divorce finalised in 2008. Dutt married Manyata (born Dilnawaz Sheikh) first registered in Goa in 2008 and then, in a Hindu ceremony in Mumbai, after two years of dating. On 21 October 2010, he became a father to twins, a boy and a girl. Shahraan Dutt, Iqra Dutt


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer in August 2020. He took treatment in Mumbai and now recovered from lung cancer.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Bombay suffered a series of serial bombings in 1993. Dutt was among several people associated with Bollywood who were accused of involvement. It was alleged that Dutt accepted a delivery of weapons at his house from Abu Salem and co-accused Riyaz Siddiqui, who had also been implicated in relation to the Bombay blasts. It was claimed that the weapons formed a part of a large consignment of arms connected to the terrorists. Dutt, however, in his confession stated that he took only one Type-56 from the producers of his movie "Sanam", for his own family protection. It has also been reported that Sanjay Dutt's father Sunil Dutt's political rivalry caused Sanjay Dutt's conviction.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: In April 1993, after initial reporting by Baljeet Parmar on Dutt's possession of the AK-56, he was arrested under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA). Dutt was granted bail by the Supreme Court of India on 5 May 1993; however, on 4 July 1994 his bail was cancelled and he was re-arrested. On 16 October 1995 he was granted bail. Abdul Qayyum Abdul Karim Shaikh, who was thought to be a close aide of the terrorists' ringleader, Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested. Dutt had given Qayuum's name to the police when confessing to arms possession, saying that in September 1992 he had bought a pistol from Qayuum in Dubai. His arrest coincided with the release of his film, "Khalnayak," in which he played a wanted criminal. The film's major success was in part due to Dutt's off-screen legal controversy.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: On 31 July 2007, Dutt was cleared of the charges relating to the Mumbai blast; however, the TADA court sentenced Dutt to six years' rigorous imprisonment under Arms act for illegal possession of weapons. According to "The Guardian", "The actor claimed he feared for his life after the notorious 'Black Friday' bombings, which were allegedly staged by Mumbai's Muslim-dominated mafia in retaliation for deadly Hindu-Muslim clashes a few months earlier. But the judge rejected this defence and also refused bail." Dutt was returned to at the Arthur Road Jail and soon after moved to the Yerawada Central Jail in Pune. Dutt appealed against the sentence and was granted interim bail on 20 August 2007 until such time as the TADA court provided him with a copy of its judgement. On 22 October 2007 Dutt was back in jail but again applied for bail. On 27 November 2007, Dutt was granted bail by the Supreme Court. On 21 March 2013 the Supreme Court upheld the verdict but shortened the sentence to five years' imprisonment. Dutt was given a month to surrender before the authorities.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: Dutt has said that "I am not a politician but I belong to a political family." He was persuaded by a close friend to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as a candidate for the Samajwadi Party, but withdrew when the court refused to suspend his conviction. He was then appointed General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party, leaving that post in December 2010. In March 2013 the Supreme Court upheld Dutt's five-year sentence, 18 months of which he already spent in jail during the trial. He was given four weeks to surrender to the authorities, the court having refused to release him on probation due to the severity of the offence.


title: Sanjay Dutt

text: On 10 May, the Supreme Court rejected Dutt's review petition for the reconsideration of his conviction and asked him to surrender on the stipulated date. on 14 May, Dutt withdrew the mercy plea and surrendered to the Mumbai Police on 16 May 2013. Just before the surrender, the Mumbai jail authority got an anonymous letter threatening Dutt's life. Dutt filed an appeal to allow him to surrender before entering Yerwada Central Jail. Later, Dutt withdrew this request too. He was paroled from 21 December 2013. The parole was extended three times until March 2014, raising concern in Bombay High Court and a proposal from the Government of Maharashtra to amend the law of parole. He returned to Yerwada Central Jail after his parole ended. Dutt was out on a two weeks' furlough granted by the Yerwada Central Jail authorities on 24 December. He was subsequently incarcerated in Yerwada Central Jail, to complete his jail term. He was released from there on 25 February 2016 after serving his sentence.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; , ; born August 25, 1949) is an Israeli-American musician. Also known by his stage persona The Demon, he is the bassist and co-lead singer of Kiss, the hard rock band he co-founded with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in the early 1970s. Simmons was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a member of Kiss.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons was born as Chaim Witz on August 25, 1949, at Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Israel, to Jewish immigrants from Hungary. His mother, Florence Klein (1925–2018) (née Flóra Kovács), was born in Jánd and survived internment in Nazi concentration camps. She and her brother, Larry Klein, were the only members of the family to survive the Holocaust. Simmons' father, Ferenc "Feri" Yehiel Witz (1925–2002), was a carpenter. Simmons spent his early childhood in Tirat Carmel and was raised in a practicing Jewish household. He has said that his family was "dirt poor", scraping by on rationed bread and milk. At the age of seven, he began to pick wild fruit and sell it on roadsides together with a friend.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Aged eight, he immigrated to the United States with his mother and settled in New York City. His father remained in Israel, where he has another son and three daughters. In the United States, Simmons changed his name to Gene Klein, adopting his mother's maiden name. When he was nine, he briefly attended a Jewish religious school, Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, before transferring to a public school. He later attended Richmond College and Sullivan County Community College, both in New York, and chose a stage name in tribute to the rockabilly singer Jumpin' Gene Simmons. He practiced playing his guitar for hours on end. Before his musical career began, Klein worked a variety of jobs in the city. A proficient typist, he served as an assistant to an editor of "Vogue", and spent several months as a sixth grade instructor on the Upper West Side.


title: Gene Simmons

text: The Beatles had a significant influence on Simmons. "There is no way I'd be doing what I do now if it wasn't for the Beatles. I was watching "The Ed Sullivan Show" and I saw them. Those skinny little boys, kind of androgynous, with long hair like girls. It blew me away that these four boys [from] the middle of nowhere could make that music."


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons became involved with his first band, Lynx, then renamed the Missing Links, when he was a teenager. Eventually, he disbanded the band to form the Long Island Sounds, the name being a pun on Long Island Sound. While he played in these bands, he worked at odd jobs on the side to make more money, including trading used comic books. Simmons attended Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake, New York. He joined a new band, Bullfrog Bheer, and the band recorded a demo, "Leeta"; this was later included on the Kiss box set.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons formed the rock band Wicked Lester in the early 1970s with Stanley Eisen (now known as Paul Stanley) and recorded one album, which was never released. Dissatisfied with Wicked Lester's sound and look, Simmons and Stanley attempted to fire their band members; they were met with resistance, and they quit Wicked Lester, walking away from their record deal with Epic Records. They decided to form the "ultimate rock band", and started looking for a drummer. Simmons and Stanley found an ad placed by George Peter John Criscuola (known as Peter Criss) who was playing clubs in Brooklyn at the time; they joined and started out as a trio.


title: Gene Simmons

text: During this time, Criss and Simmons also appeared on an unreleased album by Captain Sanity together with members from Criss' previous band Chelsea. Paul Frehley (better known as Ace Frehley) responded to an ad they put in "The Village Voice" for a lead guitar player, and soon joined them. Kiss released their self-titled debut album in February 1974. Stanley took on the role of lead performer on stage, while Simmons became the driving force behind what became an extensive Kiss merchandising franchise. The eye section of his "Demon" makeup with Kiss came from the wing design of comic book character Black Bolt.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 1983, when Kiss's fame was waning, the members took off their trademark make-up and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity that continued into the 1990s. At this time, Peter Criss, the original drummer, was voted out of the band, and a replacement was sought to fill his vacancy. The new drummer was Paul Charles Caravello, who went by the stage name of Eric Carr, and played for Kiss from 1980 until his death in 1991. The band hosted its own fan conventions in 1995, and fan feedback about the original Kiss members reunion influenced the highly successful 1996–1997 Alive Worldwide reunion tour. In 1998, the band released "Psycho Circus". Since then, the original line-up has once again dissolved, with Tommy Thayer replacing Ace Frehley on lead guitar and Eric Singer (who performed with Kiss from 1991 through 1996) replacing Peter Criss on drums.


title: Gene Simmons

text: On August 15, 2013, Simmons, Paul Stanley and manager Doc McGhee became a part of the ownership group that created the LA Kiss Arena Football League team, which played their home games at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The team has since folded.


title: Gene Simmons

text: He has his own magazine, "Gene Simmons Tongue Magazine", his own label, Simmons Records, and animated series, "My Dad the Rock Star". Simmons Records has released albums by such bands as Kobra and the Lotus, Silent Rage, Gypsy Rose and House of Lords as well as Gene's own solo releases.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 1985, Simmons appeared on the TV series "Miami Vice" in an episode titled "The Prodigal Son". The episode served as the season premiere of the show's second season. Simmons appeared as a psychic working at the Mystic Journey Bookstore in Venice, California on the American hidden camera prank TV series "I Get That a Lot". He also guest-starred as himself in the 2014 "" episode "Long Road Home".


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons performed in the 1984 Michael Crichton thriller "Runaway" starring Tom Selleck, Cynthia Rhodes and Kirstie Alley as well as the 1987 Gary Sherman action film "" starring Rutger Hauer.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In March 2015, Simmons founded the film production company Erebus Pictures and announced as the first project the Horror-thriller film "Armed Response".


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons plays bass, and lead vocals are split between Simmons and rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley in most Kiss songs. Some notable songs featuring Simmons singing lead include "God of Thunder", "Rock and Roll All Nite", "Deuce", "A World Without Heroes", "I Love It Loud", "Calling Dr. Love", "Unholy", "You Wanted the Best" (first lead vocals), and "Christine Sixteen", among others.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In addition to playing bass, Simmons is known for his long tongue, which he frequently sticks out while performing, and on stage is known for his demonic figure by spitting fire and vomiting stage blood. Some publications reported that his tongue measured up to 7 inches long and he had it insured for $1 million, although Simmons himself has neither confirmed nor denied this.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons is a science fiction and comic book fan and published several science-fiction fanzines, among them "Id", "Cosmos" (which eventually merged with "Stilletto" to become "Cosmos-Stilletto" and then "Faun"), "Tinderbox", "Sci-Fi Showcase", "Mantis" and "Adventure". He also contributed to other fanzines, among them "BeABohema" and "Sirruish". By 1977, however, he would write in a letter of comment to "Janus", "I haven't been active [in fandom] for about five years".


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons lives in Los Angeles with his wife Shannon Lee Tweed, a Canadian actress and former Playboy Playmate. Although they began dating in 1983, they did not marry until 28 years later. Simmons often joked that he and Tweed were "happily unmarried" for over 20 years. He also often paraphrased Groucho Marx, saying "Marriage is an institution, and I don't want to live in an institution". Simmons and Tweed wed on October 1, 2011, at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They have two children: Nick (born January 22, 1989) and Sophie (born July 7, 1992). He formerly had live-in relationships with Cher and Diana Ross, revealing that he fell in love with Ross while dating Cher. Simmons can speak Hungarian, German, English, Hebrew, and some Japanese. Simmons does not drink alcohol or use drugs.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons has boasted many times about having bedded thousands of women. In 2010, he claimed the tally stood at 5,000 and that he has a Polaroid picture of each liaison, including the hotel key where it took place. Simmons has always been open about his disdain for drug and alcohol use, and has proudly claimed many times over "I've never been high or drunk in my life".


title: Gene Simmons

text: In March 2011, Simmons visited his birth country, Israel. He described the trip as a "life changing experience". He talked about how he still feels that he is an Israeli: "I'm Israeli. I'm a stranger in America. I'm an outsider". While there, Simmons met his half-brother Kobi, and triplet half-sisters Drora, Sharon and Ogenia. Simmons announced he has plans to take Kiss to Israel. He has said that he is an ardent supporter of Israel. At a press conference in Israel, he spoke in both Hebrew and English.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons was a supporter of the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration. He supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, writing on his website: "I'm ashamed to be surrounded by people calling themselves liberal who are, in my opinion, spitting on the graves of brave American soldiers who gave their life to fight a war that wasn't theirs... in a country they've never been to... simply to liberate the people therein". In a follow-up, Simmons explained his position and wrote about his love and support for the United States: "I wasn't born here. But I have a love for this country and its people that knows no bounds. I will forever be grateful to America for going into World War II, when it had nothing to gain, in a country that was far away... and rescued my mother from the Nazi German concentration camps. She is alive and I am alive because of America. And, if you have a problem with America, you have a problem with me".


title: Gene Simmons

text: During the 2006 Lebanon War between Israel and Lebanon, Simmons sent a televised message of support (in both English and Hebrew) to an Israeli soldier seriously wounded in fighting in Lebanon, calling him his "hero".


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2010, Simmons said he regretted voting for Barack Obama and criticized the 2009 health care reforms. Following Obama's 2011 speech on the Middle East in which the President called on Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a settlement "based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps", Simmons told CNBC that Obama was gravely misguided. "If you have never been to the moon, you can't issue policy about the moon. For the president to be sitting in Washington D.C. and saying, 'Go back to your '67 borders in Israel' – how about you live there and try to defend an indefensible border – nine miles (14 km) wide?" Simmons also accused the United Nations of being "the most pathetic body on the face of the earth".


title: Gene Simmons

text: During his visit to Israel in 2011, he stated that the artists refusing to perform in Israel for political reasons are "stupid".


title: Gene Simmons

text: In an April 2012 interview, Simmons endorsed Republican Mitt Romney for President: "America should be in business and it should be run by a businessman."


title: Gene Simmons

text: On November 6, 2015, he attended a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces gala in Beverly Hills, which raised more than $31 million.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In an August, 2021 interview, Simmons said regarding the honesty of the Donald Trump administration, "[W]e all lie to some extent, but what happened the last four years was beyond anything I ever thought imaginable from people who had lots of power — not just him, but the administration, everybody.


title: Gene Simmons

text: On November 10, 2021, he stated that people who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine are "an enemy" and called them "evil".


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons is a known advocate for ChildFund International's work. He traveled to Zambia during his "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" show to visit several of his sponsored children, of whom he has more than 140. Simmons said that the trip "[was] a stark reminder that life doesn't treat everyone the same".


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons's family received the MEND Humanitarian Award for their philanthropic efforts and support for Mending Kids International at the organization's annual gala on November 9, 2013. The award was presented by Mel Gibson. In his acceptance speech, Simmons spoke of his own difficult childhood in Israel in a bullet-riddled house. He recalled his mother's excitement when they received a CARE box one day.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons helped found "The Children Matter", which is a collaborative initiative with the charity MATTER that fights to get kids around the world access to health care.


title: Gene Simmons

text: He is an advocate for public safety during the coronavirus pandemic, encouraging people to wear face masks and following social distance protocols.


title: Gene Simmons

text: During an interview on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air on February 2, 2002, Simmons told Terry Gross: "If you want to welcome me with open arms, I'm afraid you're also going to have to welcome me with open legs", paraphrasing a lyric from the Who's 1981 song "You Better You Bet". Gross replied: "That's a really obnoxious thing to say". At the time, Simmons refused to grant permission to NPR to make the interview available online. However, it appears in print in Gross' book "All I Did Was Ask" and unauthorized transcripts are available. NPR re-broadcast part of the interview in August 2007. In a 2014 interview with "The Huffington Post", Simmons noted he was upset over what he perceived as Gross's "holier-than-thou" attitude, which included mislabeling his band Kiss as "the Kiss".


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2004, during an interview in Melbourne, Australia, while talking about Islamic extremists, Simmons described Islam as a "vile culture", saying that Muslim women had to walk behind their husbands and were not allowed to be educated or to own houses. He said: "They want to come and live right where you live and they think that you're evil." Australia's Muslim of the Year Susan Carland argued that Simmons's stereotyping of Muslims was inaccurate. Simmons later clarified his comments on his website, saying he had been talking specifically about Muslim extremists.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2005, Simmons was sued by a former girlfriend, Georgeann Walsh Ward, who said she had been "defamed" in the VH1 documentary "When Kiss Ruled the World" and portrayed as an "unchaste woman". A settlement was reached in June 2006.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2007, Simmons openly spoke out against music piracy, and called for file-sharers to be sued. A year later, he threatened further lawsuits, and to withhold new recordings, if file-sharing continued. In 2010, Anonymous staged a DDoS on his website, prompting Simmons to hit back with provocative comments once he was back online, at which point Anonymous staged a second DDoS, taking Simmons's site down again.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In September 2014, Simmons said "The death of rock was not a natural death. Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered." Simmons blames file sharing and that no one values music "enough to pay you for it" for the decline of the rock music scene.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In August 2014, Simmons made comments in an interview with Songfacts.com that encouraged those with depression to kill themselves.I never understand, because I always call them on their bluff. I’m the guy who says ‘Jump!’ when there’s a guy on top of a building who says, “That’s it, I can’t take it anymore, I’m going to jump.” Are you kidding? Why are you announcing it? Shut the fuck up, have some dignity and jump! You’ve got the crowd.The comments drew criticism from Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe who had suffered from depression in the past. Following his comments, both Triple M and Winnipeg radio station Power 97 stated that they were pulling all Kiss songs from their lineup in protest. Simmons later clarified his comments and apologized for the incident.


title: Gene Simmons

text: On November 16, 2017, Simmons made an appearance on "Fox & Friends" to promote a new book, but shortly afterward, he burst into a staff meeting uninvited, unbuttoning his shirt and telling jokes. The next day, on November 17, Fox News announced that Simmons was banned for life from their program.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2018, Simmons settled a sexual assault lawsuit with an unnamed radio personality, who accused him of touching her inappropriately. The woman claimed that Simmons touched her and “turned standard interview questions into sexual innuendos.” Despite the settlement, Simmons denied the allegations.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2019, Ace Frehley stated that Simmons had attempted to grope his wife, calling Simmons an "asshole and a sex addict".


title: Gene Simmons

text: On January 28, 2011, Simmons was in Dallas, Texas to host the Aces & Angels Salute to the Troops charity event. Simmons was presented the key to the city, and a street (Gene Simmons Boulevard) was named for him. Simmons and Tweed also visited the U.S. Army base at Fort Hood to support the troops as a part of the Aces & Angels event.


title: Gene Simmons

text: On June 15 of the same year, he was given the key to the city in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 2012, Simmons was awarded the "Golden God" award by the "Revolver" magazine.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2013, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History accepted an autographed Gene Simmons Axe bass into their collection from John Upshaw Downs, Jr. The Smithsonian wrote, in part: "The bass will now be cared for in our permanent collections... We are happy to include the Axe bass as it relates to the impact Mr. Simmons and his band Kiss have had on American culture, especially in the creation of a unique and iconic brand that has been embraced by fans worldwide ... The story of Mr. Simmons' American experience deserves to be preserved. An immigrant and son of a holocaust survivor, he used creative vision and entrepreneurial acumen to make a significant impact for our nation's popular culture, becoming an iconic figure in American music and entertainment."


title: Gene Simmons

text: Simmons is an honorary board member of Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education in disadvantaged U.S. public schools. A&E's Gene Simmons Family Jewels visited a Little Kids Rock classroom and featured the segment on the show. He also decorated a guitar for auction with his son Nick.


title: Gene Simmons

text: On December 15, 2014, Simmons was awarded the Golden Medal by the Reial Cercle Artístic de Barcelona (Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona).


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 1994, Simmons appears as auditioning for the band with actor Al Lewis & comedian Gilbert Gottfried in a music video for "I'll Talk My Way Out Of It" by Howard Stern comedian Stuttering John.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2007, he appeared alongside other celebrities, as well as regular people, in the music video for "Rockstar" by Nickelback.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Gene Simmons is a playable character in "Tony Hawk's Underground", unlocked when completing the story mode on Normal difficulty, and also appears with his Kiss bandmates in the Hotter Than Hell level to play one of three songs upon collecting the four K-I-S-S letters.


title: Gene Simmons

text: Gene Simmons's Kiss character, The Demon, is a playable character in "". Simmons also has a large role in the 2010 music video game "". In addition to narrating the main storyline, voicing the character Demigod of Rock in cutscenes, and doing advertising for the game, the Kiss song "Love Gun" is playable.


title: Gene Simmons

text: A Dark-Normal Type Pokémon introduced in "Pokémon Sword and Shield" known as Obstagoon the Blocking Pokémon resembles Gene Simmons's K.I.S.S. character: The Demon.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2002, Simmons launched "Gene Simmons' Tongue", a men's lifestyle magazine. The magazine lasted five issues before being discontinued.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 1976–77, Simmons signed a management and production contract with the band Van Halen. He produced a Van Halen demo tape and attempted to find a record deal for the band with a variety of major record labels. When no deal materialised, he released them from their contract.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2012, Simmons headlined the Rock N Roll All Stars tour which performed in stadiums across South America. The project also featured several other Rock N Roll Hall of Famers including Def Leppard's Joe Elliot, Guns N Roses' Duff McKagan & Matt Sorum and Deep Purple's Glenn Hughes as well as Billy Idol's Steve Stevens, Collective Soul's Ed Rolland, Sebastian Bach, Alice in Chain's Mike Inez and the Cult's Billy Duffy. On March 1, 2012 the line up and the tour was revealed at a news conference hosted by Promoter Gabe Reed at the Roxy theater in Hollywood, CA. Simmons was in attendance and the entire news conference and subsequent tour was featured on Simmons Family Jewels' series finale episodes.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2012, Simmons partnered with Paul Stanley and three other investors to form the restaurant franchise Rock & Brews.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2017, Simmons launched "The Vault" which is a compilation of all of his major works selling for $2,000.


title: Gene Simmons

text: In 2018, Simmons was named as "Chief Evangelist Officer" of the Canadian cannabis company Invictus MD Strategies. Simmons also holds a large investment stake in the company.