The British folk musician Cat Stevens has postponed his North American tour, delaying his scheduled stop in Philadelphia this week.
Stevens, who also goes by Yusuf, said he was putting the tour on hold due to unresolved visa issues. He was scheduled to visit seven cities in the U.S. and Canada in support of his memoir “Cat on the Road to Findout,” releasing stateside Oct. 7. The tour was set to kick off Thursday with a show at the Met.
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Now the “Peace Train” singer says the shows, a blend of conversation and “select unplugged performances,” would not resume until “some time away.”
“Waiting months for visa approvals, we held out as long as we could,” Stevens wrote on his website and social media accounts. “However, at this point, the production logistics necessary for my show cannot be arranged in time.
“I am really upset! Not least for my fans who have bought tickets and made travel plans to see me perform. North American audiences may still get a chance to see the tour if visa approvals eventually come through. Those dates would be some time away because of other travel tour plans but, hopefully, fans will be able to hop on the Peace Train route at some time in the future.”
His Philadelphia stop is no longer listed on the Met’s website as of Monday afternoon.
Stevens had alluded to his visa problems earlier this month, when he told fans the tour was in “serious jeopardy due to significant delays in U.S. immigration processing.”
“Despite our team’s exhaustive efforts, the required performance visas for Yusuf and his band have not yet been issued,” the musician wrote in an Instagram post on Sept. 19. “… Fans are strongly advised to hold all travel plans until official confirmation is provided. We are working urgently with authorities and will share news the moment we have it.”
Stevens has experienced immigration problems in the past. He canceled a planned New York show in 2009 over similarly unspecified work visa issues. The singer’s 2004 flight from London to Washington was also diverted after U.S. officials realized the singer was on a watch list, allegedly due to his support of Muslim charities “with terrorist connections.” Stevens converted to Islam in 1977 and adopted the name Yusuf Islam.
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