Yusuf Islam

Yusuf Islam

Singer/songwriter Yusuf Islam has been hit with more U.S. immigration issues as he prepares for his first Los Angeles show in more than 30 years.

A concert at New York's Highline Ballroom on Sunday night was postponed due to a visa issue and now the Muslim convert, aka Cat Stevens, but a private album release party at the El Rey Theatre on Monday is all set to go ahead as planned.

A spokesman for the Highline tells FemaleFirst, "The May 3rd show was postponed due to issues with filling paperwork on time. For Yusuf to perform he had to have the proper work permit. His people cited visa/travel issues for the postponement of the NYC. They insist the show in L.A. will still go on as scheduled."

It's not the first time Yusuf Islam has been prevented from flying to America to further his musical comeback - the folk rocker found himself in front of panicked Homeland Security officials in Maine in 2004 when his flight to Nashville, Tennessee, was diverted. He was en-route to record music for his 2006 album An Other Cup.

Islam and his daughter, who was accompanying him, were detained for hours because his name was similar to one on a federal list of people considered dangerous to the U.S. in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Moonshadow singer's El Rey concert, if it goes ahead, will be his first Los Angeles show in 33 years. Yusuf Islam turned his back on his music career after discovering Islam in the late 1970s.

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison


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