A near-death experience and a Christian hymn: The making of a 1971 Cat Stevens classic
Cat Stevens’s near-fatal battle with tuberculosis around 1968 profoundly changed his outlook and deepened his spiritual beliefs. The experience inspired songs about life’s fragility and eventually helped shape “Morning Has Broken”, his 1971 reworking of the Christian hymn.
The illness followed early career setbacks and a difficult split with his record label, but the enforced rest contributed to albums including *Mona Bone Jakon* and *Tea for the Tillerman*. Session musician Rick Wakeman played piano on “Morning Has Broken”; Stevens later converted to Islam in 1977 and became Yusuf Islam.
- Tuberculosis transformed Cat Stevens’s outlook and music.
- “Morning Has Broken” expressed his renewed spiritual conviction.
- Rick Wakeman played piano on the 1971 recording.