Our final performer inductee into the 2014 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a singer-songwriter who would have made it in much sooner if his music was the only consideration.

Eligible for induction since 1992, Cat Stevens waited until 2006 to first appear on a ballot, then had a second chance in 2014, when he finally made it in.

After a decade of musical success from the late 60s through the late 70s, Stevens converted to Islam in 1978, taking on the name Yusuf Islam and giving up his singing career for two decades.

During that time, Stevens famously supported a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, suggesting he should be killed for writing the novel The Satanic Verses. Stevens claimed the comments were made in jest or taken out of context, though contemporaneous accounts sure make it sound like he was serious.

Absent that controversy, I imagine Stevens would have earned early admission into the Rock Hall. His run of 70s releases were huge sellers and critically lauded, and his brand of sensitive folk rock influenced scores of other musicians. Songs such as ‘Morning Has Broken,’ ‘Wild World,’ ‘Moonshadow,’ ‘Father and Son’ and ‘Peace Train’ were not just hits but deeply heartfelt anthems.

I’ve always been a big fan of Stevens’ two most successful albums — 1970’s Tea for the Tillerman and 1971’s Teaser and the Firecat — and I know the rest of the hits, but I’d like to do a deeper dive into his catalog.

That includes not just the 11 albums he wrote before his religious conversion, but those he recorded as Yusuf and Yusuf/Cat Stevens after he returned to pop music in 2006.