By Ninder Kaur
The world-famous artist Sami Yusuf completed a sell-out nine-city tour in the UK, raising money for orphans along the way.
The multi-talented singer and songwriter packed out venues across the country, treating audiences to his self-coined genre of spiritique, which beautifully blends Western harmonics with traditional Islamic arts.
The performances were made even more unique and special with the help of Sami’s musicians, who played traditional Iranian and Asian instruments. Sami took the lead on stage, wooing crowds with his soothing vocal range and mesmerising audiences with performances on a range of historic stringed and percussion instruments.
The popular artist hasn’t been on tour in the UK since 2008, but returned to perform songs from his highly accredited album, ‘The Centre’. Composed, arranged, produced and almost entirely self-performed by Sami, his new songs are tied together by a journey of spiritual discovery, with deep messages about the values of unity, compassion and faithfulness.
The tour was all in aid of orphans worldwide, with Sami partnering with Penny Appeal to help raise funds for vulnerable children. Fundraising on the night highlighted the charity’s unique orphan programme and, through donations and commitments, half a million pounds was raised – enough for 1,076 orphan sponsorships and to build 8 orphan homes.
Aamer Naeem, Penny Appeal CEO, said: “It was a real privilege to work with such an incredibly skilled artist and it was fantastic Sami Yusuf chose to work with Penny Appeal.
“We’ve received some tremendous feedback, with many people amazed at how an international star still does so much for charity. The money raised from the tour will go a very long way to improve the lives of vulnerable children, and so this tour has been a massive achievement in so many ways.”
