United Kingdom, Oct. 14 -- Cat Stevens claims that he was one of the inspirations behind Carly Simon's song You're So Vain.

The Matthew and Son singer had a passionate affair with the Nobody Does It Better artist during the early 1970s and knew that Carly's track about a self-absorbed lover - the identity of whom has long been speculated - was about him.

Writing in his new memoir Cat on the Road to Findout, the 77-year-old musician said: "I never understood the endless hide-and-seek of finding out who You're So Vain was about. Naturally, I knew it was about me!"

Cat added: "The affair enriched both our repertoires."

Carly, 82, previously confirmed that the second verse of the 1972 song is about the Hollywood actor Warren Beatty but ha...