Stevie Wonder: After all these years, still wonder-struck

Chris Morris

By Joe Brown (contact)

Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Stevie Wonder is likely the closest anyone will ever get to being a universally loved musical artist. His five-decade career included a run of indelible Motown singles in the 1960s and electronically innovative, socially conscious albums in the ’70s. Wonder, 59, plays the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, and in recognition, we present Seven Wonders.

1: After years of inactivity, Wonder reemerged in 2007, starting a new album and touring the U.S. and then Europe for the first time in a decade. “I wanted to take all the pain that I was feeling and turn it into joy,” said Wonder, acknowledging that his return was spurred by the death of his mother, Lula Mae Hardaway Morris.

2: Wonder apparently is making up for lost time: Last Saturday he headlined as Motown Records celebrated its 50th anniversary. Fans paid up to $2,500 to attend the Detroit gala, which also featured Aretha Franklin, the Temptations and a videotaped President Barack Obama. Kid Rock joined Wonder onstage for “Superstition” and “Living for the City”; no word on whether ticket holders received a refund as a result.

3: It’s a Wonder-full world: Last Tuesday the military band of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army performed works of Wonder at a state dinner in Beijing for Obama. Under the direction of conductor Zhang Zhirong, the Chinese military band played Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” plus “America the Beautiful” and the Chinese song “Embroidering a Pouch.”

4: This may be a bit of a stretch, but if it weren’t for Stevie Wonder, Obama might not have become president. “I think it’s fair to say that had I not been a Stevie Wonder fan, Michelle might not have dated me, we might not have married,” Obama said after presenting Wonder with the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize this year. “The fact that we agreed on Stevie was part of the essence of our courtship.” The Gershwin Prize, America’s highest award for pop music, was created in 2007 to recognize the “profound and positive effect of popular music on the world’s culture.” Sir Paul McCartney will be the next recipient.

5: Last month Wonder stole the show at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 25th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden. That’s no small feat when the lineup includes Crosby, Stills and Nash, Simon and Garfunkel and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Wonder teamed up with John Legend, Smokey Robinson, B.B. King — and Sting, on a mash-up of Wonder’s “Higher Ground” and the Police’s “Roxanne.”

6: Wonder recently has been performing two-and-a-half hour sets with a 14-piece band that includes four backing vocalists — including his daughter Aisha Morris. She’s the giggling, splashing baby girl Wonder is singing to and about in “Isn’t She Lovely.”

7: If you’re not able to make it to the MGM Grand on Saturday, you’ll be happy to know that Wonder has released his first official concert DVD. “Live at Last: A Wonder Summer’s Night,” was filmed at London’s O2 arena during his 2008 European tour. The 27 tracks on the DVD are likely representative of the show we’ll see in Vegas, including “All I Do,” “Don’t You Worry ’Bout A Thing,” “Sir Duke,” and, of course, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours),” which was one of the unofficial anthems of the Obama presidential campaign.