Stevie Wonder, Sheila E, Earth Wind & Fire and Rapheal Saadiq Perform Together [LIVE]

Stevie Wonder closes Glastonbury

Music legend Stevie Wonder brought the Glastonbury music festival to a close.

The US star, 60, was the final headliner on the Pyramid stage and thrilled the crowds with many of his greatest hits including Superstition, Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours, plus a cover of Human Nature, as a tribute to Michael Jackson.

The Motown favourite also celebrated the event's 40th anniversary. He was joined by festival organiser Michael Eavis for his last song Happy Birthday.

This year revellers went for bikinis and bare chests instead of the traditional raincoats and wellies. It is the first time the four-day event has been completely dry since 2002.

As well as Wonder, the show on Mr Eavis's dairy farm in Pilton, Somerset, also saw appearances from Shakira, Muse, Radiohead and Snoop Dogg. The Scissor Sisters were joined by special guest Kylie, who had to pull out of Glasto in 2005 when she was battling breast cancer.

Festival-goers were also able to see England's humiliating World Cup defeat. Around 80,000 supporters watched the action on two giant screens which were specially erected.

Stevie Wonder Plays the Classics -- and Talks Politics

Stevie Wonder promised the Bonnaroo crowd "some song-travelin" Saturday night and that's exactly what they got. The legendary R&B singer's two-hour set offered a trip through four Wonder-full decades (the '90s were conspicuously skipped) with the occasional detour for politics.

"Let's keep it real," said Wonder as the 13-piece backing band played the opening notes of "Living for the City," his seminal 1973 narrative on race relations. "We can never let no one ever get us back to a place like this again. Never. No Tea Party -- I don't care. You want to be a supremacist? Then be the supreme of getting people together."

He also had some advice for anyone confronted with racist talk. "You say, 'Hey what's that smell? It smells like some bullshit!' Are we in agreement?" A resounding roar from the crowd meant the answer was "yes," though hearing the affable star swear may have helped tip the scale.

Wonder's performance was, for the most part, a constant string of feel-good moments. He initially walked onto the stage soloing on a keytar -- a signifier of the supreme funkiness to come. He dug out a trio of '80s hits to get the party started, hollering, "Saxophone!" halfway through "As If You Read My Mind," and summoning an era-appropriate solo.

Then Little Stevie came out -- voice high and bright -- as he revisited 1966 via "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" and "For Once in My Life." Each song was given a proper Motown finish, ending in stuttering big-band fanfare and, of course, harmonica for the latter.

He and the band stretched out over classics like "Higher Ground," "Sir Duke," "Superstition," and "My Cherie Amor" while tens of thousands sang along. For "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing," Wonder split up vocal duties between the men and the women, recreating the song's trademark Latin melody. Later, he led the crowd through a series of increasingly difficult notes.

"You sounded kind of good," he said with a laugh. That was generous.

Armed with a talk box, Wonder eventually made a well-received returned to the groove, first covering Parliament's "Give Up the Funk," then playing a funked-up version of Whitfield and Strong's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine."

Wonder was spry at 60, and clearly in a good mood as he stepped up onto the piano bench to sing his upbeat 1982 hit "Do I Do." He also played the consummate bandleader, more than once commanding his players to switch key mid-song.

Stevis Wonder: Usher wants another duet with Stevie Wonder

At the year's Glastonbury Festival Usher hasn't ruled out pulling on his wellies and joining his old pal Stevie Wonder .
After performing the group became friends Higher Ground at President Barack Obama's inauguration, and now the younger star has tipped his hero to be the must see act on the pyramid stage at this month's festival.
'I don't think there's an audience that Stevie can't win over with his voice,' Usher told Sky News.
'If he can't then maybe there's something wrong with their ears! I wish him well at the show.'
Glastonbury headliners are well known for bringing on particular guests, and Usher says he'd jump at the chance of playing down on Worthy Farm even if the mud might spoil his designer clothes.
'Eventually I'll play anywhere, as long as you've got a stage and a microphone I'll do it,' he smiles.
Usher has just performed on Britain's Got Talent to promote his 6th album Raymond V Raymond, which contains his number one single OMG.
Despite some current quotes which suggested he wasn't a fan of TV reality shows, he says the stars of last week's final deserve their shot at fame, however fleeting.
'Everybody has their view of talent,' says Usher.
'I think everybody deserves a moment in the sun and this is obviously a show that's actually worked and is very popular.
'We've left the time where the star has kind of been preserved. I have no issue with it, I've seen very odd things, some of it is hilarious, some of it is intended for comedy and some of it is intended for a true career being built.'

Stevie Wonder announces one-off Manchester show and ticket details

Stevie Wonder has announced details of a one-off Manchester show. Playing the M.E.N Arena on June 29, the soul legend is also set to headline London's Hard Rock Calling festival on June 26 and Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage on June 27. Tickets for the show go on sale this Friday (April 23) at 9am (BST).

Stevie Wonder Tickets are available online on GigSport.

Stevie Wonder to headline London's Hard Rock Calling festival - ticket details

Stevie Wonder has been confirmed as the final headliner at London's Hard Rock Calling festival.
The soul legend plays the event on Saturday June 26. Jamiroquai, James Morrison and Corinne Bailey Rae have all been confirmed for the same day.
As previously announced Pearl Jam will headline the opening night (June 25) of the Hyde Park event, while Paul McCartney tops the bill on Sunday June 27.
Stevie Wonder Tickets go on sale at 9am (GMT) on Friday (March 26).

France calls to say it loves Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder has been granted one of France's top cultural honours, the Commander of Arts and Letters award.
The soul legend was given the award by French culture minister Fr�d�ric Mitterrand, and he dedicated it to his mother. "I receive this honour in memory of my mother and in memory of all of those who have made it possible for me to stand here today."
Wonder, said Mitterrand, was "music's familiar genius". Riffing on a Wonder song, he added: "As citizen, administrator and culture minister, I just called to say we love you."
Wonder, 59, whose mother died in 2006, said: "As I was listening to what you were saying, I had a flash in my memory, the memory of 1964, when I came to Paris, France, for the first time. I came with my mother."
Wonder's political activism is well known. He supported Barack Obama in his 2008 presidential campaign and played at his inauguration in the Capitol.
At the Paris ceremony, he did not waste the opportunity to cite France's universal health insurance and Obama's efforts to extend health coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.

Celebrate Motown's 50th; Jacksons' reality show debut to Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin

Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations and others will be in Detroit later this month to celebrate Motown's 50th anniversary.
Event the two night will be held Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 20-21, and will benefit the Motown Historical Museum, located in the company's original Hitsville U.S.A. headquarters in Detroit's midtown section, according to Billboard.
Among the planned festivities are tributes to Michael Jackson, the Four Tops' Levi Stubbs, Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., and the label's "First Five" -- Smokey Robinson, Brian Holland, Robert Bateman, Janie Bradford and Raynoma Singleton.
Members of the Contours and Miracles, among others, will sign autographs, and the Temptations and Franklin will headline a black-tie gala at the GM Renaissance Center hosted by actor-comedian Sinbad.
Also, Fox will air a Motown tribute during halftime of the Detroit Lions-Green Bay Packers game on Thanksgiving Day. It'll feature a medley of classic hits performed by current Motown acts including KEM, Melanie Fiona and Shontelle. The medley will be available for download on the NFL Web site, with proceeds going to the United Way.

Stevie Wonder, Cranberries, Morrissey headed to town, Tickets

R&B great Stevie Wonder headlines the MGM Grand Garden arena on Nov. 28. Tickets are $52.50, $105 and $157.50 and go on sale at noon Saturday at Ticketmaster outlets.
Reunited '90s pop rockers The Cranberries play The Pearl at the Palms on Dec. 3. Tickets are $35 and go on sale at noon Saturday at The Pearl box office, 4321 W. Flamingo Road, and Ticketmaster outlets.
Beloved crooner Morrissey hits The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on Dec. 4, with Doll & The Kicks. Tickets start at $39.50 and go on sale at noon Saturday at The Joint box office, 4455 Paradise Road, and Ticketmaster outlets.
Actor/comedian Robin Williams enlivens the MGM Grand Garden arena on Dec. 5. Tickets are $75, $100, $175 and $225 and go on sale at 10 a.m. today at Ticketmaster outlets.
Classical pop superstar Andrea Bocelli brings his first U.S. holiday concert tour to the MGM Grand Garden arena on Dec. 12. Tickets are $75, $125, $195, $275 and $400 and are already on sale at Ticketmaster outlets.
R&B singer Raphael Saadiq visits the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on Nov. 21. General admission tickets are $33.50 in advance, $38.50 day of show and reserved seats are $48.50. They go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at the House of Blues box office, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and Ticketmaster outlets.
Death-metal heavyweights Nile slam into the House of Blues on Feb. 3, with Immolation, Krisiun, Abigail Williams and Dreaming Dead. Tickets are $24 in advance, $28 day of show, and go on sale at 10 a.m. today at the venue box office and Ticketmaster outlets.
Latin alt-rockers Cafe Tacuba perform at the House of Blues on Nov. 19. Tickets are $40.50 in advance, $46 day of show, and are already on sale at the venue box office and Ticketmaster outlets.
Spanish pop-rockers La Quinta Estacion play the House of Blues on Nov. 1. General admission tickets are $40.50 in advance, $45.50 day of show and reserved seats are $50.50 and $57.50. They are already on sale at the venue box office and Ticketmaster outlets.
Country singer Phil Vassar comes to Ovation at Green Valley Ranch on Jan. 1. Tickets are $29.50, $42.50 and $55 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Green Valley Ranch Boarding Pass Rewards Center, 2300 Paseo Verde Parkway.
Rocker Ted Nugent blazes into the Grand Events Center at Green Valley Ranch on Jan. 23. Tickets are $27.50, $37.50, $47.50 and $57.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at the venue box office.
Hard rock lifers Y&T perform at Club Madrid at Sunset Station on Dec. 11. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 day of show, and go on sale Saturday at the Sunset Station Boarding Pass Rewards Center, 1301 W. Sunset Road.

Gretchen Everhart, Stevie Wonder's former teacher speaks

Audience members tapped their feet and sang along to the songs of Stevie Wonder, as the musician's one time teacher told stories about his time with the famous songwriter.
Tim Hull, who taught Wonder in the 1960s from fifth grade to high school graduation, spoke Tuesday at Gretchen Everhart School to a room of more than 50 particular education teachers and music lovers.
Hull traveled from his home in Tampa after being asked by student Colleen Morrissey, who is studying exceptional student education at Florida State University.
Morrissey read Hull's book "The Wonder Years: My Life and Times with Stevie Wonder" for a class grant and was inspired to bring the author to Tallahassee to speak about teaching the visually impaired musician.
Hull, who is legally blind, explained that he was asked to privately teach Wonder while Wonder traveled on tour because of his experience in teaching blind children in Detroit. He later became Wonder's tour manager.
"I wanted to learn about the techniques he used with Stevie Wonder," Mickey Damelio, a teacher of the visually impaired, said about attending the event.
Particular education teacher Barbara Donaldson said she wanted to hear Hull tell his story.
"He gave a historical perspective of the '60s and talked about how he was able to overcome all obstacles," she said.
Linda Jones read a Braille excerpt of Hull's book to the pair. She read about two traveling around the world and the prejudices they faced being a white teacher with a black student.
"Tim's book is not only about his time with Stevie, but gives us a personal up-front view of the '60s," Jones said.
Hull spoke fondly about his time with his student and friend, but vividly remembered his favorite times; listening to Wonder sing and record music.

the X Factor's approval to Wonder boy Olly wins

HE may be have caught the nation’s attention on the X Factor, but he’s not too big to remember his mates.
Witham man Olly Murs is all anyone can talk about in the town after his appearance on Saturday night’s TV show.
The 25 year old knocked the socks off Simon Cowell, who has a reputation for viciously honest criticism, as well as fellow judges Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole.
Cowell, on seeing Olly’s performance of the Stevie Wonder hit Superstition, described him as “very, very, very cool”.
When it came to voting, Cowell said: “This is the easiest ‘yes’ I have ever given.”
Cheryl described him as a “natural born entertainer”.
But Witham friends of Olly say he has kept in close contact, not forgetting his roots.
He visited both his footballing mates and his local pub on Saturday night.
John Fisher, landlord of the George, said Olly is an “easy go lucky guy” who they were all rooting for.
Mr Fisher first noticed Olly two years ago when he was beatboxing in the pub.
He said: “What you saw on Saturday is what you get, he’s such a nice kid.
“I would be surprised if anyone had a bad word to say about him, unless they were jealous.”
Olly plays regularly at the pub with his friend Jonathan Goodey, he said.
Tony Last, chairman of Witham Town Football Club, where Olly used to play as a centre forward, said: “He came up and saw us, he’s not too big for that. We asked him how he got on and he said, ‘you’ve got to watch it’.”
The customer advisor for Climate Energy, on Witham’s Freebournes Road, reportedly tried for X Factor before, but was knocked back by the judges.
He also appeared on the Noel Edmonds show Deal Or No Deal in 2007, where he could have won £250,000, but came away with £10.
Olly, of Carraways, has been barred from speaking to local media until he goes through to the contest’s boot camp weekend, on September 26 and 27.

The new album to Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett team

Two of music's brightest stars Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder will unite to record a full album together, according to Bennett's record company.
Columbia Records announced today that its biggest running star, the 83 year old Bennett, will team with one of soul's most important figures, 59 year old Wonder.
The company presented no specific information about delivery date, song selection, or a title for the joint work.
The new recording won't be the first time the king of principle has wailed with the master of pop/soul. Wonder arose on two previous all star recordings by the older singer: 2001's "Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings The Blues," and 2006's "Duets: An American Classic."
The latter disc featured a re-do of Wonder's old song "For Once in My Life," which assumulated a Grammy for Pop Vocal alliance.

Stevie Wonder: VV Brown to set me up with his son

VV Brown has revealed that Stevie Wonder once asked her to date his son. The singer met up with the music caption after they were both signed to Island Records. When they got chatting, the blind musician advised she meet one of his 4 boys. ‘Stevie Wonder stroked my hand and then invited me to go on a date with his son,’ she tells Now Online.‘I don’t care if he is Stevie Wonder’s son, I just didn’t expect him. He wasn’t that good looking.’VV Brown's album Travelling Like The Light is out now.

Stevie Wonder at VH1 Divas 2003 Watch Whitney Houston Belt

As Rolling Stone resulted last month, VH1 will animate their Divas special for the first time since 2004 on September 17th with a live show featuring Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, Miley Cyrus and Adele program continuous from New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music Howard Gilman Opera House. Buzz over this year’s event is at present building on the show’s spanking new Website, Divas.VH1.com, where special clips of ultimate Divas instant from years’ past will be posted. And Rolling Stone has an exclusive video right now: click above to see Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder’s powerhouse gig of “I Was Made to Love Her” from VH1 Divas 2003.
Houston conceivable the elemental diva will be making her grand return this fall with her first studio album of fresh material since 2002. Rolling Stone was there when Houston presented I Look to You at a star studded New York gala, where the 46-year old star said, “I had plans to live on this little island and open a fruit stand a call it a day. But I got this call from Clive [Davis], and he said, ‘No, that’s not what you’re gonna do.

DJs playing only Stevie Wonder in salute, It’s no superstition

This is not your everyday pool party.
The schedule starts with a question-and-answer conference with New York-based DJs Spinna and Bobbito. Then, it’s six hours of nonstop music, all of it from Stevie Wonder.
DJ Spinna (Vincent Williams) put together the first accolade a show honoring Wonder’s 1976 album, “Songs in the Key of Life” — on New York City’s Lower East Side in 1999.
“It was the biggest contribution the venue had ever seen,” event co-creator and producer Keita P. Williams recalls.
Its accomplishment spawned the larger tribute, “WONDER-Full,” which mines Wonder’s entire index. This show has be concerned with the past decade traveling the world. It’s played New York and Los Angeles and made stops in Japan, England and Holland.
“He’s major in Japan,” Williams says, laughing. “They speak the language of music, and the lyrics they were singing along.”
Six hours may sound like a long time to hear music from any one artist, but Williams affirm that the subsituting sets from Spinna and Bobbito (born Robert Garcia) are anything but insistent.
“It’s all Stevie Wonder excellent albums, excellent cuts, covers, remixes,” she explains. “You’re being educated about Stevie’s index of music that he’s recorded with other artists, samples, a lot of hip-hop samples. You have to have a great ear to know that it’s Stevie’s music.”
Of course, there’s one man who would likely accredit every track Stevie Wonder. Last year the 59 year old singer songwriter actually showed up at a “WONDER-Full” accident and performed for the devoted crowd and equally surprised DJs.
“It was mayhem,” Williams says. “The oceans parted the seas of people from the back as he was walking in. The DJs were all the way up on stage not knowing what was happening until he got closer. They droped their minds.”
Keeping Wonder fresh in people’s minds is eventually what the aggregate production is about; that and paying applause to an artist who helped shaped R&B and soul into what they are today.
“If your name is not in the lights, no one knows you,” Williams laments. It’s important “to accolade all great artists not only when they’re gone, but when they’re here, too.”

I Just Called To Say I Love You

No new yearss day
To celebrate
No chocolate covered candy hearts to give away
No first of spring
No song to sing
In fact heres just another ordinary day
No april rain
No flowers bloom
No wedding saturday within the month of june
But what it is
Is something true
Made up of these three words that I must say to you

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

No summers high
No warm july
No harvest moon to light one tender august night
No autumn breeze
No falling leaves
No even time for birds to fly to southern skies
No libra sun
No halloween
No giving thanks to all the christmas joy you bring
But what it is
Though old so new
To fill your heart like no three words could ever do.

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

Of my heart
Of my heart