Stevie Wonder In A New Century: Part 6

Time is long, but life is short- Stevie Wonder.

For over 60 years, Stevie Wonder has been in the music field, and here he is, still kickin’. Music has been moving forward rapidly, and he is among the many people to thank. However, what has he been doing in the 21st century?

In my childhood, his music and influence were still present, but not like the upcoming stars such as Rihanna, Chris Brown, and Ne-Yo. The point is Wonder was very present and still is. It’s just not in the way we think.

Early 2000s

2000

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Stevie Wonder started the 21st century working with Spike Lee. He contributed two soundtrack songs for Lee’s film Bamboozled: Misrepresented People and Some Years Ago. He also featured with Hip Hop’s prominent stars like Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, and Dr. Dre.

2002

Motown decided to remaster and reissue Wonder’s 1972-1980 run of solo albums- with Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants excepted. They released it as a Definitive Collection.

2005

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2005 was the unfortunate year Stevie released his final album, A Time To Love, and New Orleans was flipped upside down the same year. Hurricane Katrina hit the Creole City, leaving thousands decimated and stranded. Stevie took the chance to record Shelter in the Rain and dedicated the song to the victims. The proceeds were used to aid them in the disaster.  

2006

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Thanks to Aretha Franlkin’s offense toward the NFL, Wonder could perform pre-game. The story goes that the Rolling Stones would play half-time in Detroit, and Aretha was offended that they wouldn’t use their native singers. To please the Queen of Soul, they invited Stevie and had Aretha sing the National Anthem with Aaron Neville. 2006 is also the same year he performed for the Capitol Fourth Celebration.

2007

Stevie announced the, A Wonder’s Summer Night Tour. It was the first in over ten years and a 13-concert tour. After the passing of his mother in 2006, Stevie claims he wanted to “take all the sadness he feels, turn it around, and celebrate.”

2008

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In 2008 Stevie Wonder was involved in the Presidential campaign. Knowing Stevie’s history with the African-American community, we all know he naturally supported Barack Obama. 2009 he will see his hard work pay off.

2009

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In 2009 Barack Obama became the President of the United States, and Stevie was at the inauguration to perform. He performed with other superstars like Shakira and Usher. Not only did he get to perform for Obama, but on February 23, he also received the Gershwin Prize for Pop Music from Obama.

Wonder must’ve felt elated by everything happening until June 25, 2009. Michael Jackson was murdered. Stevie attended the ceremony out of respect and love and sang Never Dreamed You’d Leave This Summer at the Staple’s Center.

2010s

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2010-2019

Stevie Wonder not only works on his career but his health as well because sometime in the 2010s, he became a vegetarian and later a vegan. He claims to have done it for his personal health and environmental impact.

In 2011 you can find him playing his harmonica on Drake Graham’s album Take Care and in the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame. While in 2014, he featured on Mariah Carey’s album Me. I Am Mariah- The Elusive Chanteuse (her song Faded) and on the 2014 FIFA World Cup coverage in Brazil. BBC Television chose his song Another Star as the theme tune.

February 2017, he worked on an album with the Queen of Soul- Aretha Franklin, and was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2019.

From 2010-2019, Wonder still collaborated with other artists such as HER, Tori Kelly, and Ariana Grande.

Now

2020-Now

By Antonio Cruz/ABr – AgĂȘncia Brasil., CC BY 3.0 br, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=943214

To this day, Wonder continues to use his music to help and inspire others. He has said,

“As an artist, my purpose is to communicate the message that can better improve the lives of all of us.”

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On February 5, 2023, he appeared at the Grammy’s and performed. He was still on his game, but aside from his music, he had also decided to make a thoughtful decision with his life. He is still planning to move to Ghana with his family because of the racism in America. He stated,

I don’ t want to see my children’s, children’s; children have to say ‘Oh please like me. Please respect me. Please know that I’m important.”

We will wait and see just exactly what Mr. Wonder will do.

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