Stevie Wonder says mother inspired current tour

Jam! Showbiz, Canada
Thursday, October 25, 2007

Stevie Wonder says mother inspired current tour

By Nelson Wyatt, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Pop star Stevie Wonder sings a few songs during a news conference prior to his 
evening performance Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN 
PRESS/Paul Chiasson 

MONTREAL - Stevie Wonder's legendary voice broke slightly when he was asked 
Thursday about how his deceased mother inspired him to go on his current tour. 

Wonder is obviously still grieving for his mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, who died 
May 31, 2006. She had gone into the hospital for "just a little thing," as he 
said she put it. 

When he saw her the Monday before her death, she told him she would be out of 
the hospital that Wednesday. 

"Unfortunately, she was gone by then," Wonder told a news conference before his 
concert at the Bell Centre. 

The music superstar, who has been honoured with 25 Grammy Awards and has been 
the voice for some of the best-known pop songs over the past four decades, 
wanted to pack it in for a while. 

"My position was I wasn't going to do any performances for a while. I said, 
'Let's shut everything down and not do any performances, hold the album for a 
while, don't really work on the CD.' "  
  

But it turned out his mom wasn't finished with him yet. 

"It was like my mother came to me in her voice and spirit and said, 'Boy, you 
better get your butt on the stage. Go on and do what you do and spread your 
love.' " 

He decided to go through with a scheduled private concert in Hawaii, and the 
current tour, based on his classic hits as well as new material, grew out of 
that. 

Wonder, who is also a producer as well as a songwriter and musician, said he 
wanted to give something back to his fans on behalf of his mother with the 
tour. 

Hardaway always encouraged her son's music and helped him to write some of his 
biggest hits, including "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours." 

Wonder's show in Montreal is his first in the city in more than 20 years. He 
said he's glad to be back. 

"It was through the blessing of me having the gift of music that I was able to 
share my music, have been able to share it with you," he said. 

"But as well it was from your appreciation of the music that I have done and 
that I do that made it possible for me to give my mother a better life than she 
would have had, so I thank you for that." 

The 1984 Academy Award winner for the song "I Just Called to Say I Love You" 
(from the movie "The Woman in Red") has had 30 Top 10 hits and released 35 
albums. His next album is inspired by his mother and is called "Gospel Inspired 
by Lula." 

The 57-year-old musician, who played an electronic piano at various times 
during the news conference, said it is a lot of fun to be back on the road. 

"It's a way of expression, it's a way of sharing and showing," he said. 

He spoke about Motown and his youth, such as how he composed an early draft of 
"My Cherie Amour" when he was a teenager to woo a girl named Marcia. 

He had the chorus down - "Oh, my Marcia" - but not much else in the way of 
words. 

"We broke up," he said with a laugh. 

Wonder has been involved in many causes and said he would consider using a tour 
as a gesture for social change. 

"I was very excited in seeing the whole concert that happened for global 
warming. To me that's the kind of thing that we need to focus on, on what we 
need to do change the world to make it better. 

"Fires are burning so hot in California that I can see them," joked the blind 
musician. 

"There's a need for us to never forget about the commitment that we have to the 
perpetuation and preservation of life itself." 

He praised a lot of the social conscience in music now and is encouraged by 
many artists. He said he has talked to Celine Dion about performing together 
and described her as having "a wonderful voice, a wonderful spirit." 

But he did have a word of caution to anyone whose head starts to get too big 
based on early success. 

"Don't get full of yourself," he said is the main thing he's learned from his 
long career. 

He acknowledged that sometimes that's difficult to avoid given how much stars 
are catered to, but added that even the best still have things to learn. 

"I just encourage those young artists to grow, want to know more. If you really 
love music, don't get hung up on the visual things or the money you can get." 
 


http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2007/10/25/4605151-cp.html
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