At the end of his performance on the British Summer Time Hyde Park stage, living music legend Stevie Wonder announced that he is going to have surgery. With no prior confirmed reports on any health issues, this announcement came as a surprise to his fans and music lovers across the world.
After he performed his hit song ‘Superstition’ he said: “I’m going to take a break. I’m going to have a kidney transplant in September. It’s all good. I’ve got a donor. It’s all good. I came here to give you my love. You ain’t go to hear no rumours about nothing, I’m telling you.”
Ever since then, there has been a constant outpour of sympathy, prayers and messages of support for Wonder and his family:
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Usually, patients in need of a kidney transplant have to spend years on a waiting list to stand a chance. With a willing live donor, Stevie will not have to go through the waiting process.
He also announced that he will play three more shows before he retires in September for the surgery.
“I never thought of being blind as a disadvantage, and I never thought of being black as a disadvantage. I am what I am. I love me! And I don’t mean that egotistically – I love that God has allowed me to take whatever it was that I had and to make something out of it.” Those are the words of Stevie Wonder.
He was born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on this day in 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan with a condition called retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disorder which got worse when he received too much oxygen in an incubator, making him blind.
But the ‘Little Stevie Wonder’ did not let his situation stop him from achieving his dreams and making a name as one of the pioneers in the music industry.
He began singing and dancing at a young age in his church and by the age of nine, he was already playing the piano, harmonica, and conga drum.
Wonder released his first album titled The Jazz Soul Of Little Stevie at the age of 12 and followed it with Tribute To Uncle Ray dedicated to Ray Charles.
The music legend during his 50-plus year career has not only survived car crashes and death threats but has used his music to cause change, both on and off the stage.
