Courtesy of rukkus.com
Stevie Wonder is going on tour for the first time in seven years. The legendary musician will place in 11 cities this fall, starting with New York City in November. The new album, Through The Eyes of Wonder, is expected to arrive in February. The singer announced that he will include performances of some of the tunes from the upcoming release (which includes at least 40 tracks). But seeing as the tour is called “Songs In the Key of Life,” we can expect each concert to include a number of songs from his landmark 1976 album of the same title (such as “Isn’t She Lovely,” “I Wish,” “Sir Duke,” and “Have a Talk With God.”
What motivated Wonder to pen this new album? The new music is apparently inspired by world events, from the Middle East conflicts to culture clashes in the US. “Obviously the good, the bad and the ugly, I’ve seen it all. I check out all of it,” he said. “I am always challenged (by) anything that’s negative to write something like … how can we take it from that wrong place to getting it back to the right place?… Unfortunately we’re living in a time of disposable love and we’ve got to get it from that place to really valuing life, valuing love and valuing each other.”
Given the album’s inspiration, it’s no surprise that Wonder also spoke out on the situation in Ferguson. “I don’t know if the mayor has blinders on, but to say that he didn’t know that there was a racial or cultural problem in the city is unfortunate.” Perhaps similarly to the Game’s project, Wonder will have a track or two that deals implicitly with the conflicts in the Missouri city.
Check out the tour dates below:
Nov. 6 – New York, NY at Madison Square Garden
Nov. 9 – Washington, DC at Verizon Center
Nov. 11 – Boston, MA at TD Garden
Nov. 14 – Chicago, IL at United Center
Nov. 16 – Philadelphia, PA at Wells Fargo Center
Nov. 20 – Auburn Hills, MI at The Palace of Auburn Hills
Nov. 22 – Atlanta, GA at Philips Arena
Nov. 25 – Toronto, ON at Air Canada Centre
Nov. 29 – Las Vegas, NV at MGM Grand Garden Arena
Dec. 3 – Seattle, WA at Key Arena
Dec. 5 – Oakland, CA at Oracle Arena