The biggest and brightest names in the international music industry combined for a terrific post-Grammy Awards party and the occasion was a fitting tribute to the legendary Stevie Wonder.
Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Pharell, Annie Lenox, Ariana Grande, among a host of other music celebrities were all around to deliver respective performances on February 10, two days after the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, widely considered as the official after-party for the Grammys, in honor of Stevie Wonder.
Beyonce started the taped event, which is to be aired on February 15 at CBS by walking down the isle of the Nokia Theater L.A. Live while singing “Fingertips.” Subsequently Ed Sheeran joined her on “Master Blaster (Jammin)” and Gary Clark Jr. followed shortly on “Higher Ground.”
The tribute could not have been more complete had it not for a video from Paul McCartney who described Stevie Wonder as an incredible musician, a genius, and a total inspiration to all of music lovers in the world.
A night of Wonder
The night was all about Stevie Wonder and most of the music celebrities who were present that night sang his music.
Lady Gaga said she remembered that it was a Stevie Wonder CD that she put into her very first CD player. She acknowledged Stevie Wonder as the reason why she is around today in the music industry. She then thanked the great musician before rendering the song “I Wish,” which earned her a standing ovation from the crowd.
Andrea Bocelli sang “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” He said that he thought that the song was quite simple to sing only to find out that it wasn’t. Instead the Italian tenor said that he just did his best to say I love you. His rendition of the song was quite superb that it had most of the crowd in awe.
There were a lot of collaborative performances during the night including the triumvirate of Indians Arie, Janelle Monae and Jill Scott; Pharell and OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder; Babyface and Ariana Grande sang “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours,” and Stevie’s daughter Aisha sang the song written about her “Isn’t She Lovely” with Ne-Yo.
Other notable performers during the tribute show was John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, the Band Perry and Tony Benett, who sang “For Once in My Life, as well as Annie Lennox, who belted “My Cherie Amour.”
Stevie Wonder was in the front seat savoring the great tribute that was being made for him by the biggest stars in the international music industry today.
Wonder medley
It would not be a Stevie Wonder show if he will not be performing at all. So to cap off the celebration, Stevie also performed with a medley of his songs.
He was later joined onstage by all the presenters and performers that night for the song “Happy Birthday” which took place after a video played showing Stevie Wonder campaigning to have the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. to become a national holiday in the US.