Stevie Wonder Shares Poignant Response to Longstanding Rumor He's Not Really Blind
Wonder – who has been performing since the age of 11 and scored his first Hot 100 chart-topper with 'Fingertips' at 13 – has long been noted for his status as a blind man, having lost his vision weeks after his birth.
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However, his prolific output and tireless work in the music industry over the past 64 years has resulted in a half-serious theory that Wonder can in fact see. Though often shared as a tongue-in-cheek rumor, Wonder's ability to navigate the world around him has resulted in many of these theories coming to light.
In 2019, former NBA player Shaquille O'Neal shared a tale of Wonder recognizing him in an elevator, while comedian and actor Anthony Anderson once recalled how he challenged Wonder to a basketball game. 'What y'all don't know is, Stevie can see,' he told Stephen Colbert in 2016. 'It's just an act.'
Now, at a recent tour stop in Cardiff, Wales for his Love, Light & Song U.K. tour, Wonder used an opportunity to speak to the crowd to dispel the enduring speculation.
'I must say to all of you, something that I was thinking, 'When did I want to let the world know this?' But I wanted to say it right now,' Wonder began. 'You know there have been rumors about me seeing and all that? But seriously, you know the truth.
'Truth is, shortly after my birth, I became blind,' he continued. 'Now, that was a blessing because it's allowed me to see the world in the vision of truth, of sight. See people in the spirit of them, not how they look. Not what color they are, but what color is their spirit?'
Wonder has not released a new studio album since 2005's A Time to Love, though since 2008, he has spoken about a new project titled Through the Eyes of Wonder, which has been described as a performance piece that will reflect his experience as a blind man.
'What I want to do with our live performances is to create visuals that [give] my take on how I see the world and how most various things affected me,' he explained at the time.
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