Stevie Wonder Blasts Ferguson’s Mayor and Announces New Tour

By Jamilah King Sep 11, 2014

Stevie Wonder is angry, and he’s taking his passion out on the road. The singer and songwriter announced a new fall North American tour that will highlight his Grammy-winning 1976 album "Songs in the Key of Life" and a new album, "Through the Eyes of Wonder." But during the announcement, he also blasted the political leadership in Ferguson, Missouri:

"I don’t know if the mayor has blinders on," Wonder said in an interview Wednesday. "But to say that he didn’t know that there was a racial or cultural problem in the city is unfortunate."

As Zo points out at Okayplayer, Wonder’s words are significant given the five decades he’s spent composing a soundtrack to life in black America. "Whether it be in Ferguson or [Vietnam], on police brutality or environmental crimes, Mr. Wonderlove has always managed to spread the implicit virtues of his name (wonder and love, of course) through his brilliant display of musicianship and a voice that should be cryogenically frozen so that future generations can bear witness to its clarity and tenderness."

The new tour is set to kick off November 6 in New York and continue in 10 more cities before ending in Oakland in December. 

(h/t Billboard)