Stevie Wonder Announces October 2024 US Tour
· Ultimate Classic RockStevie Wonder will embark on a U.S. tour next month titled "Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart," leading up to the 2024 presidential election.
The 10-date trek, which gets its name from Wonder's recently released single, kicks off on Oct. 8 in Pittsburgh and concludes on Oct. 30 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Tickets go on sale Friday.
A press release notes that Wonder's tour comes at "the height of a critical election season and a pivotal juncture in American politics and culture," and his shows will be a call for "joy over anger, kindness over recrimination, peace over war."
You can see the full list of dates below.
READ MORE: How 'Talking Book' Began Stevie Wonder's Amazing Run
Stevie Wonder Implores Americans to 'Win the Broken Hearts' and Vote
Wonder has been in the mood for surprises lately. His latest single, "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart," arrived with no warning last month, marking his first solo release since 2020's "Can't Put It in the Hands of Fate." One week earlier, he performed his classic song "Higher Ground" at the Democratic National Convention and stressed the importance of voting in the upcoming election.
"Beyond prayer, I know the importance of action," Wonder said. "And now is the time to understand where we are and what it will take to win — win the broken hearts, win the disenchanted, win the angry spirits. Now is the time. This is the moment to remember, when you tell your children where you were and what you did. As we stand between history's pain and tomorrow's promises, we must choose courage over complacency. It is time to get up and go vote!"
Stevie Wonder, 'Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart' Tour Dates
Oct. 8 - Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena
Oct. 10 - New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Oct. 12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
Oct. 15 - Baltimore, MD @ CFG Bank Arena
Oct. 17 - Greensboro, NC @ Greensboro Coliseum
Oct. 19 - Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
Oct. 22 - Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena
Oct. 24 - Milwaukee, WI @ Fiserv Forum
Oct. 27 - Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
Oct. 30 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Van Andel Arena
26. 'The Jazz-Soul of Little Stevie' (1962)
Wonder's first album is all instrumentals, showcasing his harmonica skills, as well as some other instruments he'd master down the line. The studio version of "Fingertips" is here, but it's the live take released the following year that gave Wonder the first of his nine No. 1 hits. Marginal, unless hearing a 12-year-old kid blow on a harmonica for 30 minutes is your thing.
25. 'Tribute to Uncle Ray' (1962)
His second album was actually recorded before his first, when Motown tried to pass off the 11-year-old singer as a Ray Charles disciple (apparently believing that "blind R&B artist" was a sturdy-enough tie). He does an admirable job on the Charles songs, but there's no real identity here.
24. 'Stevie at the Beach' (1964)
After an album of standards that tried to push the former "Little" Stevie Wonder into a new market bombed, Motown tried remaking him as a surf singer. Eleven songs, some instrumental and none written by Wonder, about the beach. Ill-fitting, to say the least.
23. 'With a Song in My Heart' (1963)
Back in the early and mid '60s, Berry Gordy pushed Motown's biggest stars to record standards in an attempt to dominate the easy-listening charts as well as the pop ones. For the most part, those records didn't fare too well – especially 13-year-old Wonder's, a mismatch almost as off-target as the beach LP.
22. 'Someday at Christmas' (1967)
Most of Motown's stable of artists made Christmas records during the '60s. Like them, Wonder's offering is spotty, but ranks among the better ones. Two highlights: the opening title track and the closing definitive version of "What Christmas Means to Me."
21. 'Conversation Peace' (1995)
Wonder's first proper album in eight years (not counting the 'Jungle Fever' soundtrack) was earmarked as a return to his classic '70s period. While much of it does recall the style and tone of the era, the songs just aren't there. It's not a terrible album, but far from the string of classic LPs he recorded two decades earlier.
20. 'Down to Earth' (1966)
Released half a year after 'Up-Tight Everything's Alright' finally found a voice for Wonder, his sixth LP includes the usual mix of covers and co-written originals, while also setting up the template for the records he released over the next few years: one great single plus suitable, if underwhelming, filler.
19. 'Eivets Rednow' (1968)
An all-instrumental album, featuring Wonder on various instruments and playing easy-listening favorites from the era. Notable for Wonder's first solo songwriting credits. The title is his name backward -- the only way fans were able to identify him as the artist since it appears nowhere else here.
18. 'I Was Made to Love Her' (1967)
Like other albums from the mid-'60s, Wonder's seventh starts off with a killer single (the super-charged title tune) and winds through some good and not-so-good covers, making room for some spirited co-writes along the way. A couple of conceptual detours were up next. After that, the first glow of the golden years to come.
17. 'In Square Circle' (1985)
Following 'The Woman in Red' soundtrack, Wonder's first real album since 1980's era-capping 'Hotter Than July' sounds like a letdown at times. "Part-Time Lover" hit No. 1, and "Overjoyed," a leftover from 'Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants,' is a tranquil ballad that's right up there with his best. But the classic era was definitely over.
16. 'For Once in My Life' (1968)
Wonder plays the Clavinet for the first time on one of his albums, as the '70s – and that identifiable sound – inch closer. 'For Once in My Life' is still stuck in the '60s, with its one-great-song-plus-a-handful-of-good-ones template. But the filler is becoming few and far between by this point.
15. 'The Woman in Red Original Soundtrack' (1984)
The second soundtrack album credited to Wonder includes the massive hit "I Just Called to Say I Love You." It also includes some Dionne Warwick songs. Elsewhere, 'Woman in Red' is better than its pedigree lets on, especially the blah movie it accompanies.
14. 'A Time to Love' (2005)
His first album in a decade features guest spots by Paul McCartney and Prince, and pays tribute to an ex-wife, among other late artists. 'A Time to Love' is Wonder's most romantic record, with nearly every song in its overstuffed running time a rumination on love. It can't compare with his earlier classics, but the album is an amiable late-career return.
13. 'Music From the Movie Jungle Fever' (1991)
Wonder's third soundtrack LP sounds pretty much what you'd expect a Stevie Wonder album in the early '90s to sound like. It's pristine, professional ... and just a bit soulless in its exquisite production and not-entirely-memorable songs. Still, 'Jungle Fever' arrived in the middle of an eight-year drought between Wonder albums, so parts of it sweep in like a cool, sweet breeze.
12. 'My Cherie Amour' (1969)
Wonder's last album of the '60s leads with the great title single, but doesn't stop there. The hit "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" is also here, as are some choice covers and just a handful of filler.
11. 'Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants' (1979)
Wonder's first soundtrack broke his '70s streak of essential records, but it's still an interesting experiment. The double LP served as the score to a documentary about plants; Wonder's mostly ambient music, performed on synths, chronicles their lifespan. It even yielded a hit in "Send One Your Love" – a testament to his commercial prowess at the time.
10. 'Characters' (1987)
The follow-up to 1985's 'In Square Circle' is tougher, funkier and more biting. Wonder sounds like he's fighting for his crown, which had been claimed by Michael Jackson and Prince by this time. The production is often a bit too polished, but there's enough of the previous decade's spirit moving through the grooves to keep it all sharp.
9. 'Up-Tight Everything's Alright' (1966)
Wonder's earliest '60s albums pretty much struggled for identity, as the record company tested various styles on him. His fifth studio LP was the first to break from this pattern and let Stevie Wonder be Stevie Wonder. The excellent title track is here, but so is his soulful take on Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind."
8. 'Signed, Sealed and Delivered' (1970)
Wonder's first album of the '70s was also a landmark record of things to come. He steps up both his production and songwriting credits here, and the overall tone brushes against the more adventurous nature of his legend-making work from later in the decade. The title track was the big hit, but there's plenty more to savor too.
7. 'Where I'm Coming From' (1971)
Hints of what was right around the corner are all over 'Where I'm Coming From' -- from the all-original track listing to more expansive songs to the total creative control he was slowly wrestling from his bosses. The first classic LP -- the great 'Music of My Mind' -- was up next, but its seeds are planted right here.
6. 'Hotter Than July' (1980)
Wonder's last must-hear album is a celebration of history ("Happy Birthday," about Martin Luther King, Jr.), music ("Master Blaster," about Bob Marley) and love gone bad ("I Ain't Gonna Stand for It'). It would be five years before another proper LP arrived, following a soundtrack ('The Woman in Red') and a canceled project ('People Work, Human Play'). In a way, it's the end of a golden era, with the artist going out on his own terms.
5. 'Music of My Mind' (1972)
By the time Wonder released his 14th album, other Motown stars had already taken their creative stands. 'Music of My Mind' is the one that changed everything from here on out, kicking off a string of '70s albums that may be the best the decade had to offer. There were better albums to come, but this is Ground Zero for those "genius" labels.
4. 'Fulfillingness' First Finale' (1974)
It's basically 'Innervisions Part 2,' but who's complaining? Wonder was in the middle of a run in the '70s that very few artists have achieved. 'Fulfillingness' First Finale' is the sound of a legend extending his boundaries while firmly holding on to what got him there in the first place. He was rewarded with his first No. 1 album since 'Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius' hit the top spot in 1963.
3. 'Talking Book' (1972)
The moment where Stevie Wonder declared his independence once and for all. 'Music of My Mind,' released seven months earlier, tested the waters; 'Talking Book' is the full dive into creative autonomy. The funk is funkier, the soul is deeper, the songs sharper and more forward-thinking. It's influential too. "Superstition" alone pretty much created its own subgenre of songs and disciples.
2. 'Innervisions' (1973)
Sixteen albums into his career, Wonder made the record many fans consider his triumph. It's certainly one of the decade's most powerful works of self-expression. From the opening jazz-funk of "Too High" to the seven-minute urban-fairy-tale-turned-nightmare "Living for the City" to the closing "He's Misstra Know-It-All" (a veiled swipe at Richard Nixon but any political blowhard will do), 'Innervisions' is a tour de force for Wonder, who stakes his claim as one of the era's most essential artists right here.
1. 'Songs in the Key of Life' (1976)
The masterpiece -- a two-record set plus a bonus EP that together make up Wonder's most ambitious and glorious project. It's all here: political songs, love songs, funk, rock, soul, pop, jazz, proto new age. And it all flows together as one of the twentieth century's most exemplary works. It took two years to put together (an eternity in 1976), and another four until he returned with an LP that wasn't a soundtrack. The absolute peak of one of music's all-time great hitting streaks.