As a musical icon who has been around since he was just a 13-year-old with a harmonica, Stevie Wonder has classics for days. And with any icon, eventually, people want to cover your jams. Such was the case with MJ and Prince, whom we covered already, but people have been trying to copy Stevie’s essence since the ’60s. The results have been good, but also sometimes questionable as hell. Here are 10 artists who tried to cover tracks from Stevie’s endless catalog of jams.

John Legend – Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing

If you’ve seen the movie Hitch with Will Smith, then you probably have had the chance to hear this remake. Produced by will.i.am, the track definitely kept the essence of Stevie’s original with all the instrumentals in the back and the piano arrangement. And Legend also did a great job vocally. Still upbeat, still fun. Now if only Legend could have broke out in some impromptu Spanish like Stevie did just to show he knows how to have some fun…

It has been a few days since Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three months in prison for tax evasion, and since then, she has been mum so far on her thoughts about the whole situation. What we do know now is that Hill will have to report to prison on July 8. But before she was even sentenced, many of her fans, including a few celebrity ones, were pulling together to lobby for the singer to get a more lenient sentence. In a way, it seemed to work because Hill was facing a year each for three counts, and in the end, she only received three months, and she could possibly end up doing less depending on her behavior inside and considering other factors. But the singer took to her blog to thank the individuals who wrote on her behalf from around the world, including Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder, and she says that she plans to share her thoughts on her situation soon:

I want to extend a sincere thank you to the following people, who wrote letters to the judge on my behalf:

Linda Banks, Edison, NJ

Davonne Breedlove

Binna Choi, Beijing, China

Hafiz Farid, East Orange, NJ

Miriam Anne Banks Farrakhan, Union, NJ

Vincent Gardner, New York, NY

Michael Green, Fair Bluff, NC

Elitta Harden, Ft Worth, TX

Mrs. Valarie Hill, South Orange, NJ

Maureen Hogan, Jersey City, NJ

Walter Jones, New York, NY

Alicia Keys

Elena Lau, Toronto, Canada

Jerald Miller, New York, NY

Tracy Morris, Jacksonville Beach, FL

Elise Munoz, France

Bunmi Olukoya, Laurel, MD

Jimmie Pierre, Trenton, NJ

Cherisse Pittman

Gabrielle Fulton Ponder, Atlanta, GA

Dominique Reese, Oakland, CA

Chris Schwartz, Philadelphia, PA

Ashley Scott, Brooklyn, NY

Derek Singletary, Astoria, NY

Dr. Sara Tai, Manchester, UK

Suzette Williams, Teaneck, NJ

Lisa Willis, Philadelphia, PA

Stevie Wonder

Jonathan Wunderlich, Cabarete, DR

 

And thank you Jerald Miller, for taking the initiative to put this together.

I also want to thank all of my family, friends, business associates, and fans who have called, emailed, sent texts, and posted messages of concern, encouragement, and support. I appreciate the well wishes, and I thank you for your prayers.

Also, to anyone who may have written letters that we did not know about, thank you also, all of you.

I will have more to say soon, but did not want to further delay expressing my appreciation.

 

Thank you again,

MLH

Lauryn Hill has so much to offer the world with her talent, and it’s a shame that she’ll have to do any real time. But as she used to say, “big ups” to all the people who found the time to write the judge and stand by the singer during such a trying time. Can’t wait to hear what her thoughts are on everything currently happening in her life.

Source: WENN

Good music stays with us a lifetime. Artists who release such great music are those that we never want to stop performing.  Even if it doesn’t sound great, we’ll sing the lyrics for them and it’ll still be a great show.  On the next few pages, we’ve listed some artists who have been performing and releasing music for at least 20 years with no signs of slowing down! We want to hear from you too. Who is your favorite artist who’s been doing it forever and you still love to watch? Oh and don’t forget to tell us who we missed…well, we know you won’t forget that part. Check it out!

There was a time when Motown Records owned and ran the music scene. You couldn’t turn on a radio without hearing the collaborative harmonies of The Temptations or the fabulosity of Diana Ross. These artists made you shake your hips and groove before it was even acceptable. You’ll also be surprised that some of these artists weren’t even conceived when the famous record company was at its height. Check out the 15 best artists in Motown’s history!

WENN

Marvin Gaye

He had good looks, sex appeal and music that made you think and want to make love all at the same time. With hits like “What’s Going On?” and “Sexual Healing,” Mr. Gaye helped Motown remain at the top.

Photo Credit: Rich Alan/WENN.com

From ESSENCE

Stevie Wonder is not impressed with Lil’ Wayne’s controversial new verse equating a sexual act to the beating (and eventual murder) of Emmett Till.

In a recent interview with the Associated Press, the legendary musician let it be known he thought the verse was distasteful. “You can’t equate that to Emmett Till,” he said. “You just cannot do that. … I think you got to have someone around you that — even if they are the same age or older — is wiser to say, ‘Yo, that’s not happening. Don’t do that.’”

On a remix to rapper Future’s song “Karate Chop,” Wayne boasts that he’ll “Beat that p–sy up like Emmett Till,” referencing Till’s brutal beating for allegedly whistling at a White woman in 1955. Future’s record label has apologized to Till’s relatives and promised to pull the verse. Wayne has not.

You can read the rest over at Essence.  Wayne doesn’t appear to take a lot of things seriously so you have to wonder if he even cares that the Till family and many others were offended.

Do you think he should apologize for his lyrics?

Whether these artists were huge names or little known artists at the time, they’ve been featured on some of our favorite songs over the years, producing, singing, writing, and more. While many of their voices and talents were ignored since all the attention was on the major artist of that time they were working with, they all went on to have a great deal of success in their own right, even passing up the people they once had to go through hell and high water to get on a track with. Interested in finding who sang on what? You know what to do–get to clickin’. (Sorry, but you knew that was coming…)

Source: WENN

Song remakes have been the norm in contemporary music since Bad Boy invented the remix back in the ’90s, but Macy Gray is taking remaking and remixing to a whole new level with her latest project. The 45-year-old decided to recreate Stevie Wonder’s entire “Talking Book” album which coincidentally is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Macy talked about how the project came about, saying:

“We were talking about ideas for cover songs and [Hal Wilner, the producer] goes, ‘You know what you should do is a whole album. Everyone remakes movies, but no one remakes albums.’

“I thought that was a wild idea so I was like, ‘Yes!’ I picked ‘Talking Book’ ‘cause that’s one of my favorite records and I know it inside out.”

“Talking Book” is the 15th album from Stevie that brought us favorites like “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” which earned the Motown singer his first Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocals. Other hits were “You and I,” “I Believe,” and of course, “Superstition.”  You know people will disown you if you ruin a classic by one of their favorite artists, not to mention singers will shade the mess out of you if you eff up one of their songs. Macy said she was definitely conscious of that when taking on this project.

 “I was just really nervous [about] if [Stevie] was going to like it or not,” she confessed. “I don’t know how he feels about it yet. I’m scared to ask him.”

A rep told The Hollywood Reporter that Macy’s camp has since reached out to the Motown Legend to get his thoughts but so far they haven’t gotten a response.  As of yesterday the “Talking Book” remake hit shelves so even if Stevie doesn’t respond to the track remakes, his fans, and Macy’s, now have a chance to weigh in on the project. Hopefully her take on Stevie’s songs measured up to the original. Do you think Macy has what it takes?

We all know of talented women who have graced the stage and the studio and became great legends in the process. Women such as Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Etta James and Lena Horne have all been indexed in our minds and talented, untouchable women who made their mark because of their talent, beauty and charisma. And for each of those women, we know that there is a great number of women who found their home in  entertainment, but didn’t emerge as a household name. It’s about time that we pay tribute to some of these women.

woahxitsema.tumblr.com

Syreeta Wright

The Grammy-nominated songstress, Syreeta was discovered by Brian Holland, and did a great deal of collaborations with dozens of famous artists and producers, including her title producer and ex-husband, Stevie Wonder. She also sang background for the Supremes, Diana Ross, Deniece Williams and Minnie Riperton. Always having an active hand in the success of others’ songs and albums, the artist never acquired the following that some of her colleagues did. During the summer of 2004, following a two year struggle with congestive heart failure, she died from complications related to cancer.

Source: WENN

Hopefully Stevie Wonder can rest easy now that a 38-year-old man and his girlfriend who tried to extort the singer have been sentenced for their crime by a Los Angeles judge. According to The Los Angeles Times,  Alpha Lorenzo Walker, 38, and his girlfriend, Tamara Eileen Diaz, also 38, were charged with attempted extortion. Alpha was sentenced to 292 days in jail after pleading no contest Monday, but he was released from jail after being given credit for time served.

[Alpha and Tamara] were arrested May 2 by Los Angeles Police Department robbery-homicide detectives after Walker made false claims about Wonder and his family and said he would sell the information unless the singer paid him the money. Diaz has also been released on time served.

According to Wonder’s attorney, William Joseph Briggs II, Walker met him at a Century City-area coffee shop and showed him video footage that supposedly depicted conditions at the vacant former home of Wonder’s deceased mother.

Unless he was paid the $5 million, Walker warned that the singer would be “extremely” embarrassed by the tape’s release, Briggs said. During the coffeehouse meeting, Briggs noticed that Diaz was nearby watching.

Briggs said he later told Walker that Wonder was outraged by the demand and Walker then lowered his demand to $500,000, with a confidentiality statement signed by the pair when $10,000 was paid upfront.

In addition to the jail sentence Walker was given, LA County Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan also ordered him to attend twice-weekly mental health counseling while on probation. His girlfriend has to complete 78 Narcotics Anonymous classes and was placed on three years of formal probation. The pair has also been ordered to stay away from Stevie Wonder, his family, and his co-workers during that time. Hopefully this is the last the Motown singer has to hear of them.

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Source: celebritywonder.ugo.com

Another Hollywood marriage has hit the rocks. TMZ is reporting that Motown legend Stevie Wonder has filed for divorce from his wife of 11 years citing irreconcilable differences.

According to the papers, Wonder has been separated from wife Kai Millard Morris since October 2009.

Wonder filed the divorce papers using his legal name, Stevland Morris, and signed with two fingerprints.

In the docs, filed by disso-queen Laura Wasser, Wonder asks for joint custody of the couple’s two boys, ages 10 and 7.

In the docs, Wonder agrees to pay both spousal and child support.

Kai is a fashion designer who married Stevie in 2001. The couple’s oldest son Kailand occasionally performs as a drummer on stage with Stevie and the younger son, Mandla Kadjay Carl Stevland Morris, shares his dad’s birthday of May 13.

So far, there’s no word on what sparked the separation or subsequent divorce, but this will mark the end of Stevie’s second marriage. In 1972 he divorced his first wife of two years, Motown singer Syreeta Wright.

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