Stevie Wonder Avenue Honors Detroit Motown Legend

DETROIT, MI — Stevie Wonder, a child prodigy who won a Motown audition at age 11 and went on to become one of America’s most beloved musicians, will be in Detroit Wednesday for the official renaming of a stretch of Milwaukee Avenue in his honor.

The stretch of the road that will be renamed in Stevie Wonder Avenue is just a mile from Hitsville, U.S.A., the Motown Museum and the spot where record executive Berry Gordy signed the 11-year-old to the Tamla label after hearing his original composition, “Lonely Boy.”

In a statement, Wonder said he was “overjoyed” by the honor.

“I never imagined that in my lifetime this honor would be bestowed upon me. I didn’t, but God did,” Wonder said. “I am so thankful and filled with gratitude that the city where I grew up would give me a forever moment — a moment that is captured on Milwaukee Avenue and in my heart. I am overjoyed.”

The public ceremony designating Stevie Wonder Avenue begins at noon Wednesday at Milwaukee and Woodward avenues. Parking is available at the Center for Creative Studies parking structure on Baltimore Avenue. Mayor Mike Duggan and Detroit City Council members will be on hand, as will Motown celebrities and students from Wonder’s alma mater, the Michigan School for the Blind. Choirs from the Cass Technical High School and Detroit School of the Arts will also perform.

Detroit city officials decided last year to rename the stretch of Milwaukee Avenue, where the legendary musician lived as a child, but waited for the naming ceremony to accommodate Wonder’s touring schedule, according to news reports.

The resolution passed by the City Council recognized Wonder not just for his musical accomplishments, but also for using his music as a “platform to discuss the taboo issues confronting the community such as poverty, war, drugs and politics.”

“His extensive humanitarian work has concentrated on AIDS awareness, anti-apartheid efforts, crusades against drunk driving and drug abuse, and fundraising for blind and mentally disabled children and the homeless,” the resolution stated.

Detroit Councilwoman Mary Sheffield, who represents Detroit’s 5th District and plans to speak at the ceremony, told The Detroit News that the recognition is appropriate.

“He has inspired the nation and the world, and his music has transcended time and race,” she said. “For him to have roots right here in our great city, we should honor and recognize him.”

Wonder’s cousin, Sharon DuMas, told The Detroit News that naming a street in his honor sends the message “that we’re proud of him, that he’s from Detroit and all the things he’s done.”

“And we want to give him his flowers while he lived,” she said. “We lost Michael Jackson suddenly, and Prince suddenly, so we wanted to make sure Stevie understands the community loved him as well.”

‘Lack of Sight Must Heighten Other Senses’

Wonder, 66, was born Steveland Hardaway Judkins in Saginaw, and moved to Detroit as a 4-year-old with his mother, Lula Hardaway, who changed his surname to Morris, which he has retained as his legal name.

Blind since his early childhood, he began playing musical instruments at an early age, including piano, harmonica and drums. His first No. 1 hit was “Fingertips,” released in 1963 when he was only 12. Other key tracks include “Superstition,” “Isn’t She Lovely,” “Sir Duke” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours.”

Wonder has sold more than 100 million records and has received 25 Grammy Awards, including a 1996 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He received an Oscar Award in 1985 for the best original song, “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” featured in the movie “The Woman in Red.”

President Barack Obama awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014, calling him one of the world’s most gifted singer-songwriters and crediting him with creating a sound unlike any other that mixes rhythm and blues with genres ranging from rock and roll to reggae.

Wonder is also a Kennedy Center honoree and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Rolling Stone, which ranked him No. 9 among the 100 greatest singers of all time in 2010, noted: “Stevie Wonder’s voice always sounds like tears of joy — like he’s right on the verge of crying, but it's out of glee and peace, as opposed to the pain of someone like a Sly Stone.”

“There's a richness to his voice, a clarity to all of its inflections. That vibrato is so impactful and piercing, but he never loses that underlying straightforward singing voice. His lack of sight must heighten his other senses, his ability to imagine and feel. It makes his music very visual, very graphic.”

Several other streets in Detroit have been named to honor musical stars, including Berry Gordy Boulevard, Aretha Avenue, Miracles Boulevard and Temptations Drive. Earlier this year, officials in Royal Oak designated Glenn Frey Drive on a stretch fronting Royal Oak Middle School to recognize the recently deceased Eagles co-founder. Frey had attended school in the building when it was Dondero High School.

Photo: Public Domain