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Article: PROFILE STEVIE WONDER Songs in the key of life that opened a president's heart Last week, the world's most powerful man got a chance to repay the musician whose songs helped him woo his wife, and to pave the way for an African American president, writes Neil McCormick
- Article from:
- The Sunday Telegraph London
- Article date:
- March 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Sunday Telegraph London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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When Barack Obama presented Stevie Wonder with the Gershwin Prize
at the Library of Congress last Wednesday, it was a fitting
acknowledgment of the soul superstar's role, not just in the
President's life, but in the cultural, musical and political life of
America. As a black man who has risen above hardship and disability
through sheer talent and will, Wonder is a potent symbol of
America's better self, a musical correspondent for Obama's own
journey.
The two form something of a mutal admiration society. Wonder's
Sixties Motown hit Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours was the
anthem of the Obama campaign, the kind of uplifting, relentlessly
positive old favourite guaranteed to lift any ...