Warming up for Stevie Wonder, Ezra Collective had the crowd moving from the jump with “Shaking Body”, “Wish I Didn’t Miss You”, and a vibrant Femi Kuti cover blasting across the Royal Park. Drummer Femi Koleoso told the crowd: “In 2018 I bought tickets for Stevie Wonder. I was with all my best mates and we danced to Stevie Wonder all night, and it was the best gig I’ve seen – to this day – in my life. It would be an honour to contribute to the dancefloor for one of the greatest musicians of all time… And to be doing it in London.” Their set closed with the joyful eruption of “God Gave Me Feet”.
As the crowd hung on tenterhooks, buzzing with anticipation, Stevie Wonder finally took to the stage – radiating music royalty. Stevie Wonder doesn’t just make music – he makes moments. At 75, guided onstage by two of his nine children, Aisha and Kailand, he opened with a heartfelt ode to love, God, Louis Braille, and the tech that’s let him do what he does for almost 70 years. “Every person who is blind should be able to see in their own way,” he says, wearing a white jacket gleaming with sparkling crystal portraits of Marvin Gaye and John Lennon.
And then, just like that, he’s behind the keyboard. “Love’s in Need of Love Today” rolls out soft and steady, and suddenly Hyde Park doesn’t feel like a festival anymore – it feels like church. What follows? A full-body cover of Lennon’s “Imagine” that leaves Wonder visibly moved. (And the rest of us not far behind.)
His voice? Still buttery. Still precise. Still capable of those sky-high runs that defy reason, never mind age. When he picks up the harmonica, it’s less solo, more masterclass.
The set, nearly three hours long, moves like a greatest hits mixtape with zero skips. “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” brings the first full-park bounce. “Higher Ground” kicks it into overdrive. “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” is pure brass-soaked bliss. Wonder’s band is enormous and razor-tight, every corner of the stage pulsing with rhythm and joy.
He’s funny, too. Slipping into a cheeky British accent, teasing the crowd, riffing with his band, tossing vocals to his kids, backing vocalists, and even Corinne Bailey Rae (who earlier wowed with her own set). At one point he leads Hyde Park in a rousing “You Are My Sunshine” – as spontaneous as it is sweet.
And then come the classics, all killer: “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, “Living for the City”, “Sir Duke”, “Isn’t She Lovely”, “Happy Birthday”. Honestly, you don’t even notice what he didn’t play.
The closer is, of course, “Superstition – thick, irresistible, full-volume funk – blended into “As” and “Another Star”. With his family around him, Wonder takes a bow. It’s not just a concert. It’s a coronation. It was fitting that Stevie Wonder closed the series, after Jeff Lynne’s ELO’s cancellation – not only did Wonder end it, he elevated it. Legendary.
SHOUT OUT! Has to go to our fave fried chicken friends Chick’n’Sours who we were more than pleased to spot slinging their legendary tenders at BST Hyde park!
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