Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Stevie Wonder named to Apollo Theater Legends Hall of Fame

From The NY Times Arts Beat:

The musician who first took the stage of the Apollo Theater in Harlem as Little Stevie Wonder at age 12 in 1962 (pictured) and then went on to some very big things will receive an honor from the theater later this year.

The Apollo is to announce on Wednesday that it will induct Mr. Wonder – he’s just Stevie now, thank you very much – into its Apollo Legends Hall of Fame.

Mr. Wonder, the best-selling pop and soul artist whose albums include “Talking Book,” “Innervisions” and “Songs in the Key of Life,” was a child performer on Berry Gordy’s Motown Revue when he made his Apollo debut, and returned several times to the theater for performances including its “Save the Apollo” concert in the 1980s and a series of solo shows in 2005, the theater’s press representatives said.

Other artists already named to the theater’s Hall of Fame include Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson and Ella Fitzgerald. Mr. Wonder is to be officially inducted on June 13 at the Apollo’s annual spring gala.

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