Stevie Wonder is showing no signs of slowing down. At 75 years young, the music icon made it loud and clear that retirement is not in his future. During a recent sit-down on the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast, the Motown legend shared that his passion for creating and performing is still just as strong as it was when he first hit the stage at 12.
“For as long as you breathe, for as long as your heart beats, there’s more for you to do,” Wonder told host Annie Mac. “I’m not gonna stop the gift that keeps pouring through my body.”
For Wonder, making music is not a job. It is a calling. He compared it to an artist who never stops creating just because time has passed. “An artist doesn’t stop drawing just because. You keep on. So as long as you can imagine, as long as you are going to be creative, and as long as you let your mind work, you don’t have to retire.”
With 25 Grammy Awards and a career that has shaped generations, Wonder still gets that same thrill from music he felt when he was a kid putting out his first record. “I love playing music, that’s like my mantra. I think I can do all the stuff I want to do – still have fun and do what I need to do – but I’m not going to stop the gift that keeps pouring through my body.”
“I love doing what I’m doing,” he added, reaffirming his lifelong commitment to his craft.
And when it comes to running back the classics from his legendary catalog, Wonder has nothing but love for the hits. “Songs are like children, they’re with you forever,” he said. “They are statements from the spirit within you, and singing those songs is like me taking another breath.”
Wonder also recently addressed the long-running conspiracy theories floating around the internet that question whether he is blind. Speaking at a recent tour stop in Wales, he addressed the rumors head-on.
“I must say to all of you, something that I was thinking, ‘When did I want to let the world know this?’ But I wanted to say it right now,” Wonder said. “You know there have been rumors about me seeing and all that? But seriously, you know the truth.”
“Truth is, shortly after my birth, I became blind,” he continued. “Now, that was a blessing because it’s allowed me to see the world in the vision of truth, of sight. See people in the spirit of them, not how they look. Not what color they are, but what color is their spirit?”
With his unmatched legacy, unwavering purpose, and unshakable spirit, Stevie Wonder is still writing the story his way. Retirement is just not part of the plan.