Wonder Wins the Gershwin
The soul singer and multi-musician is to be honored by The Library of Congress.
Pop music veteran Stevie Wonder is to receive yet another award.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who has already won 25 Grammy Awards, the Kennedy Center Honors and an Oscar, not to mention various other lifetime achievement awards, was recently named the winner of The Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
The Gershwin Prize was born last year, and named after George and Ira Gershwin, in order to recognize an American musician in the same way that the Mark Twain Prize is awarded for American Humor, reported the Washington Post.
"The Gershwin Prize was created to honor an artist whose creative output transcends distinctions between musical styles and idioms, bringing diverse listeners together, and fostering mutual understanding and appreciation," Librarian of Congress James H. Billington said in a statement. "Stevie Wonder's music epitomizes this ideal."
According to the Post, the Prize will be awarded to Wonder on February 23 in the library's Great Hall, with a spectacular all-star ceremony taking place the following night. While none of the ceremony's other performers have been named, the event will be accessible to the public who can stop by to hear a brand new Stevie Wonder song, commissioned by the library specifically for the event.
"I am touched to receive this honor," said Wonder, who is not being recognized by the Library of Congress for the first time. His 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life, was recognized by the Library and added to the National Recording Registry, an archive housing tracks that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States."
The first ever Gershwin Prize went out last year to Paul Simon, with Wonder attending the ceremony, joining various musicians to perform some of Simon's songs.
