Stevie Wonder is taking one of the defining albums of his career back to the stage, announcing a 50th-anniversary tour built around “Songs in the Key of Life.”
The music legend will perform the landmark 1976 album in its entirety during the upcoming trek, turning the anniversary into a full live presentation of the double-LP rather than a conventional greatest-hits tour. Rolling Stone reported Tuesday that the run will begin in Europe before moving to the United States in November.
The European leg opens Oct. 13 in Birmingham, England, and concludes Nov. 11 in Glasgow, Scotland. Wonder will then launch the U.S. portion on Nov. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Additional stops are scheduled for Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Detroit, before the tour concludes Dec. 19 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Most U.S. tickets are scheduled to go on sale Sept. 10 at 10 a.m., while Detroit tickets will become available Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. local time. Wonder’s official website is providing the full ticketing information and tour details.
The scale of the undertaking matches the stature of the album. “Songs in the Key of Life” contains 17 tracks across its main double-LP and runs for nearly 90 minutes, making a complete performance considerably more demanding than a standard concert set. It remains unclear whether Wonder will also perform the four tracks from the accompanying “A Something’s Extra” EP.
Released Sept. 28, 1976, the album arrived at the peak of Wonder’s celebrated creative period. It ultimately won Album of the Year at the 1977 Grammy Awards, with Wonder also taking the Male Pop Vocal Performance award for the album.
The record produced enduring songs including “Sir Duke,” “I Wish,” “Isn’t She Lovely” and “Pastime Paradise,” while exploring themes ranging from family and spirituality to race and social conditions. The Recording Academy notes that the album was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.
For Wonder, the anniversary offers an opportunity to revisit a project that remains central to his legacy, this time with audiences hearing the album as a complete work rather than through individual songs alone.
Source: theGrio
