Indeed, the idea of making King’s January 15th birthday a national holiday was proving to be a Sisyphean task. Wonder was realistic about his goals: “If it doesn’t happen this year, we must do it next year and again and again and again until it happens,” he said at a press event before that rally. “But I’m Stevland Morris, a man, a citizen of this country and a human being.” Joined by poet and musician Gil Scot-Heron, he launched into “Happy Birthday.” “I’m not here as Stevie Wonder the artist,” he told the tens of thousands who gathered under cloudy, dreary winter skies. Mall to bring attention to King’s birthday. In January 1981, he participated in a rally at the D.C. He wrote a preliminary version of “Happy Birthday” in 1977, and the song finally made it onto record on 1980’s Hotter Than July, which augmented its chipper synth beats with slyly finger-pointing lyrics: “You know it doesn’t make much sense/There ought to be a law against anyone who takes offense/At a day in your celebration,” Wonder sang.Īlthough “Happy Birthday” didn’t go top 10 when it was released as a single, the song became an emotional highlight at Wonder’s concerts over the following years. He’d broken down in tears upon hearing of King’s assassination in 1968 and attended the funeral.

Wonder’s connection to King was deep and profound. to grab some of the green glowsticks under the seats once they lit them up, he added, somewhat whimsically, “You look marvelous.” But it was also a serious night, a triumphant climax for Wonder’s nearly decade-long quest to ensure that his hero’s birthday was honored as a national holiday. Before it began, Wonder told the audience at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. At the end of the two-hour telecast, which was titled “An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.,” all those performers - along with Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, Eddie Murphy, Gregory Hines, and others - gathered onstage with Wonder to sing “Happy Birthday,” his jubilant tribute to King.

Whitney Houston, energized and vocally stirring, bounded onstage to join Ashford and Simpson for “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”Įven with all that star power, the night belonged to Stevie Wonder.

Bob Dylan and his band glided through a gently pulsing, almost R&B take on “I Shall Be Released,” and Dylan joined Peter, Paul and Mary for “Blowin’ in the Wind” - remarkably, the first time all four had ever sung that song together onstage. By network broadcasting standards, the night of January 20th, 1986, had more than its share of rarely-seen-on-TV highlights.

Song happy birthday stevie wonder