With today marking legendary singer/songwriter Stevie Wonder’s 70th birthday (May 13), the iconic artist’s family and DJ friends have come together — virtually — to pay tribute to Wonder on his special day. On Tuesday (May 12) an Instagram account named “Stevie Wonder’s Family” announced a special 24-hour Instagram Live event, in which Questlove, DJ D-Nice, Gilles Peterson, DJ Tara, Natasha Diggs and DJ Spinna would play “Stevie Wonder classics” all day long.
According to the account, Questlove kicked off the stream at midnight and performed until 4 am EST. Gilles Peterson kept things rolling from 4 to 8 am EST, followed by DJ Tara from 8 am to noon PST. Natasha Diggs is expected to play Wonder’s hits until 4 pm EST and will then be followed by D-Nice until 8 pm EST. DJ Spinna will close out the event, which the announcement notes will end at an undisclosed time.
If anybody has a discography deep enough to entertain fans for 24 hours, it’s Stevie Wonder. The Detroit native has released 26 studio albums within his 40-plus year career, spanning from 1962’s The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie to 2005’s A Time To Love. Wonder is also one of the best-selling artists of all time — selling over 100 million records worldwide — and one of the most-awarded artists ever, boasting a total of 25 Grammy Awards.
For D-Nice, the virtual DJ session follows several Instagram hangouts he’s hosted since the beginning of the pandemic. The hip hop veteran first held his viral “Club Quarantine” party back in March. Since then, he’s continued to brighten his followers’ spirits with live-streamed DJ sessions.
“I haven’t spent this much time at home since moving to L.A.,” D-Nice previously told The Los Angeles Times. “I was just sitting here in quarantine, missing my family and friends. Obviously, the virus is stressful for everyone, so I was feeling that.”
Tune in to the 24-hour celebratory livestream here and see some Twitter reactions to Wonder’s 70th birthday below.