“The truth is, shortly after my birth, I became blind,” Wonder told an audience in Cardiff, Wales.
Multi-Grammy award-winning artist Stevie Wonder responded to the long-standing, baseless rumor about his eyesight.
The “Isn’t She Lovely” singer addressed the ongoing gossip about his ability to see during a July 9 appearance at Blackweir, a music concert series in Cardiff, Wales.
“You know the truth. The truth is, shortly after my birth, I became blind,” Wonder told the audience. “Now, that was a blessing because it allowed me to see the world in the vision of truth, of sight.”
He continued, “See people in the spirit of them, not how they look, not what color they are, but what color is their spirit.”
According to a Welsh news outlet, the music legend performed his hits “Living For the City” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”
Watch Stevie Wonder’s response below
Watch Stevie Wonder address rumors about his blindness
25-time Grammy award winner Stevie Wonder addressed long-standing rumors of him being blind during a show in Wales.
‘I love me,’ Wonder says
Speculation about Stevie Wonder’s eyesight has been the center of jokes and conspiracy theories in pop culture for decades.
For instance, the popular podcast “Drink Champs,” hosted by rapper N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, shared a compilation of celebrities sharing their “Steve Wonder Can See Stories.”
“On everything I love, Stevie Wonder does FaceTime me,” Snopp Dogg joked, explaining how the singer once called him while he was getting his hair done. The “Gin and Juice” rapper claimed when he answered, Wonder said, “I’ve been looking for you.”
Wonder has previously joined in on the jokes too, but has made it clear throughout his career that being blind has not been a setback in his life.
“I never thought of being blind as a disadvantage, and I never thought of being Black as a disadvantage,” Wonder said in a 2012 profile in The Guardian. “I am what I am. I love me! And I don’t mean that egotistically – I love that God has allowed me to take whatever it was that I had and to make something out of it.”
Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@gannett.com.