Why Prince’s death caused Stevie Wonder “so much pain”
The death of Prince in 2016 came as a shock to many. For one, the legendary pop-rock-funk star was only 57 years old. On top of that, his health problems weren’t seen to be life-threatening. It was public knowledge that he had needed a hip replacement for a number of years, with his Jehova’s Witness faith allegedly being the reason for the delay. The singer’s representatives also claimed that he was battling influenza in the days before his death. But by and large, he didn’t seem to be in any imminent danger.
After his death, however, there were some obvious signs that Prince was unwell. His hospitalisation just days before his death was a significant clue. Prince had become unresponsive on his private jet and received naloxone, an opioid blocker used in the event of a drug overdose, at the hospital. His representatives claimed it was a mix of influenza and dehydration. When Prince was found dead on the morning of April 21st, the medical examiner’s office announced it as an accidental Fentanyl overdose.
For even those close to him, the extent of his pain management and drug addiction were not widely known. Tributes came pouring in almost immediately, including from one of Prince’s main heroes, Stevie Wonder. “It’s a heartbreak to lose a member of that army of love,” Wonder said at the time. “It’s rare for me that I can feel, with every single breath, how he just passionately loved music.”
Prince always had a strong amount of respect and adoration for Wonder. “I use Stevie Wonder as an inspiration, whom I look up to a great deal just for the way that he crafted music and his connection to the spirit,” Prince told Larry King in 1999. “And boy, back then I used him as a role model in trying to play all the instruments and be very self contained and keep my vision clear.”
The pair had collaborated on a number of occasions. Prince played guitar on Wonder’s 2005 song ‘So What The Fuss’, his first single release in over half a decade. Just a year prior to his death, Wonder and Prince shared the stage at the White House together. Wonder was left cold by Prince’s death, with the legendary musician still grieving a year later.
“It was hard to convey a message because I was in so much pain,” Wonder told NPR. “Not saying I wasn’t with the others. But we had previously, very recently talked and talked about his future and things that he wanted to do and how inspired he was with the things he wanted to do. It lets you know: Hey, tomorrow’s not promised to anyone. But you say, ‘God, why him?'”
“But we are not the controllers of life. And that’s why people need to stop doing that, trying to control life,” Wonder added. “But I was — it was just painful for me. And as much as we say, ‘Well we’ve got his music. We’ve got their art, we got their this, we got their that’ — I would’ve loved to have some more of him, and them.”
Watch Prince and Stevie Wonder play ‘Superstition’ down below.
