The superstar was born and bred in the US state of Michigan but has long had an affinity for Ghana – a West African nation thousands of miles from home.
In 1975, with a string of hit albums behind him, Wonder openly expressed a desire to quit music and move to Ghana. He believed his ancestral lineage could be traced there, reports say.
Wonder stuck with singing and stayed stateside, but after headlining a Ghanaian music festival in the 1990s, he again expressed a desire to set up home there.
On a later trip to Ghana, Wonder wrote the entirety of his album Conversation Peace and in an interview, external just three years ago the star said he was moving to Ghana in order to escape racial injustice in the US.
Wonder’s love affair with the country was ignited by the people he met whilst there.
He told the BBC that one of these encounters was with late Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings, who in the 1990s hosted him at the presidential residence.
“I remember the late President Rawlings, who allowed me to be a co-pilot on a flight,” Wonder said.
“I was able to fly with him from one end of Ghana to the other end. The north to the south, and it was amazing.”
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Source link : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4n1137nj29o
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Publish date : 2024-05-14 13:28:44