The legendary Stevie Wonder broke down while performing ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ (with John Legend), as a tribute to the late, great Michael Jackson at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s 25th Anniversary yesterday. Seemingly shaken quite early on in the song, Wonder completely lost it at about the 1.36 point. Check out the video above.
Michael and Stevie not only shared a deep, mutual respect for each other musically, they were great friends; a fact which makes this all the more harder to watch. Kudos to Stevie for soldiering on and finishing the performance.
In keeping it 100% real with you, I’ve yet to fully come to terms with the fact that Michael is no longer with us. With his music being what birthed my interest in music full-stop (hence the eventual emergence of this very site), my swallowing of the idea that he’s left this earth will take much more than a movie (which was great BTW) or the countless tributes assembled. Put simply, I’m yet to be ‘OK’ with the fact Michael Jackson is dead. Hence, (tell me if it’s the same for you) I periodically find the whole fact he’s gone hitting me and thinking ‘Damn’. I guess we should all find comfort in the fact that what he did achieve and leave (us with) will live forever – hence so will he. Long live the King…
His death marked the end of an era where creativity and talent reigned supreme in the industry. He is gone but will NEVER be forgotten! RIP.
This brought a tear to my eye.
R.I.P. The Late Great King of Pop, Michael Jackson
WOW! THAT WAS WOW! MICHAEL JACKSON WAS THE BEST ENTERTAINER EVER. HE WAS SUCH A PURE HUMAN BEING THAT PEOPLE VILLIFIED TO BE SOMETHING HE WASN’T. IMA ALWAYS LOVE MIKE.
wow stevie was really brave and professional to finish the song. this just shows he was one of michaels true friends and it is still so hard for me to believe that he is gone. he is almost always on my mind. rest in peace he will never be forgotten
OMG I still get emotional from time to time about what happened to him. Its crazy because I think about him EVERYDAY. I still can’t believe it. Even though I accept what happened I still can’t help but think about how messed up the situation is. Oh well, only God knows.
I cant believe MJ is no longer with us….it is hard for me to play his music. During this is it, i was a mess. Long live the King! MJ
It’s touching all the celebrities and industry people whom I’ve seen become so emotional over Michael Jackson’s death that they couldn’t hold back the tears while being interviewed or on stage. It makes you realize that this loss was truly and sincerely felt. Usually when a celebrity dies, people would recite the same trite sentiments about their impact on entertainment when asked about them in interviews, for Michael it was obviously more than that.
The ones that stood out for me were when Akon was being interviewed on the Today show by Katie Couric and she played a song that he and Michael were collaborating on… Akon of all people started to cry and had to pause for a sec before continuing on that Michael inspired him to be a better father.
Then there was Ciara, she was asked about how she felt about Michael’s legacy not long after the death and in the middle of her answer she all of a sudden had to stop and turn her head away for a minute.
Then there was Usher when he was singing “Gone Too Soon” at the memorial…
MJ will never, ever be forgotten.
im over mj is gone, its been like 6 months, he died on the day of my college results day,:(
but im use to him not being here now
There is a tremendous unavoidable void in my life. What is Christmas without the J5 Christmas album. Michael is a family member. How can anyone not be inspired by Michael and all he has done. Michael is the greatest amongst the greatest. No one today can truly be remotely compared all we can do is hope someone can feel a small portion of that void.
AMEN@all the comments
Seeing pictures of him is a constant reminder. Every once in a while I think, “Damn, he’s gone.” Then my mind goes back to me waking my parents to tell them what had happened. Then the news, MJ’s music in the street, almost every radio playing his songs, people calling in to say which song caused them to break down, and, of course, the memorial. I can’t believe it’s almost been six months.
I felt Stevie! When he moaned in grief I felt that to my soul! Michael is in our hearts, our homes, our lives, our memories. I can’t think of any other artist so deeply embedded in so many aspects of my life. It’s still hard 2 believe for me too. I know it has been six months, but no time is enough to get over the music love of my life!
for ones you and me agree on something sam
awwwwwwwwwwwwww
I couldn’t help but cry when I saw this. SO many people who never even graced the presence of such a legend broke down emotionally when Michael Jackson left us. I will NEVER get over him and will always drop a few tears whenever others who knew him do and whenever I feel necessarily. God rest his soul!
Stevie and Michael were not only great friends, but they were cousins as well. Something many people don’t know.
@ Hazel, that’s exactly what I was going to write. Janet told that a couple years ago in an interview. You could feel the pain Stevie was going through. Such a shame. Such an avoidable circumstance too.
Yea I’m with u Sam it is hard. I think about it all the time….some people just don’t realize how brilliant and talented he was and how all this attention and talk about him is well deserved and necessary. HE DEVOTED HIS LIFE 2 HIS MUSIC AND FANS….what else do you expect!
Michael Jackson will always be the best!
Wow – made me well up. So touching.
I still think one day it will finally hit us.
It has not yet i believe…millions of rivers of tears
have flown but we don’t quite feel it yet. It’s still a media thing.
Yes it was very moving what Stevie did and I still can’t come to terms with Michaels sudden death, its nice to see such an emotional display from Stevie, it made the performance so much more special. Just been watching it again.