Festival Review: Stevie Wonder - BST Hyde Park, London 12/07/2025
The soul icon closes British Summer Time 2025 with humour, heart, and some of the greatest songs ever written.
Of all the headliners who graced The Great Oak stage during this year’s edition of Hyde Park’s British Summer Time, Stevie Wonder is surely the least in need of an introduction. He gives us one anyway, though in fairness it’s more in service of celebrating the technologies which have allowed Wonder - and blind people the world over - to pursue various vocations, including music.
“Every single person who is blind should be able to see in their own way”, he declares, before beginning the set with the opening song from his legendary 1976 record ‘Songs in the Key of Life’, the timely ‘Love’s in Need of Love Today’. Despite being nearly 50 years old, the song’s themes - namely of choosing love over hate in a world consumed by it - couldn't be more relevant, something not lost on Wonder, nor any of the acts who delighted the audience earlier in the day, with the likes of Corrine Bailey Rae and Ezra Collective setting a joyous, united tone beneath the blazing London sun.
Eager to cement his message of peace and love early, Wonder launches into a surprise cover of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, with the former Beatle emblazoned in glitter on his white tupin, along with Wonder’s late friend Marvin Gaye. It’s no coincidence that Wonder has chosen to spotlight these two artists specifically, as like him, they were big believers in unity as the answer to the world’s woes. This might sound a bit heavy duty for a summer festival, but Wonder is adept at mixing his message of hope with a breezy sense of humour. Breaking into a mock British accent throughout the set, his between-song antics are consistently funny, particularly when he’s slips into a voice which sounds like a mutant mix of Mick Jagger and Dick Van Dyke.
As endlessly amusing as Wonder’s attempts at a British accent are, it’s his singing voice which is the real marvel. Despite being 75 years old, Wonder’s voice remains just as spectacularly soulful as it’s always been. He doesn’t just play it straight either - along with incredible songwriting, vocal summersaults have long been his USP, and he treats the audience to a vast array of scats, ad-libs, and daring vocal detours, pulling off each and every one with aplomb. To hear that instantly recognisable voice in person, as powerful as ever, is simply spine-tingling.
Even if Wonder’s back catalogue wasn’t largely composed of some of the greatest songs ever written, hearing his voice live would justify the price of admission. The fact that 50% of his set consists of some of the 20th Century’s most beloved classics, is just breathtaking. Wonder deploys the first of these early, a jubilant call-and-response with the crowd setting up a lively rendition of ‘Master Blaster (Jammin’)’, his reggae-infused tribute to Bob Marley. The gloriously funky ‘Higher Ground’ follows, with a sweeping ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life’ taking things down a notch, before the energy skyrockets again with a singalong ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’.
It’s here that Wonder really demonstrates just what a fantastic showman he is, encouraging the men to sing the words “signed, sealed, delivered” (“If you sing good you might get something, I dunno”, he winks) and the women the resolving “I’m yours”. Sure enough, the crowd gets louder and louder with each bar, while Wonder relishes the opportunity to play around with his vocal phrasing even more than usual, marking an early highlight.
Interspersed between these anthems are a couple of covers, the first being a lovably old-school take on Jimmy Davis's 1940 hit ‘You Are My Sunshine’, the second a Corraine Bailey Rae-assisted run through Sly & the Family Stone’s ‘Everybody Is a Star’, serving as an affectionate tribute to Stone, who died last month. A sparkling ‘My Cherie Amour’ and understated ‘Lately’ keep the gems coming, with another pair of covers - Aretha Franklin’s ‘Until You Come Back To Me...’ and Anita Baker’s ‘Sweet Love’, sung by vocalists Janis Watts and Zuri Harris respectively- nudging us over the halfway point.
The instrumental track ‘Contusion’ shows off the prowess of Wonder’s extensive backing band, with uber talented guitarist Yohei Nakamura managing to stand out amongst a 4-person brass section, not to mention multiple musicians on keys, drums, and backing vocals. ‘If You Really Love Me’ begins as a cheeky duet before kicking into high gear, while the mesmerising beauty of ‘You and I’ seems to make time stand still. Next, we’re introduced to Wonder’s daughter Aisha Morris, who delivers a smooth rendition of Nancy Wilson’s ‘Save Your Love For Me’ as the night draws in.
An organic quiet falls over Hyde Park as Wonder teases the next song, gently elongating his piano playing before revealing it to be his only UK chart-topper, 1984’s anthemic ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’. Following a fascinating false start, which sees Wonder stop, run up the vocal scale, and then urge the crowd to “count me in ya’ll”, he dives into the song proper, the audience belting out not just its singalong chorus, but also its ultra melodic verses. Hearing 65,000 people sing every word of the iconic ballad while Wonder ad-libs and encourages is, to put it mildly, pure magic.
Such sheer elation is the very reason we go to gigs, and Wonder isn’t about to slow the momentum now. The brooding, introductory keys of ‘Living for the City’ build anticipation for Wonder’s sonically swaggering, lyrically gritty tale of poverty and racism, the crowd singing the choral refrain at the very top of their lungs. The hits keep on coming as Wonder ploughs into the ecstatic ‘Sir Duke’, his euphoric celebration of jazz master Duke Ellington and his ilk, as well as music itself. This song in particular proves to be propulsive live, the crowd bellowing the infectious musical breaks back to the band in real time, as Wonder leads them in a jubilant rendition of the chorus: “You can feel it all over” becomes not just a lyric, but a wonderfully accurate description of the musical joy spreading through the audience.
The funk groove of ‘I Wish’ keeps the energy high, before the soaring, harmonica-heavy ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ gets the crowd swaying as well as singing. Wonder’s son Kailand Morris joins his dad for a low-key ‘I Can Only Be Me’, giving the audience a breather before ‘Happy Birthday’ marks a return to the big hitters, Wonder dedicating the song to his 13-year-old daughter Zaiah Morris, whose birthday is but a couple of hours off.
Recognising that he and his band may have overrun a little, Wonder declares that they’re “gonna keep the party going” anyway, adding that “we’ve got to do this one”, before launching into the crowd-pleasing genius of ‘Superstition’. Huge cheers erupt as the song's irresistibly funky bassline fills the night sky, segueing seamlessly into a shortened ‘As’ and luminous ‘Another Star’, which brings the near two-and-a-half-hour gig to a brilliant, buzzy close.
As people pile out of Hyde Park for the final time this year, there’s an overwhelming sense that - as good as ELO’s recently cancelled farewell gig would’ve been had Jeff Lynne not fallen ill - this is a more fitting way to close another enjoyably eclectic edition of British Summer Time. Stevie Wonder is one of the most influential artists of all time, a genuine living legend who, heart-warmingly, remains at the peak of his powers. To witness him perform live is not just an immense privilege, it’s history in the making.
“Here are some of music’s pioneers/ That time will not allow us to forget”, he sings in ‘Sir Duke’. His affable, modest nature might not allow him to believe it, but everyone at Hyde Park walked away knowing he was describing himself.
Words by Ben Left
Photo Credit: Bethan Miller
