“As Long as My Heart Beats, I’ll Make Music” – Stevie Wonder

At 75, music legend Stevie Wonder continues to defy age and expectations, wrapping up a critically acclaimed UK tour earlier this month. The shows received glowing reviews, with critics praising Wonder for being “fresh and on form” during what they called “a riotously joyful celebration” of his iconic music.

While many of his contemporaries—like Billy Joel and The Eagles—are scaling back their musical commitments, Wonder says retirement isn’t even a consideration.

“For as long as you breathe, for as long as your heart beats, there’s more for you to do,” he said during an interview on the BBC’s Sidetracked podcast. “I’m not gonna stop the gift that keeps pouring through my body.”

The Motown icon added, “I love doing what I’m doing. An artist never stops drawing. As long as you can imagine is as long as you are going to be creative.”

Wonder also confirmed that he is still working on his long-awaited studio album, Through The Eyes Of Wonder, which he first mentioned in 2008. The album, described as a performance piece, aims to reflect his life experience as a blind man. If released, it would mark his first studio project since 2005’s A Time To Love—continuing a remarkable recording career that began in 1962 when he was just 11.

The interview with Sidetracked presenter Annie Macmanus came a day before Wonder headlined the BST Festival in London’s Hyde Park. He delivered a powerful two-and-a-half hour set packed with timeless hits such as Superstition, Isn’t She Lovely, I Wish, and You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.

Most of the night’s performances drew from his legendary run in the 1970s, during which he won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year three times in a row for Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life.

Despite the years, Wonder says the joy of performing his classic songs never fades.

“Songs are like children, they’re with you forever,” he told Macmanus. “They are a statement from the spirit within you. And singing those songs is like me taking another breath.”