Stevie Wonder Will Drop Two New Albums Next Year; Will Explore Hip Hop; Revisiting `Songs in the Key of Life’ Live (Video)

Stevie Wonder songs keep on coming. The iconic Motown singer will release two albums next year and he’s already working on a third.

Stevie Wonder tour dates this year see the “Superstition” singer performing his groundbreaking “Songs in the Key of Life” album.

In an interview on Tuesday, 63-year-old performer Stevie Wonder says he has some new songs he just wrote that will be on the two albums next year.

Stevie Wonder says his first album in eight years will be called "When the World Began," which will be a collaboration with producer David Foster. Stevie Wonder will follow that up with "Ten Billion Hearts."

Stevie Wonder said the new music was inspired by "my children, family, change, growth, heartbreaks." The multi-instrumentalist and songwriter filed for divorce last year.

Stevie says he will also be using hip-hop elements to put out political messages. He said "I listen a lot to rap, and I'm inspired to take it, to use it in another way, to get the message across."

This summer Rolling Stone magazine reported that the Stevie Wonder album with Foster will include reworked versions of some of Stevie’s biggest hits played with a symphony orchestra.

Stevie Wonder will also record a gospel album to fulfill a promise to his mother Lula, who died in 2006.

Stevie says "I might sing a gospel song in Arabic or do something in Hebrew. I want to mix it up and do it differently than one might imagine. Obviously the good word at the end of the day, it's not about the religion, it's about the relationship. And I think we all need to check our relationship."

Stevie Wonder also plans to include a gospel song in Arabic on an upcoming album dedicated to his mother. He said "We're going to do some traditional gospel stuff, but I'm thinking about doing a gospel song in Arabic. I'm going to twist it all up in different ways, because I think everyone needs to hear the word of the gospel ... whether they read the Koran, the Torah or the Bible, whatever they read."

Wonder told Rolling Stone that "'Gospel Inspired By Lula,' [is] a gospel album I'm doing in tribute to my mother. I promised her I would do it. She always wanted me to do it before she passed away, the untimely passing away. We've been working on some songs and some ideas. So we're going to complete that as well."

Wonder's mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, was credited as a co-writer on several of Wonder's songs including "I Was Made to Love Her" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours." She died in Los Angeles in May 2006 at the age of 76.

First up, though, Stevie Wonder says he plans a celebration of one of his 1976 album "Songs in the Key of Life." The inspirational singer will be joined by musicians who played on the original recordings and by contemporary recording artists.

On Dec. 21, Stevie Wonder will perform “Songs in the Key of Life” in its entirety for the first time his annual Los Angeles charity concert. Last year, Stevie Wonder's House Full of Toys benefit concert included performances from Justin Bieber and Drake.

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