Stevie Wonder Opens Montreal Jazz Fest

Closes with Michael Jackson Tribute Medley

Two hundred thousand people danced and sang along to Stevie Wonder's numerous hit songs at the opening of Montreal's Annual Festival de Jazz.

Isn't it funny how one man has the ability to gather hundreds of thousands of people in the pouring rain just to hear his famous voice?

Stevie Wonder Sings Hits at Montreal Jazz Fest

From "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" to "Isn't She Lovely," Wonder performed each of his adored hits, and at the age of almost 60, he sang them all with the same soul and joy as he did 30 years prior.

Wonder's Michael Jackson Medley

What made the concert that much more interesting and inspiring was Wonder's evident sadness for Michael Jackson's recent death. In fact, his finale consisted of a Michael Jackson medley, in which audience members, his band, back-up singers, and Wonder himself, sang and danced along in celebration, and utter remorse, for this loss of such large proportions. As the Michael Jackson tribute continued, the rain began to pour uncontrollably, a figurative metaphor that everyone present seemed to silently notice.

And, as the concert came to a close, and people began walking back in their respective directions, fireworks on rooftops began exploding in the rainfall. Passersby questioned whether the fireworks were marking the beginning of the Jazz Festival or whether they symbolized something much more...perhaps a celebration of those music icons still around today, who continue to inspire people of all ages and races, who have the ability to bring thousands of strangers together for no single cause but to enjoy the rhythm.