Musical legend Stevie Wonder given Freedom of the City of Newcastle
Musical legend Stevie Wonder has been awarded the Freedom of Newcastle after city leaders called him and "an inspiration."
Newcastle's highest civic honour was granted to the singer-songwriter by councillors following a vote on Wednesday 1 March.
Born in Michigan in May 1950, Wonder is an internationally-acclaimed performer and pioneer across many music genres.
The American chart topper played at Newcastle's City Hall in the 1960s, and was selected for the honour in recognition of his political and social activism.
In particular his campaign to establish Martin Luther King's birthday as a national holiday in the USA. The 72 year-old wrote the song 'Happy Birthday' as part of this movement.
Wonder met with a delegation from Newcastle in 2016 when he performed at Hyde Park. During the meeting, Dr King's connections to the North East were discussed along with the city's plans to mark the 50 year anniversary of his visit.
This meeting included Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah, and was organised by music organisation Northern Roots via Wonder's Newcastle-born manager, Keith Harris.
Newcastle takes great pride in its links to the civil rights leader, after Dr King visited Tyneside in November 1967 to receive and honorary degree from Newcastle University.
Newcastle University was the only institution in Britain to honour him before his assassination just five months later.
Businessman Tommy Caulker, is one of the people who nominated Wonder for the accolade.
He said he had been "an inspiration on a lot of levels" including through his music, overcoming the challenges posed by being blind since he was six weeks old, and fighting for racial justice and equality.
Mr Caulker, who is the owner of Newcastle nightclub World Headquarters, added: "I am very supportive of people within the city being recognised, but once in a while it is nice to look out to the rest of the world and try and pull the rest of the world in.
"In the same way, the university gave Martin Luther King a degree in the 1960s when people might have asked what on earth he had to do with Newcastle - but that helped to really identify it as an inclusive university that reaches out on a global scale."
He continued: "I would like to think that there is a similarity there with recognising Stevie Wonder with the freedom of the city.
"The fact that Newcastle connects to these people says something about the city as a regional European capital."
Other prominent figures to have been awarded the Freedom of Newcastle include Sir Bobby Robson, Alan Shearer, and Nelson Mandela.
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