Stevie Wonder brought fans to tears with a powerful tribute to the late musician Bill Withers as he took part in the One World: Together At Home Special concert on Saturday.
The 69-year-old A Place In The Sun singer was a close friend of Bill, who sadly passed away on 30 March at the age of 81, after suffering heart complications.
Taking part in the One World: Together At Home concert organised by Lady Gaga, Stevie opted to sing one of Bill’s songs to give hope to everyone struggling to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
Sitting at a grand piano, the rhythm and blues legend gave a short speech before launching into the song.
“During hardships like this, we have to lean on each other for help,” Stevie said.
“My friend, the late Bill Withers has a perfect song about that and I want us to remember him tonight,” he added, before singing a mash-up of Bill’s song Lean On Me with his own track, Love’s In Need Of Love Today.
Fans flooded Twitter with comments to say how touched they were by the performance – and the tribute to Bill.
“Stevie Wonder got me crying already,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Beautiful tribute to Bill Withers by Stevie Wonder,” tweeted another.
While a further viewer tweeted: “why am I crying with Stevie Wonder's rendition of "Lean On Me" at @GlblCtzn #TogetherAtHome.”
Lady Gaga has gathered some of the biggest music acts in the world to perform on Saturday in the USA, with the grand final concert due to star airing at 1am BST on Sunday 19 April.
Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John are among the British musicians taking part, while Lizzo and Shawn Mendez are among North American stars taking part.
The show will air on the BBC on Sunday night from 7pm.
