Stevie Wonder Tells Fans He’ll Undergo Kidney Transplant

Stevie Wonder will undergo a kidney transplant later this year, the legendary singer announced Saturday at a concert in London.

Wonder told fans he had found a donor and would soon be taking time off from performing.

“I’m going to have surgery. I’m going to have a kidney transplant in September of this year,” he said in a video posted to Twitter by BBC reporter Aleem Maqbool. “It’s all good. I’m all good. I have a donor.”

“I want you to know, I came here to give you my love and to thank you for your love,” Wonder told the massive crowd at British Summer Time Hyde Park. “You ain’t gonna get no rumors about nothing. I told you what’s up.”

The Motown icon shared the details following media reports over the last several days about the status of his health.

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Rumors that Wonder was having medical issues surfaced last month, after an urban radio host in Philadelphia told listeners the singer is suffering from kidney failure and had started dialysis.

“Prayers going out to singer Stevie Wonder… He’s currently on dialysis, hoping that one of his children will give him a kidney,” said WDAS personality Patty Jackson in a video posted to YouTube on June 25. Jackson did not identify her source.

Then in a story published on July 3, the Detroit Free Press said it spoke to multiple people with ties to Wonder, who confirmed he was having “serious” medical problems.

“He’s got some health challenges, but he doesn’t want a big PR thing out of this,” said musician Joan Belgrave, a longtime friend of the singer.

Wonder, 69, is known for such hits as “For Once in My Life,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours,” and “Isn’t She Lovely,” just to name a few. He has been nominated for 74 Grammy Awards and taken home 25 trophies, according to grammy.com.

The singer is next scheduled to perform in Dublin, Ireland on July 9.