At this point in his career, The Roots drummer/bandleader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is in the fortunate position of being able to work and play with a number of the most respected names in the business. That doesn’t mean, however, that seasoned professionals like Thompson still don’t get star-struck when speaking with universally admired performers like Stevie Wonder, which is exactly what happened during one of Questlove’s recent DJ livestream sets from his home.
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Questlove, who has spent the past few weeks hosting DJ sessions via webcasts practically every night since the concert and touring industry went dark and production of his day job with The Roots as the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon was halted.
During his Stevie Wonder-inspired “Stevland Saturday” DJ set the other night, the smooth flow of music was interrupted when a casually-dressed Thompson was handed his phone from off-camera, uncertain of who was on the line. Much to his child-like surprise, it was Wonder himself on the other end, who had somehow gotten ahold of Questlove’s number in hopes of sharing the love to the drummer and all those watching from home.
“I think I’m doing fine, uh, Mr… Morris,” a visibly surprised Questlove said to the mystery voice on the other end of the line. Questlove was hardly able to hide his enormous smile during the rest of the conversation, which included Wonder being put on speakerphone so fans watching from home could hear for certain that he is indeed alive and in wonderful spirits.
“Hey everybody! I love you!” Wonder said over the phone. Yes, Stevie Wonder just called to say, “I love you.”
“I’m planning to do something very different. Um, that I’m going to challenge someone to be a part of my life forever,” Wonder continued over the DJ microphone. “And they’ll understand it better when I do it. I’ll be doing it pretty soon.”
Watch the whole surprise phone call unfold below.
Stevie Wonder Calls Questlove While DJing Stevie Wonder
[Video: The Roots]
Fans can click here to watch all of Questlove’s nightly DJ sets from the month of March. The livestreams have been airing for free via The Roots’ YouTube and social media networks, in addition to Questlove’s own channels beginning around 9:30/10 p.m. EST.