STEVIE WONDER DEDICATED HIS OSCAR TO NELSON MANDELA—THEN SOUTH AFRICA BANNED HIS MUSIC

The 1984 soundtrack The Woman in Red was made for a Gene Wilder romantic comedy, with Stevie Wonder leading the music and Dionne Warwick appearing on three tracks. ❤️🎬

Nearly seven months after its release, the album’s biggest song became part of an Oscar-night stand against apartheid.

This was not a sudden gesture.

On February 14, 1985, Wonder joined an anti-apartheid demonstration outside the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C. He was arrested alongside 47 other protesters after they gathered near the embassy singing “We Shall Overcome.” ✊🏿

Wonder called himself a “conscientious criminal” against racial oppression and apartheid.

Then came March 25.

“I Just Called to Say I Love You,” the huge single from The Woman in Red, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. At the podium, Wonder accepted the Oscar “in the name of Nelson Mandela,” who remained imprisoned in South Africa. 🏆

The dedication was brief.

The response was not.

The following day, the government-run South African Broadcasting Corporation announced that it would no longer play Wonder’s music on its radio and television services because of his remark. 📻🚫

Not just the Oscar-winning song.

Stevie Wonder’s music.

His answer was equally direct: “If my being banned means people will be free, ban me mega-times.” 🔥

Independent South African stations continued playing him. In September 1985, after roughly six months, Wonder returned to the government-owned airwaves. 🔓

That was quite an encore for a love song.

#musicOnOff #StevieWonder #DionneWarwick #TheWomanInRed #IJustCalledToSayILoveYou #Motown #MusicHistory