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Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images via ABCStevie Wonder will be back in his hometown of Detroit on Wednesday for a very special honor: The city will officially rename a stretch of Milwaukee Avenue after the Motown legend that day. The Detroit Free Press reports that the ceremony will take place at noon local time, and will be led by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
“I never imagined that in my lifetime this honor would be bestowed upon me. I didn’t, but God did,” Wonder says in a statement. “I am so thankful and filled with gratitude that the city where I grew up would give me a forever moment — a moment that is captured on Milwaukee Ave. and in my heart. I am overjoyed.”
Stevie Wonder Avenue is located about a mile from Motown Records’ original headquarters, Hitsville U.S.A., where the singer/songwriter was signed to the label’s Tamla imprint at the age of 11. The renaming of the street was approved in late 2015, and recognizes Wonder’s musical contributions, as well as his charitable work.
The ceremony will feature performances by students groups from two local schools — Cass Tech High School and Detroit School of the Arts.
Stevie Wonder Avenue will become the latest in a series of Detroit roadways named after local music greats. Others include Berry Gordy Boulevard, Aretha Avenue, Miracles Boulevard and Temptations Drive.
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