PHILADELPHIA — With an Earth, Wind & Fire documentary already on the slate, Philly’s own Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is adding another credit to his growing IMDb page.
Alongside Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions imprint, the Roots drummer, bestselling author and Oscar-winning filmmaker produced a seven-episode podcast that celebrates Stevie Wonder’s most acclaimed albums.
In September, Audible launched “The Wonder of Stevie” podcast. The seven-part series chronicles the legendary musician’s run of groundbreaking albums from 1972 to 1976.
From albums like “Music of My Mind” to 1976’s “Songs in the Key of Life,” which garnered Wonder 12 Grammy Awards and over 10 million albums sold, the podcast explores the moments that led to his historic feat.
In a tweet posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Oct. 4, former President Barack Obama praised Wonder in an image with the acclaimed singer-songwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winning culture critic Wesley Morris, who hosts the series.
According to Audible, each episode is dedicated to one of Wonder’s albums, with the last episode highlighting a conversation between the legendary musician and the former president.
It also features commentary from fellow artists such as Smokey Robinson, Babyface, Dionne Warwick, Janelle Monae, George Clinton and Rick McLaughlin, who teaches “The Music of Stevie Wonder class” at the University of California’s Berklee School of Music.
Following the success of 2021’s “Summer of Soul” documentary, Questlove has delved further into the world of filmmaking. His directorial debut broke the record for the highest-selling documentary to come out of the Sundance Film Festival, and went on to win best feature documentary at the 94th Academy Awards.
The six-time Grammy winner is helming the yet-to-be-released documentary on Sly and the Family Stone, and the Earth, Wind & Fire doc is expected to be released in 2025.
And while the band’s story has been explored in past projects, Questlove said he will deliver “the definitive story of the elements” in an Instagram post teasing the upcoming documentary.
“I’m so excited to be directing a documentary preserving their positive but VERY vulnerable and real story of Soul, Self & Struggle. This is the story of joy, persistence, love, pain, magic and self discovery,” he wrote.
