Stevie Wonder Songs to Rock Arab World In Concert and New Tune Sung In Arabic

Stevie Wonder songs will rock the Arab world this Friday when the legendary soul singer will perform for international negotiators in Marrakesh. Stevie Wonder will also release a new gospel song in Arabic on his upcoming album, "Gospel Inspired By Lula.”

The Stevie Wonder concert will be held at Palais des Congres, at 9 p.m. (British time) on Friday. It will be a private performance only for the people who participated at the diplomatic conference.

Stevie Wonder also plans to include a gospel song in Arabic on an upcoming album dedicated to his mother. He said "We're going to do some traditional gospel stuff, but I'm thinking about doing a gospel song in Arabic. I'm going to twist it all up in different ways, because I think everyone needs to hear the word of the gospel ... whether they read the Koran, the Torah or the Bible, whatever they read."

Wonder told Rolling Stone that "`Gospel Inspired By Lula,’ [is] a gospel album I'm doing in tribute to my mother. I promised her I would do it. She always wanted me to do it before she passed away, the untimely passing away. We've been working on some songs and some ideas. So we're going to complete that as well."

Wonder's mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, was credited as a co-writer on several of Wonder's songs including "I Was Made to Love Her" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours." She died in Los Angeles in May 2006 at the age of 76.

Backstage at a recent John Legend concert Stevie told Rolling Stone magazine "It is a lot of things that I have done, old material, but doing it a different way. I'm going to do about three or four new songs as well. We did 'Isn't She Lovely' with the orchestra and I wrote another verse to it. This is just another interpretation, and we did the arrangement a little differently and it turned out really, really good. I'm really excited about it." Stevie Wonder recently Legend's induction into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.

Stevie Wonder’s Marrakesh concert honors his promise to perform there when negotiators finished work on an international treaty that boosts access to books for blind and visually impaired people worldwide. Wonder has been blind since birth and lobbied hard to get the pact approved by over 600 negotiators from 186 states. The pact will be called the "Marrakesh Treaty." It still has to be ratified by 20 member states of the U.N. agency.

In a statement, the World Intellectual Property Organization said "This is a legacy, a gift to future generations. So let's finalize a new agreement that opens doors to the world's written treasures and moves towards a future where there are no barriers to the expansion of knowledge and enjoyment of culture." The treaty makes published works more accessible for the disabled by fixing copyright issues that have blocked access. Countries can adopt laws that will allow the reproduction and distribution of published works in formats such as Braille, large print text and audio books.

In a recorded video that Stevie Wonder sent to the meeting this week, the singer said, "Let's get this signed, sealed, delivered, and I'm yours. Do this and I will come to Marrakesh and we will celebrate together."

WIPO Director-General Francis Gurry said "This is a balanced treaty and represents a very good arbitration of the diverse interests of the various stakeholders."