Or is that really Ed Norton??

GAP

So, here I am with the family visiting Mom and I had a very special "full circle" moment last nite: As you know, I'm from Detroit and it was here that my dream to meet Stevie Wonder was born. The end of the story is, I not only met him, he was the first artist whose band I joined some 32 years ago.

Well, last night, Stevie had a show here as part of his Wonder Summer Magic" tour at an outdoor venue called Meadow Brook Music Theatre. My family and I were in the audience when late in the show, he called me up and I sat in with him. What was even more special was that I was performing with his Steve's daugther, Aisha, who is now touring with him. That's another part of my full circle moment: I was there when she was born!

Finally has come to an end...at least for a good long while and as far as Europe is concerned. I'm writing this while the boyz are in the air on their way home and I'm decompressing in Helsinki with family for a few days. This last leg was one with very few dull moments; from the beginnig with the "series of unfortunate events" to the final show in Tampere which was strong from note one. Big love again to the band "Nylon Beat" whose singers came out and celebrated with us on "Hold The Line."

Lots of highlights, though. The main one being the absolutely spectacular country side of Norway. What a pleasant surprise! The people were great, too. Very good business also, as we pulled off 5 shows there when in past gigs, I never went beyond Oslo.

Well, our time here in "sunny, summery" Deutchland is almost over. Still, it's been great in spite of the less than perfect weather. And the crowds...I don't know how you guys do it but thanks for coming out and standing there for hours, in the cold rain, to see us!

As Luke mentioned, we were guests of Genesis and a fab time was had by all. I hadn't seen Phil since last October when we did Andre Agassi's charity event and it's been years since seeing Tony and Mike, who were totally relaxed and enjoying being back on the road. Mike explained that they didn't have the pressures of supporting a new record so they had the mental space to focus on the show and just have fun.

Yes, I know it's been a while...I'm very happy with the success of the US shows, though my "breaks" didn't last very long-next thing you know I'm on a plane with the motley crue back to Euroland. Of course, we had to have a little drama just before that could happen: While snuggled up and waiting to leave the gate, some moron in a catering truck slammed into one of the cargo doors and punctured it! Four hours later, we took off, totally repaired and safe.

All that drama was soon forgotten after settling into a STELLAR hotel in Bremen with possibly the best staff in all of Germany! Lovely meals, a fantastic spa experience and I'm good to go. Looking forward to this leg with Iceland being the highlight, as it will be my first time there.

Greetings!

First off, thanks to all who posted well wishes. As it's already been a week since I celebrated, thought I'd give you a little taste of how it all went. I was originally invited to the Bahamas for the celebration of a new hotel, The Cove, which is part of the resort Atlantis. Needless to say, this attracted a wide array of A-list celebs from Sean Connery to Michael Jordan, Cindy Crawford to Kanye West. Many special events were going on, starting with a special birthday party for my man, Stevie. We're 6 years and a day apart so we've celebrated together many times.
Steve's wife wanted to do something extra special for him as it would be his first birthday without his beloved Mom, who passed away around this time last year. So, my good friend Rickey Minor brought the entire "American Idol" band down and we jammed Stevie tunes with John Legend, Joss Stone, India. Arie, Nancy Wilson and BeBe Winans. I started the set by singing "Higher Ground." It's always a little more unsettling trying to sing like Stevie when he's in the room!

Whew...talk about a quickie! It all came and went in a flash but it was great fun. I was very pleased with the overall turnout and the crowds were great, especially in Iowa and Kansas City.

What went bad for me was I had very little time to spend on the Network. In addtition to that, the cable that I usually connect my N90 to decided not to work, so I couldn't download the video I shot. And of course, everything I learned about the new software I got before I left just disappeared. I remember NOTHING!

I will get another tutorial before the next leg but not before going back to the Bahamas for a special hang including my birthday. so I'll see you on the other side. Thanks to Fergie, who I met for the first time and who threw down HARD! Great hanging with him. Thanks also to everyone who came out to see us and don't forget to tell your friends!

Well, our little break is just about over and this coming week will begin our quest to reclaim our audience at home. It will be a long climb but I'm looking forward to it. This first leg as you know, is short; not quite a week. Just enough to get our feet wet.

In the meantime, let me get you caught up as I didn't write just before or after I got home from the last leg. I thought on the whole it went very well and I was pleased with how the dvd shoot went. We really had fun with all the bonus footage, as you will soon see. It was SOOOO nice being home again and hanging with my honeys. I witnessed my daughter's FIRST ballet recital (!) and it was awesome. Her little class of 4 got huge rounds of applause when they did their individual pirouettes.

Here's the beautiful church where I spent my Sunday afternoon in Paris.