Stevie Wonder, the blind American soul musician whose songs have provided the soundtrack to a generation, has filed for divorce after 11 years of marriage.
The 62-year-old, who wed fashion designer Kai Millard Morris in September 2001, cited irreconcilable differences. The couple have been living separately since 2009.
Wonder, whose real name is Stevland Morris, was born blind and signed the divorce papers using two fingerprints. He has requested joint custody of their two sons, 10-year-old Kailand and Mandla, seven.
The pair first met in 1999 at Nell’s, a New York nightclub. She was working as a freelance art director and had been obliged to attend a party for work purposes, and when told that “a friend” wanted to meet her she almost refused.
“I said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m here on business.’ I turned around and literally ran into Steve,” she said. “Then the man said: ‘This is who I wanted you to meet.’”
The couple were left alone to talk until 5am – and six months later they were engaged. Together they led a glamorous lifestyle, flitting between their Los Angeles home and New York, singing and designing for the world’s most high profile people, and travelling the world.
Mrs Morris launched her own fashion label, Kai Milla Designs, whose fans included such luminaries as Michelle Obama and Eva Mendes until it closed two years ago. Meanwhile Wonder, a child prodigy who went on to win 22 Grammy Awards, sang Signed, Sealed, Delivered at President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
When their son Mandla was born, it was Nelson Mandela who chose the baby’s name.
“Nelson called the hospital after he was born and said, ‘I want to name your child.’ What do you say to that? You say OK,” Mrs Morris said. “He gave us two names, one of which we couldn’t pronounce. So we chose Mandla.”
Wonder already had five children from previous relationships – he was briefly married to Motown singer Syreeta Wright in the 1970s – and the whole family clan appeared to be close.
“We don’t say stepkids. We’re all family,” Mrs Morris said in a 2007 interview. “They’re all here in town (Los Angeles), and we have a lot of fun when we go to eat at our favorite Ethiopian restaurants or celebrate the holidays.”
But the marriage was not to last. Wonder has employed celebrity lawyer Laura Wasser, who has previously represented Britney Spears, Kim Kardashian and Maria Shriver, to help defend his interests in the divorce.
It is not known if the couple signed a prenuptial agreement, and Wonder has accumulated a significant fortune over his 50-year career.
In his divorce papers, he agreed to pay financial support for his estranged wife and their children. But he also requested that all his earnings since the separation were kept separate from the couple’s joint assets, a sign of a possible financial battle ahead.