Wonder's home 'burnt down by wildfire'
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Soul legend Stevie Wonder's Los Angeles home has been burned down by the Californian wildfire outbreak, according to Internet reports. Skip related content
Related photos / videos Enlarge photo A state of emergency was declared by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for Los Angeles and Ventura counties earlier this week following the outbreak of blazes across the region.

But the alert did not come in time to save Wonder's Porter Ranch home, which has reportedly gone up in flames - and the singer is devastated.

A source tells New York gossip column PageSix, "Everything was destroyed - all of Stevie's memorabilia, photos, musical instruments, history, clothing, furniture, everything.

"It's all gone. It was his main residence and he is utterly devastated. Stevie's had to put his tour and appearances on hold while he deals with this."

Wonder's representative could not be reached as WENN went to press.

"Everything was destroyed - all of Stevie's memorabilia, photos, musical instruments, history, clothing, furniture, everything.

That really is terrible.. :O

and outtakes

Ronnuz said:

WWWWOOOWW!!

Man he is in my prayers! I cannot for the life of me believe that his momorabilia and instruments and past songs masters are GONE!! Those unreleased songs you guys have been praying for are gone!

OMG Stevie. I'm so sorry to hear this. He's such a sweet man. Devastating news.
[Edited 10/16/08 7:36am]

Not to overlook the value of his personal memorabilia, but also his collection of electronic instruments was irreplaceable and could not be measured in money. I hope he didn't keep all those at this specific location.

it sounds like he did keep them all at that location

the only hope for those past demos is if they have been converted to mp3 and are stored in some computer, but even that might have been there

Oh my GOD! This is horrible news. This is like a museum going up in flames. My prayers go to him and his family.

Demos do not need to be stored to mp3 to take less space (I doubt any professional would even consider storing recordings in mp3, but I do get your idea). I'm sure there are at least some of them in the hands of other individuals. I think there is also a reason why Prince keeps his recordings in a vault as well.

Several instruments that belong to Stevie are currently located at exhibitions around the world. Including his other Yamaha GX-1, the biggest / heaviest / most expensive synthesizer ever manufactured (which is at Madame Tussaud's). Maybe he could claim at least some of those units back. I think some of them are also in use at educational facilities and such (altough it would suck to claim donated items back). But yeah, he had Synclaviers, some early prototypes that do not exist anywhere else. Fuck, he had even the last-ever Synthex produced.
[Edited 10/16/08 7:57am]

I agree that his stuff are non-replaceable for sentimental reasons and such, but he can get new stuff...there are plenty of instruments, furniture etc. around, but there is only one Stevie Wonder.

That's a lot of incredible history down the drain.

tmz.com now say it didnt burn down...

peppeken said:

If this is true, and I hope it is, this may just the sign he needed to move his stuff to a safer location.

junebug18 said:

You took the words right out of my mouth. Most things can be replaced but not people. Thank God Stevie and his family were not in harms way.

shesoffthewall said:

Well, nobody's denying that. It's obvious that it is Stevie's own life that's of more importance than any amount of material things (or anyone else's who'd happen to be at the location). But in case Stevie "has lost everything" like originally claimed then it's gotta sound a bit shocking to any enthusiast. You've got to understand that the sounds of the classic Stevie Wonder albums were done on equipment that cannot be replicated by using modern technology (nobody manufactures nothing of the kind anymore, and never will again). Stevie didn't use himself them that much anymore, but things like that have huge historical value to some. They cannot be replaced.

Oh well, synth nut out.

novabrkr said:

Oh yea, I'm not denying all of that. That's why I said "most" things can be replaced. I know all things can't be replaced, unfortunately. Let's hope TMZ is telling the truth.

I just saw him live literally a few hours ago and he seemed in a great mood, even cracking many jokes on stage. So I wouldn't think if it happened he knew at the time. By the way a super show. I wish all music was like this.

He's discussing it now on KJLHradio.com
[Edited 10/16/08 9:46am]

alphastreet said:

They weren't going 2 get released anyway.

If true.....very sad. Some things can't be replaced. I lived in Cali 4 over 17 years and I still can't quite figure out why there are wild fires every October. I just don't get it.

He just announced on his station that this rumor is NOT TRUE. He said he didn't know who the source was, but it was not a "friend" of his as stated in the initial report.

:h00ray:

no wait, it's actually

novabrkr said:

Good news!

awww i feel sorry for him. but this goes to show you how worthless things in this world are. and can be gone in a minute.

Stevie said that was a rumor. Who would report such a thing like that? Disrespectful. I'm glad Stevie cleared it up!

daPrettyman said:

But they're gonna get leaked

Timmy84 said:

Exactly. I mean, damn! Good news though, I'm glad it isn't true!

thank god it's a rumor! I still think moving some of that stuff would be a good idea though just in case!

Personal note: consider insurance.

novabrkr said:

Insurance CANNOT replace one of a kind items.