What Did Stevie Wonder Really Think About Elvis Presley? The Answer May Surprise You
For decades, Elvis Presley has stood at the center of one of the most heated arguments in music history. Was he truly the King of Rock and Roll—or was he simply a white performer who became more famous than the Black artists who helped create the sound?
But there is another side to this story that is rarely discussed.
What did Stevie Wonder really think about Elvis Presley?
The answer may surprise you.
Elvis’s relationship with Black American music has always been complicated. There is no question that African-American performers had a tremendous influence on the young Presley. Blues, gospel, rhythm and blues, and the energy of Black performers all played important roles in shaping the musical world that Elvis entered in the 1950s.
That fact has led critics, including Public Enemy’s Chuck D, to argue that Elvis received far more recognition than the Black musicians who helped build the foundation of rock and roll.
The controversy exploded even further in 1989 when Public Enemy released “Fight the Power.” The song famously included lyrics criticizing Elvis and challenged the idea that Presley should be celebrated as the unquestioned “King of Rock and Roll.”
But here’s where the story becomes much more complicated.
Elvis himself never claimed that he invented rock and roll.
In fact, Presley repeatedly acknowledged the influence of Black musicians and performers. The title “King of Rock and Roll” was not a title Elvis officially gave himself. It was largely a media-created description that became associated with him during his explosive rise to fame in the 1950s.
And many Black musicians who actually knew Elvis personally remembered him very differently from the simplified image sometimes presented decades later.
One of the most fascinating examples was Jackie Wilson.
In 1956, Elvis reportedly became fascinated by Wilson’s performance of “Don’t Be Cruel.” Presley admired Wilson’s powerful stage presence so much that he reportedly watched him perform the song repeatedly in Las Vegas.
Rather than becoming jealous, Elvis openly praised Wilson.
According to accounts from Wilson’s family and associates, Elvis even joked that Wilson performed the song better than he did.
That moment tells us something important about Elvis: he wasn’t simply looking at Black performers as competition. He was also watching them, learning from them, admiring them—and in some cases becoming friends with them.
The relationship between Elvis and Jackie Wilson reportedly became one of mutual respect.
Wilson himself later expressed admiration for Elvis, famously suggesting that he had received as much inspiration from Elvis as Elvis had received from him.
That is a very different picture from the idea that Elvis simply “stole” Black music.
The story becomes even more remarkable when Elvis’s personal friendship with Wilson is considered.
Wilson visited Elvis on the set of Double Trouble in 1966, and the two were photographed together. According to historian Ernst Jorgensen, Wilson treasured a signed photograph of the two men.
There are also later accounts from Wilson’s son, Bobby Wilson, claiming that Elvis helped with Jackie Wilson’s medical expenses after Wilson suffered a serious heart attack in 1975. These claims are part of the broader oral history surrounding the two performers and should be treated carefully, but they add another fascinating dimension to their relationship.
Then there is Stevie Wonder.
After Elvis died in 1977, Wonder offered a perspective that went beyond the simple question of whether Elvis borrowed from Black music. His comments recognized the racial barriers of the era and the complicated way American audiences viewed performers based on the color of their skin.
Stevie Wonder argued that Elvis, a white singer, skillfully absorbed and incorporated profound influences from Black music—such as Blues, Gospel, and R&B—into his own distinctive style.
That is perhaps the most important part of this entire debate.
Elvis emerged at a time when America was deeply segregated. Black musicians had created extraordinary music but often faced barriers that white performers did not face. When a white performer brought similar musical energy to a mass white audience, the commercial response could be dramatically different and the fact that Elvis’s music was embraced by millions of white listeners inadvertently helped open the door to greater cultural integration, allowing mainstream audiences to become more familiar with—and perhaps more appreciative of—the artistic contributions of Black communities.
That does not erase the achievements of Black pioneers.
It makes their contribution even more important.
And even Chuck D has explained that his criticism of Elvis was more complicated than simply saying, “A white man stole Black music.”
His argument was about recognition.
If Elvis was called the King of Rock and Roll, then what happened to Little Richard? What about Chuck Berry? Bo Diddley? Big Mama Thornton? And the countless gospel, blues, and R&B musicians whose work helped create the musical language that rock and roll was built upon?
That question remains legitimate.
Consider “Hound Dog.”
The song was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and first became famous through Big Mama Thornton’s recording in 1952. Elvis later transformed the song into one of his signature performances, bringing it to an enormous mainstream audience.
Both versions matter.
Thornton’s version represents the Black R&B tradition from which the song emerged. Elvis’s version represents how a young white performer transformed that material through his own stage personality and reached an audience on an unprecedented scale.
So perhaps the real story isn’t that Elvis created rock and roll alone.
He didn’t.
Nor is the complete story that Elvis simply stole it.
That is far too simple.
The history of rock and roll is a story of influence, exchange, competition, cultural barriers, creativity, and—sometimes—unequal recognition.
Elvis was deeply influenced by Black musicians.
But many of those same musicians also respected Elvis.
And that contradiction is exactly what makes his legacy so fascinating.
So when people ask whether Elvis Presley deserved to be called the King of Rock and Roll, there may never be one answer everyone accepts.
Maybe the better question is this:
Who built rock and roll—and who received the credit?
Elvis undeniably became one of the most influential entertainers in American history. But his story cannot be separated from the Black artists, songwriters, gospel singers, blues musicians, and R&B performers whose creativity helped shape the musical revolution of the 1950s.
And perhaps Stevie Wonder’s perspective reminds us that Elvis’s story was never just about one man.
It was about an entire country changing through music.
The debate will probably never end.
But one thing is certain: the history of rock and roll is much bigger than Elvis Presley alone.
And if we truly want to understand the King, we also have to remember the artists who helped create the kingdom.
