Stevie Wonder has never been one to hide his emotions.
So, when the R&B legend appeared on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 just hours after his friend Prince was found dead, he let the tears fall freely. At one point, Anderson Cooper played a clip of an interview Prince did with Larry King in 1999, in which the musician sung his praises. "I use Stevie Wonder as an inspiration, whom I look up to a great deal just for the way that he crafted music and his connection to the spirit," Prince said. "And boy, back then I used him as a role model in trying to play all the instruments and be very self contained and keep my vision clear."
Cooper asked Wonder if the influence was mutual. "He was a great musician. He loved music. He loved playing his instrument," Wonder, 65, recalled. "The times that we did jam together were amazing with all of the various people that he would bring together, and most of all he brought all the various cultures together. He could play classical music if he wanted to. He could play jazz if he wanted to, he could play country if he wanted to. He played rock, you know, he played blues. He played pop. He played everything," Wonder said of the prolific artist, adding, "And [he was] very cognizant of what his responsibility was as a musician and a human being."
Wonder, who performed a secret show with Prince at the White House last year, also confessed to Cooper he was "shocked" when he first heard his friend died at age 57. "I didn't believe it as I find it so hard to believe. You know, in this journey of music, we as artists that create the reflection of society and reflect, really the people that really want to see a better world, a better people, a unity of people, all those things—as did his music do and will continue to do for those of us who will continue to listen to it—it's a heartbreak to lose a member of that army of love."