Wonder to get White House award

Stevie Wonder performed at a concert at the Library of Congress on Monday

Motown legend Stevie Wonder is to be honoured with a special prize during a ceremony at the White House later.

US President Barack Obama will present the multi-Grammy winning soul star with the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song from the Library of Congress.

The award commemorates a composer or performer for their lifetime contributions to popular music.

Wonder is only the second person to have received the accolade. The first was Paul Simon in 2007.

On Monday Wonder played at the Library of Congress. A full orchestra accompanied the performer, who played the piano, keyboard and harmonica.

His 1970 track Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours was a theme song during the presidential campaign, while he also performed at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on the night Mr Obama accepted his party's nomination.

Wonder has sold more than 70 million albums since he was signed by Motown Records at the age of 11.

He was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 1996 and inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years later.

In 2005, he released his first album in 10 years, A Time to Love, following it with concerts in the US and Europe in 2007 and 2008.