Questions remain about why Steve Wonder didn’t appear at Cayce concert

Audiences hoping to see Stevie Wonder at Sunday’s Rocking 4 Relief Concert in Cayce were left disappointed and, on Monday, still questioning his non-appearance.

ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons’ short set ended before 9 p.m. Sunday. After a 15-minute lull, it was announced that Wonder, the man of the hour, couldn’t make it from Charlotte, where he performed a concert the night before.

Wonder was supposed to receive a key to the city from Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin at the concert but was not promised to perform.

Concert promoter Debra Cox told the crowd Sunday that they would get VIP passes to a similar flood relief concert in March. But Wonder is not expected to appear there, either.

“Stevie Wonder broke my heart,” Columbia band Dear Blanca tweeted Sunday.

Other readers questioned the logic of promoting Gibbons and Wonder at the event with just two days’ notice. So far, those questions have gone unanswered.

Efforts to reach Cox and the mayor’s office Monday were unsuccessful.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 8:57 PM.