Venue owner sheds light on why Stevie Wonder was a no-show

Singer Stevie Wonder’s absence at the Rockin’ 4 Relief concert Sunday can be attributed to the fact that he was appearing for free and wasn’t contractually obligated to come, according to the venue owner.

Bobby Sellers, co-owner of the Historic Columbia Speedway in Cayce where the concert was held, said there were no signed documents that Stevie Wonder and ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons would perform at the flood relief concert – just good-faith agreements.

Related: Questions remain about why Stevie Wonder didn’t appear at Cayce concert

And because Wonder was playing a paid show in Charlotte the night before, the promoters were not legally allowed to advertise his appearance beforehand, Sellers said.

Gibbons did play at the event.

Sellers rented out the Speedway to the Florida National Guard for the show.

No one knew that Wonder wasn’t coming until about 8 p.m. Sunday, Sellers said. 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 that they would get VIP passes to a similar flood relief concert in March. Wonder is not expected to appear there, either.

However, Sellers said crowds seemed to enjoy the rest of the entertainment, which included performances by R&B singer Lyfe Jennings, “America’s Got Talent” contestant and Greenville native Benton Blount, season 12 “American Idol” winner and St. Helena Island native Candice Glover.

“I was shocked at how good the entertainment was,” Sellers said. “Everyone was pretty satisfied.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 1:05 PM.