Stevie Wonder is to pay the funeral expenses of five children who were tragically killed in a house fire in Philadelphia on 12 Jun, and hopes to meet with the bereaved families when he visits the city on 2 Jul for the Live 8 concert. The fire cost the lives of three sisters, Summer Cooke, Samantha Bowers and Sabrina Dickson, and their cousins Amber Johnson and Reginald Ringgold, the eldest of whom was five years old.
Wonder's publicist, Ira Tucker, said that the singing star was heartbroken when he heard about the tragedy, and wanted to do something to help, and added: "I don't think he's ever done anything like this before. It's just good that something can be lifted from them."