What to Know About the Long-Standing Friendship Between Jamie Foxx and Stevie Wonder

As a prominent fixture in Hollywood for decades, Jamie Foxx has worked with and formed relationships with some of the top A-listers in the entertainment industry — but his close friendship with the iconic Stevie Wonder may be one of those he cherishes most.

On June 9, 2025, Jamie attended the BET Awards where he was honored with the Ultimate Icon Award presented to him by none other than Stevie himself, who gave a moving tribute to his long-time friend.

During the third season of the ground-breaking sketch comedy show In Living Color, Jamie joined the cast and finally achieved the stardom that he had been seeking since the late 1980s doing stand-up comedy. While on the show, he would also dabble in music, and during the final season, he released his debut album in 1994 called "Peep This."

The album was unsuccessful, but Jamie didn’t let his dream of a music career go and continued to perform around town in between acting roles, including his self-titled sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show. This period of time is likely what Stevie referenced in his tribute speech to Jamie at the 2025 BET Awards.

“I remember seeing you the first time at a club, playing piano and singing, but I knew from the moment I heard you sing that you had so much more,” Stevie said, per Billboard. “I admire and celebrate your talent and your love — for blind people. I’m very happy to be here tonight to see you honored as you so very well deserve. Without further ado, here is my friend, a great legend of great talent award and the recipient of the BET Ultimate Icon Award — my friend Mr. Jamie Foxx.”

Jamie has also covered various songs by Stevie on stage, such as “Lately,” “Isn’t She Lovely” and “Ribbon in the Sky — and has also been known to do an impression of him as well. The two even performed together in 2011 at Oprah Winfrey’s Farewell Spectacular as a tribute to the former talk show host.

After receiving the Icon Award from Stevie, Jamie became emotional and through tears spoke about his near-death experience in 2023. “I don’t know why I went through what I went through, but I know my second chance, I’m not gon' turn down. I have so much love to give,” he said.

“And I promised, whatever reason you put this on me, I promise imma do right and imma do right in front of y’all,” Jamie continued. “I know a lot of times when we get on, we forget about where we come from. When I did my special, it was in front of Black people. Black people was the ones who said, ‘I got you.’”

“I want to thank everyone who was there for me,” he said.“When I watched the ‘In Memoriam’ segment earlier tonight, I couldn’t help but think how close I came. You don’t go through something like that and come out the same.”

“Thank you to BET for this wonderful award,” Jamie added. “I say this all the time, but thank you to Black people and the Black award,” he said. “People think the Oscars is the biggest thing … but the Icon Award is the most important award because it’s the award that comes from us.”