46 | NOVEMBER 24 • 2022 

H

all of Fame songwriter Allee 
Willis once told NPR, “As a 
white, Jewish girl getting a 
break, you could not get better than 
Earth, Wind & Fire.”
And you certainly 
couldn’t get any better 
than Billboard’s #1 R&B, 
platinum-selling song 
“September.”
“Do you remember, 
the 21st night of 
September? Love was 
changin’ the minds of 
pretenders. While chasin’ 

the clouds away.
“Ba-dee-ya, dancin’ in September.”
Those immortal lyrics, which Willis 
co-wrote with Earth, Wind & Fire’s 
Maurice White and Al McKay in 
1978, were the impetus for hosting 
one helluva party and fundraiser 
on Sept. 21st in Los Angeles. The 
newly created nonprofit, the Willis 
Wonderland Foundation, hosted the 
inaugural “Night of Wonders” gala as 
a tribute to former Detroiter Willis. 
Willis died unexpectedly of cardiac 
arrest at age 72 on Christmas Eve 
2019. She received the Spirit of 

Julie Smith 
Yolles 
Contributing 
Writer

Willis Wonderland Foundation launched 
in memory of Allee Willis.

Ba-Dee-Ya,
Dancin’ in
September

Willis 
Wonderland 
Foundation 
CEO and 
Founder 
Prudence 
Fenton

PHOTO BY SERENA BEGGS

PHOTO BY PRUDENCE FENTON

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

Former Detroiters 
Lily Tomlin and Allee 
Willis in 2007 at L.A. 
Street restaurant.

