Musician, born in Saginaw, Michigan, USA. A premature baby, he was blinded by receiving too much oxygen in the incubator. He began playing the harmonica at an early age and was signed to a long-term contract with Motown Records in 1960. In 1963 he released his first album, Little Stevie Wonder: The 12 Year Old Genius, and its single release Fingertips - Pt. 2 became his first million seller. During the 1960s, while attending the Michigan School for the Blind, he had many hit records in the classic Motown rhythm-and-blues style. On his 21st birthday, he renegotiated his contract and gained full artistic control over his work. Throughout the 1970s he became proficient in the use of synthesizers and electronic keyboards, and he released a series of innovative, commercially successful albums featuring a fusion of progressive rock and soul, biting social commentary, and sentimental ballads. He signed a contract with Motown (1976) for $13 million, the largest negotiated in recording history at that date. In the 1980s and 1990s he was increasingly engaged in children's and civil-rights causes, and he led the campaign to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday. He was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
| Stevie Wonder | ||
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Stevie Wonder in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on July 12, 2006. |
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Stevland Hardaway Judkins | |
| Also known as | Little Stevie Wonder, Stevland Morris, Eivets Rednow | |
| Born | May 13, 1950 | |
| Origin | Saginaw, Michigan, United States | |
| Genre(s) | R&B, Funk, Soul, Pop | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer | |
| Instrument(s) | vocals, piano/keyboards, synthesizer, harmonica, congas, drums, bass guitar, clarinet | |
| Years active | 1961–present | |
| Label(s) | Motown | |
| Website | StevieWonder.net | |
Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris), is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and social activist.
Blind from infancy, Wonder signed with Motown Records as an adolescent, and continues to perform and record for the label to this day.
At the age of 13, Little Stevie Wonder had his first major hit , "Fingertips (Pt.
By 1970, Wonder had scored more major hits, including "I Was Made to Love Her", "For Once in My Life", "My Cherie Amour", and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)". Besides being one of the first songs on which Wonder serves as both songwriter and producer, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" is one of the main showcases for his backup group, Wonderlove, a trio which included at various times Minnie Riperton, Deniece Williams, Lynda Laurence, and Syreeta Wright, whom Wonder married on September 14, 1970.
Besides Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder was one of the few Motown stars to contest the label's factory-like operation methods: artists, songwriters, and producers were usually kept in specialized collectives with little or no overlap, and artists had no creative control.
Classic period, 1972-1976
Wonder independently recorded two albums, which he used as a bargaining tool while negotiating with Motown.
Wonder's critical and popular acclaim only increased less than a year later, in August 1973, when Wonder released what is often called his best album, Innervisions.
On August 6, 1973, just days after the release of Innervisions, Wonder was in a serious automobile accident while on tour, when a log from a truck went through a passenger window and struck him in the head.
Despite the setback, Wonder eventually recovered all of his musical facilities, and reappeared in concert at Madison Square Garden in March 1974 in a performance that highlighted both up-tempo material and long, building improvisations on mid-tempo songs such as "Living for the City".
Wonder then focused his attentions on what he intended as his magnum opus, the double album-with-extra-EP Songs in the Key of Life, released in September 1976.
Later career, 1979-present
When Wonder did return, it was with a soundtrack album for the never-finished film Journey through the Secret Life of Plants (1979).
In 1982, Wonder released a retrospective of his '70s work with Original Musiquarium and included three more hit singles in his catalogue, including the ten-minute funk classic "Do I Do" (which included legendary jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie), "That Girl" (one of the year's biggest singles to chart on the R&B side) and "Ribbon in the Sky", one of his many classic compositions.
1984 saw the release of Wonder's soundtrack album for The Woman in Red.
By 1985 Stevie Wonder was an American icon, the subject of good-humored jokes about blindness and affectionately impersonated by Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live.
Also in 1985, Wonder performed "Go Home" from his album In Square Circle, at the Grammy awards ceremony in Los Angeles in the infamous synthesizer jam along with Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones and Herbie Hancock.
Stevie Wonder also performed in a unique remix of Seasons Of Love from the Jonathan Larson musical Rent which can be found on disc two of the cast original Broadway cast recording.
Wonder's first new album in ten years, A Time to Love, was released on October 18, 2005, after having been pushed back from first a May, and then a June release.
Wonder performed at the pre-game show for Super Bowl XL in Detroit in early 2006, singing various hit singles (with his four-year-old son on drums) and accompanying Aretha Franklin during "The Star Spangled Banner". (Some of the contestants idolized Wonder, while others showed little familiarity with his work.) Wonder also performed "My Love Is on Fire" live on the show itself.
Stevie Wonder also performed at the Nation's Capitol's 2006 "A Capitol Fourth" celebration, which was hosted by actor star Jason Alexander.
Producer and songwriter for others
Besides creating his own material, Stevie Wonder has written and produced a number of songs for other artists.
Impact
Wonder's success as a socially conscious musical performer was significantly influential to both R&B and pop music.
Wonder's songs are renowned for being hard and demanding to sing.
Personal life
Wonder has seven children.
Discography
US and UK Top Ten singles
Thirty-three of Stevie Wonder's singles, listed below, reached the Top Ten in either the United States or the United Kingdom.
1963: "Fingertips - Part 2" (US #1) 1965: "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" (US #3) 1966: "Blowin' in the Wind" (US #9) 1966: "A Place in the Sun" (US #9) 1967: "I Was Made to Love Her"(US #2, UK #5) 1968: "For Once in My Life" (US #2, UK #3) 1968: "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day" (US #9) 1969: "My Cherie Amour" (US #4, UK #4) 1969: "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" (US #7, UK #2) 1970: "Never Had A Dream Come True" (UK #6) 1970: "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" (US #3) 1970: "Heaven Help Us All" (US #9) 1971: "If You Really Love Me" (US #8) 1972: "Superstition" (US #1) 1973: "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (US #1, UK #7) 1973: "Higher Ground" (US #4) 1973: "Living for the City" (US #8) 1974: "He's Misstra Know It All" (UK #10) 1974: "You Haven't Done Nothin'" (with The Jackson 5) (US #1) 1974: "Boogie On Reggae Woman" (US #3) 1977: "I Wish" (US #1, UK #5) 1977: "Sir Duke" (US #1, UK #2) 1979: "Send One Your Love" (US #4) 1980: "Master Blaster (Jammin)" (US #5, UK #2) 1980: "I Ain't Gonna Stand For It" (UK #10) 1981: "Lately" (UK #3) 1981: "Happy Birthday" (UK #2) 1982: "Ebony and Ivory" (duet with Paul McCartney) (US #1, UK #1) 1982: "That Girl" (US #4) 1982: "Do I Do" (UK #10) 1984: "I Just Called to Say I Love You" (US #1, UK #1) 1985: "Part-Time Lover" (US #1, UK #3) 1985: "Go Home" (US #10)Top Ten US and UK Albums
Twelve of Stevie Wonder's albums, listed below, reached the Top Ten in either the United States or the United Kingdom.
1963: Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius (US #1) 1972: Talking Book (US #3) 1973: Innervisions (US #4, UK #8) 1974: Fulfillingness' First Finale (US #1, UK #5) 1976: Songs in the Key of Life (US #1, UK #2) 1979: Journey through the Secret Life of Plants Soundtrack (US #4, UK #8) 1980: Hotter than July (US #3, UK #2) 1982: Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium (US #4, UK #8) 1984: The Woman in Red Soundtrack (US #4, UK #2) 1985: In Square Circle (US #5, UK #5) 1995: Conversation Peace (UK #8) 2005: A Time to Love (US #5)Awards and recognition
Wonder has received 21 Grammy Awards :
| Year | Award | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Best Rhythm & Blues Song | "Superstition" |
| 1973 | Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male | "Superstition" |
| 1973 | Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male | "You are the Sunshine of My Life" |
| 1973 | Album of the Year | Innervisions |
| 1974 | Best Rhythm & Blues Song | "Living for the City" |
| 1974 | Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male | "Boogie On Reggae Woman" |
| 1974 | Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male | Fulfillingness' First Finale |
| 1974 | Album of the Year | Fulfillingness' First Finale |
| 1976 | Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male | "I Wish" |
| 1976 | Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male | Songs in the Key of Life |
| 1976 | Best Producer of the Year | N/A |
| 1976 | Album of the Year | Songs in the Key of Life |
| 1985 | Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male | In Square Circle |
| 1986 |
Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal (awarded to Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Wonder) |
"That's What Friends Are For" |
| 1995 | Best Rhythm & Blues Song | "For Your Love" |
| 1995 | Best Male R&B Vocal Performance | "For Your Love" |
| 1998 |
Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) (awarded to Herbie Hancock, Robert Sadin, and Wonder) |
"St. Louis Blues" |
| 1998 | Best Male R&B Vocal Performance | "St. Louis Blues" |
| 2002 |
Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (awarded to Wonder and Take 6) |
"Love's in Need of Love Today" |
| 2005 | Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | "From the Bottom of My Heart" |
| 2005 |
Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (awarded to Beyoncé and Wonder) |
"So Amazing" |
Wonder has also received an Academy Award for Best Song for "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red.
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