Stevie wonder - biography

(1950-)

Who Is Stevie Wonder?

Stevie Wonder made his recording debut at age 11, becoming a 1960s force to be reckoned with via chart hits like "Fingertips, Pt. 2," "I Was Made to Love Her" and "My Cherie Amour." Over the next decade, Wonder had an array of No. 1 songs on the pop and R&B charts, including "Superstition," "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and "Higher Ground." He continued to churn out hits into the 1980s, including "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and "Part-Time Lover."

Early Life

Wonder was born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. He was born six weeks early with retinopathy of prematurity, an eye disorder which was exacerbated when he received too much oxygen in an incubator, leading to blindness.

Wonder showed an early gift for music, first with a church choir in Detroit, Michigan, where he and his family had moved to when he was four years old, and later with a range of instruments, including the harmonica, piano and drums, all of which he taught himself before age 10.

READ MORE: How Stevie Wonder Lost His Sight

Motown Discovery

Wonder was just 11 years old when he was discovered by Ronnie White of the Motown band The Miracles. An audition followed with Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., who didn't hesitate to sign the young musician to a record deal.

In 1962, the newly renamed Little Stevie Wonder, working with Motown songwriter Clarence Paul, among others, released his debut The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder, an instrumental album that showed off the youngster's remarkable musicianship.

The same year he also released Tribute to Uncle Ray, where Wonder covered the songs of soul icon Ray Charles. Wonder then developed a major audience with Little Stevie Wonder the 12 Year Old Genius, an album recorded live.

The set's edited single "Fingertips, Pt. 2" became Wonder's first No. 1 song

Stevie Wonder gained prominence in the early 1960s as a musical prodigy, and his dance hits and love songs have segued over the years into thoughtful commentaries on the joy and injustice in our world. Born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1950, Wonder became blind shortly after birth. He learned to play the harmonica, piano and drums by age 9. By the time he was 10, his singing and other musical skills were known throughout his neighborhood, and when the family moved to Detroit, impressed adults made his talents known to the owners of Motown Records, who gave him a recording contract when he was age 12.

His debut LP featured his first nationwide hit, “Fingertips.” That recording was followed in just a few more years by “Uptight (Everything’s All Right),” “For Once in My Life,” “My Cherie Amour,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” and “If You Really Love Me.” He undertook the study of classical piano, and, later, music theory, and beginning in 1967 he began writing more of his own material. He authored the Smokey Robinson hit “The Tears of a Clown.”

In the early 1970s, Wonder toured with the Rolling Stones and had major hits with the songs “Superstition” and “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” In the mid-70s, his album “Songs in the Key of Life” topped the charts for 14 weeks. It includes the breakout hits “I Wish,” “Sir Duke” and “Pastime Paradise;” the latter song was sampled in 1995 within a hit by another artist, Coolio. Wonder’s songs have been covered by many artists including Eric Clapton, Barbra Streisand, Marc Anthony, Mary J. Blige, John Mellencamp, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, just to name a few.

Over the years Wonder has delivered 32 No. 1 R&B and Pop singles, 49 Top 40 R&B and Pop singles, and garnered 25 Grammy Awards, as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He collected an Academy Award for the 1984 hit “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from the film The Woman in Red. In 1989, he was inducte

American musician (born 1950)

Stevland Hardaway Morris (; néJudkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American-Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Wonder is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. A virtual one-man band, Wonder's use of synthesizers and other electronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions of contemporary R&B. He also helped drive such genres into the album era, crafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.

Wonder's single "Fingertips" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, when he was 13, making him the youngest solo artist ever to top the chart. Wonder's critical success was at its peak in the 1970s. His "classic period" began in 1972 with the releases of Music of My Mind and Talking Book, the latter featuring "Superstition", which is one of the most distinctive and famous examples of the sound of the Hohner Clavinet keyboard. His works Innervisions (1973), Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) and Songs in the Key of Life (1976) all won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, making him the only artist to have won the award with three consecutive album releases. Wonder began his "commercial period" in the 1980s; he achieved his biggest hits and highest level of fame, had increased album sales, charity participation, high-profile collaborations (including with Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson), political impact, and television appearances. Wonder has continued to remain active in music and political

Stevland Hardaway Judkins (born May 13, 1950) known by his stage name Stevie "The Visionary" Wonder, is an Americanmusician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist.

A child prodigy, Wonder became one of the most successful and well-known artists on the Motownlabel. He has recorded 23 albums and more than 30 U.S. top ten hits, such as Superstition, Sir Duke and I Just Called To Say Love You (which topped all the charts the board it faced). He has written and produced songs for many of his labelmates and other artists as well. His music, which concerns love, peace, care and knowledge about the outside world has won him 25 Grammy Awards(the most awarded to a male solo artist). Wonder plays the drums, guitar, synthesizers, congas, and most famously the piano, harmonica, and the keyboard. In 2009, United Nations dubbed him "Messenger of Peace".

Early life

He was born on May 13, 1950 at St. Mary's of Michigan Medical Center in Saginaw, Michigan. His real name is Stevland Hardaway Judkins but he later dropped the name Morris and it has been his name for his life.

He has been blind since shortly after his birth. While in the hospital his incubator was left too warm, which caused his retina to detach and resulted in severe optical nerve damage.

Career

In 1961, Wonder sang his own composition , "Lonely Boy" for Smokey Robinson of The Miracles. This earned wonder his contract with Motown and he was mentored by Clarence Paul.Wonder's first album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, was released by Motown Records in 1962 when Wonder was 12 years old. This album was to showcase Stevie's instrumental talents and contained to compositions that Wonder and Paul co-wrote - Session Number 112 and Wondering. He released his second album Tribute to Uncle Ray later that year, mostly covers of Ray Charles's songs including a fresh song, Sunset. These two