Musicians - Stevie Wonder

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	Musicians - Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder (born May 13, 1950 as Stevland Judkins, later changed to Stevland Morris) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, musician, humanitarian and social activist. Wonder has recorded more than 30 Top 10 hits, won 24 Grammy Awards (a record for a living artist), also one for lifetime achievement, and been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame.

Blind from infancy, Wonder has become one of the most successful and well-known artists on the Motown label, with nine U.S. #1 hits to his name and album sales totaling more than 100 million units. He has recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and writes and produces songs for many of his labelmates and outside artists as well. A multi-instrumentalist, Wonder plays the drums, guitar, synthesizers, congas, and most famously the piano, harmonica and keyboards. Many critics refer to the quality of his work and its versatility as being indicative of musical genius.

Early life

Stevland Judkins was born prematurely in Saginaw, Michigan. Common belief is that he became blind after being exposed to excessive oxygen levels in his incubator, but the oxygen saved his life. The actual cause was premature development of his eye, causing the blood vessels to detach from the retina. He learned to play a number of instruments, most notably the piano, congas, and harmonica, at an early age.

Early career, 1962-1971

In 1962, at the age of eleven, Morris was brought to Motown by Ronnie White of The Miracles, and Berry Gordy signed Morris to Motown's Tamla label as Little Stevie Wonder.

At the age of 13, Little Stevie Wonder had his first major hit, "Fingertips (Pt. 2)", a 1963 single taken from a live recording of a Motortown Revue performance. The song, featuring Wonder on vocals, congas, and harmonica, and a young Marvin Gaye on drums, was a #1 hit on the US pop charts and launched him into the public consciousness. Dropping the "Little" from his moniker, Wonder went on to have a number of other hits during the mid-1960s, including "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", "With a Child's Heart", and "Blowin' In The Wind", a Bob Dylan cover which was one of the first songs to reflect Wonder's social consciousness. He also began to work in the Motown songwriting department, composing songs both for himself and his labelmates.

By 1970, Wonder had scored more major hits, including "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. Wonder and Wright divorced eighteen months later, but they continued to collaborate on musical projects.

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. After a number of arguments with Berry Gordy over allowing Wonder to have his own creative control, Wonder allowed his Motown contract to expire, and he left the label on his twenty-first birthday in 1971. His final album before his departure was Where I'm Coming From, which Gordy had strongly fought against releasing.

Classic period, 1972-1976

Wonder independently recorded and released two albums, which he used as a bargaining tool while negotiating with Motown. Eventually, the label agreed to his demands for full creative control and the rights to his own songs, and Wonder returned to Motown in March 1972 with Music of My Mind, an album which is considered a classic of the era. Unlike most previous artist LPs on Motown, which usually consisted of a collection of singles, b-sides, and covers, Music of My Mind was an actual LP, a full-length artistic statement, and began a string of five albums released over a period of less than five years, that make up what is generally considered Stevie Wonder's classic period.

October 1972's Talking Book featured the #1 pop and R&B hit "Superstition", which is one of the most distinctive examples of the sound of the clavinet. Featuring a rocking groove that was partly inspired by and then covered by rock guitarist Jeff Beck, "Superstition" gained Wonder an additional audience on rock radio stations. That audience was further exposed to Wonder when he opened for The Rolling Stones on their much-heralded 1972 U.S. tour. Wonder's pop following was not neglected, however, as "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" followed to #1 on the pop charts and became a staple love song for decades to come. Between them the songs won three Grammy Awards.

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Musicians - Stevie Wonder

Early life

Early career, 1962-1971

Classic period, 1972-1976

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