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The following biography
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Stevie Wonder (born
Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland
Hardaway Morris), [1] is an African American singer, songwriter, record
producer, musician, and social activist. Wonder has recorded more than 30 Top 10
hits, won 21 Grammy Awards [2] (a record for a solo artist), also one for
lifetime achievement, he has won an Oscar for Best Song and been inducted into
both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame. Because of these and other
achievements, Wonder is considered to be a musical genius. So much so that opera
star Luciano Pavarotti once referred to him in a concert as a "great, great
musical genius".
Blind from infancy,
Wonder signed with Motown Records as an adolescent, and continues to perform and
record for the label to this day. He has become one of the most successful and
well-known artists in the world, with nine U.S. number-one hits to his name and
album sales totaling more than 100 million units. Wonder 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, congas, bass guitar, organ and most famously the piano,
keyboard, clavinet and harmonica.
****
Background information
Birth name Stevland
Hardaway Judkins
Also known as Little
Stevie Wonder, Stevland Morris, Eivets Rednow
Born May 30, 1950 (age
56)
Origin Saginaw,
Michigan, United States
Genre(s) R&B, Funk, Soul,
Pop
Occupation(s)
Singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer
Instrument(s) vocals,
piano/keyboards, synthesizer, harmonica, congas, drums, bass guitar, clavinet
Years active 1961–present
Label(s) Motown
Website StevieWonder.net
****
Biography and musical career
Classic period, 1972-1976
Wonder independently
recorded 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. The song, originally intended
for rock guitarist Jeff Beck, features a rocking groove that garnered 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
American 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 has been a staple
love song for the decades since. Between them the songs won three Grammy Awards.
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. Political
considerations were brought into greater focus than ever before, with the
driving, percolating "Higher Ground" (#4 on the pop charts) followed by the
memorable epic "Living for the City" (#8), which found Wonder more evocatively
describing a time and place in American life than he would anywhere else in his
career. Popular ballads such as "Golden Lady" and "All in Love is Fair" were
also present, in a mixture of moods that nevertheless held together as a unified
whole. The album generated three more Grammy Awards, including Album of the
Year.
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. This left him in a coma for four days and resulted
in a permanent loss of his sense of smell.
Despite the setback,
Wonder eventually recovered all of his musical faculties, 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". The album Fulfillingness' First Finale then appeared
in July 1974 with a more personal, introspective outlook, but nevertheless sent
two hits high on the pop charts. The Album of the Year was again one of three
Grammys won.
On October 5, 1975,
Wonder performed the historical Wonder Dream Concert in Kingston, Jamaica, a
Jamaican Institute for the Blind benefit concert. Along with Wonder Bob Marley,
Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, the three original "Wailers", performed together
for the last time.
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.
Sprawling in style, unlimited in ambition, and sometimes lyrically difficult to
fathom, the album was hard for some listeners to fully assimilate. Two tracks
fairly jumped out of the radio with energy, however, becoming the #1 hits "I
Wish" and "Sir Duke". "Isn't She Lovely" was a future wedding and bat mitzvah
fixture, while songs such as "Love's in Need of Love Today" (which years later
Wonder would perform at the post-September 11 America: A Tribute to Heroes
telethon) and the classical "Village Ghetto Land" reflected a far more pensive
mood. "Pastime Paradise" would become an interpolation for Coolio's "Gangsta's
Paradise" (one of the most popular hits of the 1990s). Yet again Wonder was
awarded Album of the Year, along with two other Grammys.
Possibly exhausted by
this concentrated and sustained level of creativity, Wonder was not heard from
again for three years. Nevertheless his output during this stretch had left its
mark: the 1983 Rolling Stone Record Guide said that these albums "pioneered
stylistic approaches that helped to determine the shape of pop music for the
next decade"; Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
included four of the five, with three in the top 90; while in 2005 Kanye West
said of his own work, "I'm not trying to compete with what's out there now. I'm
really trying to compete with Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. It
sounds musically blasphemous to say something like that, but why not set that as
your bar?" [3]
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). Mostly instrumental, the album was panned at the
time of its release but has come to be regarded by some critics as an unusual
classic. Hotter than July (1980) became Wonder's first platinum selling album,
and its single "Happy Birthday" was a successful vehicle for his campaign to
establish Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday as a national holiday. The album
also included "Master Blaster (Jammin')", his tribute to Bob Marley, and the
sentimental ballad, "Lately", which was later covered by 1990s R&B act Jodeci.
In 1982, Wonder released
a retrospective of his '70s work with Stevie Wonder's 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. Wonder also gained a
#1 hit that year in collaboration with Paul McCartney in their paean to racial
harmony, "Ebony and Ivory".
1984 saw the release of
Wonder's soundtrack album for The Woman in Red. The lead single, "I Just Called
to Say I Love You", was a #1 pop and R&B hit in both the US and UK, where it was
placed 13th in the all-time list of best-selling singles in the UK issued in
2002. It went on to win an Academy Award for "Best Song" in 1985. The following
year's In Square Circle featured the #1 pop hit "Part-Time Lover". He was also
featured in Chaka Khan's cover of Prince's "I Feel For You", alongside Melle
Mel, playing his signature harmonica, which was a huge hit. In roughly the same
period he was also featured on harmonica on Eurythmics' single, "There Must Be
An Angel (Playing With My Heart)."
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. Thus it was
only natural that he was in a featured duet with Bruce Springsteen on the
all-star charity single for African famine relief, "We Are the World", and that
he was part of another charity single the following year, the AIDS-targeted
"That's What Friends Are For".
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.
In 1986, Stevie Wonder
appeared in The Cosby Show as himself.
In 1987 Wonder appeared
on the duet Just Good Friends for Michael Jackson's Bad album
After 1987's Characters
LP, Wonder continued to release new material, albeit at a slower pace. He
recorded a soundtrack album for Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever in 1991, and
released both Conversation Peace and the live album Natural Wonder during the
same decade.
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.
In December 1999, Wonder
announced that he was interested in pursuing an intraocular retinal prosthesis
to partially restore his sight. [1]
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. The album was
released electronically on September 27, 2005, exclusively on Apple's iTunes
Music Store; see External links below. The first single, "So What the Fuss", was
released in April and features Prince on guitar and background vocals from En
Vogue. A second single, "From the Bottom of My Heart" is a current hit on
adult-contemporary R&B radio. The album also features a duet with India Arie on
the title track "A Time to Love".
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".
In March 2006, Wonder
received new national exposure on the top-rated American Idol television
program. Each of 12 contestants were required to sing one of his songs, after
having met and received guidance from him. (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. Most recently, in June
2006, Stevie Wonder made a guest appearance on Busta Rhymes' new album, The Big
Bang on the track "Been through the Storm" he sings the refrain and plays the
piano on the Dr. Dre and Sha Money XL produced track. He appeared again on the
last track of Snoop Dogg's new album, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment,
"Conversations". The song is a remake of "Have a Talk with God" from Songs in
the Key of Life. It is also rumored that he will appear on Bone
Thugs-n-Harmony's new album, Strength and Loyalty.
Stevie Wonder also
performed at the Nation's Capitol's 2006 "A Capitol Fourth" celebration, which
was hosted by actor star Jason Alexander.
Impact
Wonder's success as a
socially conscious musical performer was significantly influential to both R&B
and pop music. Among the musicians and performers who list Wonder as one of
their major influences are Avia, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, George
Michael, Jermaine Jackson, Michael Jackson, Nik Kershaw, Anthony Kiedis (Red Hot
Chili Peppers), Maggie Russell, India.Arie, Musiq Soulchild, Alicia Keys, John
Legend, Jay Kay, Donell Jones and the members of Jodeci, Maroon 5, the Neptunes,
Dru Hill, Babyface, Prince, Beyonce Knowles and Nicholas Jonas.
Wonder's songs are
renowned for being hard and demanding to sing. There are many 9th, 11th and 13th
chords. His melodies make abrupt, unpredictable changes. His songs are
melismatic, meaning that a syllable of a word is sung over different notes. Such
qualities allow only skilled singers to sing his songs competently. In the
American Idol Hollywood Performances, judge Randy Jackson repeatedly stated the
difficulty of Wonder's songs.
Personal life
Wonder has seven
children. His last child, Mandla Kadjay Carl Stevland Morris, was born on May
13, 2005, and is the second child of Wonder and his current wife, fashion
designer Kai Milla Morris. He is an active supporter of the United States
Democratic Party.
Discography
Main article: Stevie
Wonder discography
US and UK Top Ten
singles
Thirty-three of Stevie
Wonder's singles, listed below, reached the Top Ten on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
in the United States, or in 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 [4]:
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. In 1989, Wonder was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He
is also an inductee to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Wonder received the Polar
Music Prize and Kennedy Center Honors in 1999. In 2002, he was presented with
the George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award at UCLA's Spring Sing. He
was awarded the Billboard Music Award for the Century Award in 2004, and was one
the first inductees into the Michigan Walk of Fame.
Music sample
Redemption Song (file
info) — play in browser (beta)
soul singer Stevie Wonder
Problems listening to the
file? See media help.
Notes
-
^ Stevie Wonder's mother's
authorized biography, Blind Faith: The Miraculous Journey of Lula Hardaway,
Stevie Wonder's Mother (2002, Simon and Schuster) states that his surname
was legally changed to Morris, "an old family name," when he signed with
Motown in 1961.
-
^ Search for "Stevie Wonder" at
Grammy.com
-
^ Jones, Steve (Aug 21, 2005).
"West hopes to register with musical daring". USA Today.
-
^ Search for "Stevie Wonder" at
Grammy.com
****
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