Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder (real name: Steveland Judkins — he later changed his last name to Morris, which was his mother's maiden name), born on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan is an American singer, songwriter, producer, musician, humanitarian and social activist.

Biography

Artist career history

Steveland Judkins was born prematurely. Common belief is that he became blind after being exposed to excessive oxygen levels in his incubator, but in actual fact that 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, and was proclaimed a child prodigy. 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.

Related Topics:
Born prematurely - Excessive - Oxygen - Incubator - Piano - Congas - Harmonica - 1962 - Ronnie White - The Miracles - Berry Gordy

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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, 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.

Related Topics:
1963 - Motortown Revue - 1960s - Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Blowin' In The Wind - Bob Dylan

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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.

Related Topics:
1970 - Minnie Riperton - Deniece Williams - Lynda Laurence - Syreeta Wright - September 14

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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 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.

Related Topics:
Marvin Gaye - 1971

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He 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 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 singles, b-sides, and covers, Music of My Mind was an actual LP, full-length artistic statement. The critical and commercial successes Talking Book and Innervisions continued Wonder's critical and popular acclaim, addressing more and more political issues as his music progressed. 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. (Wonder performed "Superstition" on the children's television show Sesame Street in 1973.) Wonder's artistic growth continued on Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) and his magnum opus, Songs in the Key of Life (1976).

Related Topics:
1972 - Music of My Mind - B-side - Talking Book - Innervisions - Clavinet - Children's television show - Sesame Street - 1973 - 1974 - Songs in the Key of Life - 1976

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Wonder's next album was a soundtrack album for the film Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. The album was panned at the time of its release but has come to be regarded as a classic album. Hotter Than July (1980) become 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 '90s R&B act Jodeci. 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.

Related Topics:
Soundtrack - Film - Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants - Hotter Than July - 1980 - Happy Birthday - Martin Luther King - National holiday - Bob Marley - R&B - Jodeci - 1982 - Funk - Dizzy Gillespie

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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 the US, and is Motown's biggest-selling single ever in the United Kingdom. It was placed 13th in the all-time list of best-selling singles in the UK issued in 2002, and it won an Academy Award for "Best Song" in 1985. The following year's In Square Circle featured the #1 pop hit "Part-Time Lover".

Related Topics:
1984 - United Kingdom - All-time list of best-selling singles in the UK - 2002

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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. In December 1999, Wonder announced that he was interested in pursuing an intraocular retinal prosthesis to partially restore his sight. http://archives.cnn.com/1999/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/03/stevie.wonder/

Related Topics:
1987 - Spike Lee - Jungle Fever - 1991 - December - 1999

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Wonder's first new album in 10 years, A Time To Love, is scheduled to be released everywhere 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 (if you have iTunes installed, you can click here to go straight to the album). The first single, "So What the Fuss", was released in April and features Prince on guitar and background vocals from En Vogue.

Related Topics:
A Time To Love - October 18 - 2005 - September 27 - Apple's - ITunes Music Store - ITunes - April - Prince - En Vogue

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Producer and songwriter

Besides creating his own material, Stevie Wonder has written and produced a number of songs for other artists. Among his most significant compositions or co-compositions are "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, "It's a Shame" by The Spinners, " "I Can't Help It" by Michael Jackson and "You Are My Heaven" by Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus & Chaka Khan. He has also collaborated with Quincy Jones, Barbara Streisand, Cliff Richard, B.B. King, The Supremes, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick, Julio Iglesias, Third World, and former Musical Youth lead singer Dennis Seaton.

Related Topics:
The Tears of a Clown - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Spinners - Michael Jackson - Roberta Flack - Donny Hathaway - Rufus & Chaka Khan - Quincy Jones - Barbara Streisand - Cliff Richard - B.B. King - The Supremes - The Temptations - Dionne Warwick - Julio Iglesias - Third World - Musical Youth

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