Stevie Wonder was born Steveland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. When he was three years old, his mother relocated to Detroit when his mother changed his name to Steveland Hardaway Morris. Despite his blindness, Stevie Wonder began playing the drums, bass, piano and harmonica

Stevie Wonder Bio

“All the pain in my life, I want to take and celebrate and turn it all around.”

Little Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder was born Steveland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. When he was three years old, his mother relocated to Detroit when his mother changed his name to Steveland Hardaway Morris. Despite his blindness, Stevie Wonder began playing the drums, bass, piano and harmonica at a very young age. In 1961, he was signed to Motown Records subsidiary label Tamel under the name of Little Stevie Wonder given to him by Berry Gordy. Later that year, Wonder released “I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It the Blues.” Wonder released Tribute to Uncle and The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie in 1962, but neither album was successful.

The 60's & 70's

By the time Wonder was 13, he had a number one hit with “Fingertips (Pt.2),” which was his first #1 Pop single. Throughout the 60's, Wonder dropped the “little” from his stage name and released several albums. Wonder released “With a Child's Heart” and his rendition of the Bob Dylan song, “Blowin in the Wind.” During the mid-60's, he began writing and composing songs for the other label mates, including Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' number one hit, “Tears of a Clown.” In 1968, he released Eivets Rednow, an instrumental albums comprise of harmonica solos. Wonder released the number hit, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours” in 1970. A year later his contract with Motown as up and he later released two independent albums, Talking Book (1972) and Innervisions (1973).

Talking Book included the number one songs, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and “Superstition,” won Wonder three Grammies. After heavy negotiations, Wonder resigned with Motown, and released Music if My Mind in 1972, which is called the beginning his “classic” period. Innervisions featured songs such as “Living in the City,” “Golden Lady,” and “Higher Ground.” This album also is 26 of 500, Greatest Albums of All Time, according to Rolling Stone magazine. In August of 1973, Stevie Wonder was in a horrible accident in which he was hospitalized comatose for four days.

A year later, Wonder released Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974), which won three Grammy Awards, Key of Life (1976), which debut at #1 on the Billboard 100 and stayed there for more than 14 weeks. Despite his success, Wonder took a hiatus almost 3 years before releasing another album.

The 80's and Beyond

Wonder returned to the music, co-writing and co-producing the #1 hit, “Let's Get Serious” for Jermaine Jackson. From 1980 to 2007, Wonder released 13 albums including: his first platinum album, Hotter than July (1980), Stevie Wonder's Originally Musiquarium (1982), The Woman in Red (1984), In Square Circle (1985), Characters (1987), Conversation Peace (1995), Natural Wonder (1996) At he Close of a Century (2000), and A Time To Love (2005). Stevie Wonder also released four compilation albums, Son Review A Greatest Hits Collection, The Definitive Collection, the Best of Stevie Wonder: 20^th Century Masters Christmas Collection and his last album in 2007, a collection of his number 1 hits.

Inspiration to Us All

The simple fact that Stevie Wonder was born blind and was able to overcome his obstacles is an inspiration. Despite his blindness, he would make jokes about his blindness and also support charities for people in need. In the fall of 1975, Stevie Wonder performed with Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, and Bunny Wailer for the Jamaican Institute for the Blind at his Wonder Dream Concert. In 1985, he sang on the famous “We Are the World,” dedicated to famine relief in Africa. Stevie Wonder has also released songs like, “Ebony and Ivory,” “Heaven Help Us All,” “We Can Work It Out,” and “Higher Ground,” which are socially and politically inspired by current events.

Did You know...

… The album title Eivets Rednow is actually Stevie Wonder backwards

… Stevie Wonder is the only male solo artist to win 22 Grammy Awards

…Stevie Wonder is often considered one of the most influential musical artists of the 20^th century.

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