Watch Stevie Wonder’s GRAMMY Salute on CBS 2/16 Stevie, a 25-time GRAMMY winner, will be celebrated with a special tribute by The GRAMMYs on Feb. The Recording Academy, AEG Ehrlich Ventures and CBS will present 'Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life — A GRAMMY Salute,' a primetime entertainment special that will honor the iconic.
The above comments pay tribute to Stevie perfectly; what more can be said? The guy plays nearly every instrument imaginable with affinity and performs and records with such an uncanny ardor - such a love and passion for music. While some songs like 'I was Made to Love Her' and 'Superstitious' are irresistibly soulful tunes, Wonder had a knack for contrasting this pace with melancholic masterpieces like 'Blame It on the Sun' or 'A Place in the Sun.' Even his 80s era was highly regarded and respected.
I shouldn't even begin compiling a list of favorites; there are just too many. Hands down, one of the greatest recording artists of all time. He's got my respect forever. What can one say about Stevie that already hasn't been recited? The words/phrases 'genius', 'God given talent', 'from a different planet', 'Soul music legend' etc all seem appropriate. The guy has been singing for so long right back to the early days of Motown as a child prodigy, up to the present.
Although many younger people remember or associate Stevie with his music from the 80s, which was all very accessible and commerical music, his real creative peak and genius came to the fore during the 70s. His three albums in particular 'Innervisions', 'Fulfillingness First Finale' and 'Songs in the Key of Life' are landmark albums in Black music, Soul Music and any genre for that matter of popular music. The guy can play (& does on most of these albums) any instrument, he writes, he produces, he sings. He's just an awesome talent and either (or all) of these 3 albums would be in most self-respecting critics top 100 albums of all time. Music that is timeless, inspiring and legendary.
RESPECT and then some!
Contents. Early life Wonder was born Stevland Hardaway Judkins in, on May 13, 1950, the third of six children born to Calvin Judkins and songwriter.
He was born six weeks premature which, along with the oxygen-rich atmosphere in the hospital incubator, resulted in (ROP), a condition in which the growth of the eyes is aborted and causes the to detach, so he became blind. When Wonder was four, his mother divorced his father and moved with her children to, where Wonder sang as a child in a choir at the Whitestone Baptist Church.
She changed her name back to Lula Hardaway and later changed her son's surname to Morris, partly because of relatives. Wonder has retained Morris as his legal surname. He began playing instruments at an early age, including piano, harmonica, and drums.
He formed a singing partnership with a friend; calling themselves Stevie and John, they played on street corners and occasionally at parties and dances. Career 1961–1969: Sixties singles.
'Most of these songs hit the charts in a big way before Stevie turned twenty-one in 1971. Because he's grown up fast, the love lyrics are less teen-specific than a lot of early, say, but the music is pure. Stevie's rockers are always one step ahead of themselves—their gawky groove is so disorienting it makes you pay attention, like a voice that's perpetually changing. The ballads conceive more conventionally, and less felicitously. But he sure covered better than or could have, now didn't he?' –Review of Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 in (1981) Dropping the 'Little' from his name, Moy and Wonder worked together to create the hit ', and Wonder went on to have a number of other hits during the mid-1960s, including 'With a Child's Heart', and ', a cover, co-sung by his mentor, producer Clarence Paul.
He also began to work in the Motown songwriting department, composing songs both for himself and his label mates, including ', a No. 1 hit for (it was first released in 1967, mostly unnoticed as the last track of their LP, but eventually became a major success when re-released as a single in 1970, which prompted Robinson to reconsider his intention of leaving the group). In 1968 he recorded an album of instrumental soul/jazz tracks, mostly harmonica solos, under the title, which is 'Stevie Wonder' spelled backwards. The album failed to get much attention, and its only single, a cover of ', only reached number 66 on the U.S.
Pop charts and number 11 on the US Adult Contemporary charts. Nonetheless, he managed to score several hits between 1968 and 1970 such as ', ' and '. A number of Wonder's early hits, including ', 'I Was Made to Love Her', and 'Uptight (Everything's Alright)', were co-written with.The hit single ' was his first ever self-produced song. 1970–1979: Seventies albums and classic period In September 1970, at the age of 20, Wonder married, a songwriter and former Motown secretary. Wright and Wonder worked together on the next album,; Wonder writing the music, and Wright helping with the lyrics. They wanted to 'touch on the social problems of the world', and for the lyrics 'to mean something'.
It was released at around the same time as Marvin Gaye's. As both albums had similar ambitions and themes, they have been compared; in a contemporaneous review by in Rolling Stone, Gaye's was seen as successful, while Wonder's was seen as failing due to 'self-indulgent and cluttered' production, 'undistinguished' and 'pretentious' lyrics, and an overall lack of unity and flow. Also in 1970, Wonder co-wrote, and played numerous instruments on the hit ' for fellow Motown act. His contribution was meant to be a showcase of his talent and thus a weapon in his ongoing negotiations with Gordy about creative autonomy. Reaching his 21st birthday on May 13, 1971, he allowed his Motown contract to expire. During this period, Wonder independently recorded two albums and signed a new contract with Records. The 120-page contract was a precedent at Motown and gave Wonder a much higher rate.
Wonder returned to Motown in March 1972 with. Unlike most previous albums on Motown, which usually consisted of a collection of singles, and covers, Music of My Mind was a full-length artistic statement with songs flowing together thematically. Wonder's lyrics dealt with social, political, and mystical themes as well as standard romantic ones, while musically he began exploring overdubbing and recording most of the instrumental parts himself. Music of My Mind marked the beginning of a long collaboration with ( and ).
From by Stevie Wonder, 1972-10-27. Sample from Stevie Wonder Song Review: A Greatest Hits Collection, 1996-12-10 Problems playing this file? Released in late 1972, featured the No. 1 hit ', which is one of the most distinctive and famous examples of the sound of the Hohner keyboard. Talking Book also featured ', which also peaked at No. During the same time as the album's release, Wonder began touring with the to alleviate the negative effects from pigeonholing as a result of being an R&B artist in America.
Wonder's touring with the Stones was also a factor behind the success of both 'Superstition' and 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life'. Between them, the two songs won three. On an episode of the children's television show that aired in April 1973, Wonder and his band performed 'Superstition', as well as an original called 'Sesame Street Song', which demonstrated his abilities with television., released in 1973, featured ' (No. 4 on the pop charts) as well as the trenchant ' (No. Both songs reached No. 1 on the R&B charts. 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.
Innervisions generated three more Grammy Awards, including. The album is ranked No.
23 on Rolling Stone's. Wonder had become the most influential and acclaimed black musician of the early 1970s. On August 6, 1973, Wonder was in a serious automobile accident while on tour in, when a car in which he was riding hit the back of a truck. This left him in a coma for four days and resulted in a partial loss of his sense of smell and a temporary loss of sense of taste.
Despite the setback, Wonder re-appeared for a European tour in early 1974, performing at the convention in, at the in London, and on the German television show. On his return from Europe, he played a sold-out concert at in March 1974, highlighting both up-tempo material and long, building improvisations on mid-tempo songs such as '. The album appeared in July 1974 and set two hits high on the pop charts: the No. 1 ' and the Top Ten '.
The Album of the Year was again one of three Grammys won. The same year Wonder took part in a Los Angeles that would become known as the bootleg album. He also co-wrote and produced the Syreeta Wright album. On October 4, 1975, Wonder performed at the historic ' in, Jamaica, a benefit for the Jamaican Institute for the Blind.
In 1975, he played harmonica on two tracks on 's album. By 1975, at the age of 25, Wonder had won two consecutive: in 1974 for Innervisions and in 1975 for Fulfillingness' First Finale.
In 1976, when won the Album Of The Year Grammy for his, he wryly noted, 'I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder, who didn't make an album this year.' The double album-with-extra- was released in September 1976. Sprawling in style, unlimited in ambition, and sometimes lyrically difficult to fathom, the album was hard for some listeners to assimilate, yet is regarded by many as Wonder's crowning achievement and one of the most recognizable and accomplished albums in pop music history. The album became the first by an American artist to debut straight at No. 1 in the charts, where it stood for 14 non-consecutive weeks. Two tracks became No. 1 Pop/R&B hits: ' and '.
The baby-celebratory ' was written about his newborn daughter Aisha, while songs such as 'Love's in Need of Love Today' and 'Village Ghetto Land' reflected a far more pensive mood. Songs in the Key of Life won Album of the Year and two other Grammys. The album ranks 57th on 's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Until 1979's his only release was the retrospective three-disc album, an anthology of his early Motown period. 1980–1990: Commercial period The 1980s saw Wonder achieving his biggest hits and highest level of fame; he had increased album sales, charity participation, high-profile collaborations, political impact, and television appearances. The 1979 mainly instrumental soundtrack album was composed using an early music sampler, a. Wonder toured briefly in support of the album, and used a sampler on stage.
In this year Wonder also wrote and produced the dance hit 'Let's Get Serious', performed by and (ranked by Billboard as the No. 1 R&B single of 1980). (1980) became Wonder's first platinum-selling single album, and its single ' was a successful vehicle for his campaign to establish Dr. 's birthday as a. The album also included ', ', and the sentimental ballad, '.
In 1982, Wonder released a retrospective of his 1970s work with, which included four new songs: the ten-minute classic ' (which featured ), 'That Girl' (one of the year's biggest singles to chart on the side), 'Front Line', a narrative about a soldier in the that Wonder wrote and sang in the first person, and ', one of his many classic compositions. He also gained a No. 1 hit that year in collaboration with in their paean to racial harmony, '. In 1983, Wonder performed the song ', the theme to 's film adaptation of 's novel. Wonder wrote the lyrics.
In 1983, he scheduled an album to be entitled People Work, Human Play. The album never surfaced and instead 1984 saw the release of Wonder's soundtrack album for. The lead single, ', was a No. 1 pop and R&B hit in both the United States and the United Kingdom, where it was placed 13th in the list of best-selling singles in the UK published in 2002. (The single was also a hit in lots of other countries as well). It went on to win an in 1985.
Wonder accepted the award in the name of and was subsequently banned from all South African radio by the. Incidentally, on the occasion of his 35th birthday, Stevie Wonder was honored by the for his stance against racism in South Africa that same year (1985). The album also featured a guest appearance by, singing the duet 'It's You' with Stevie and a few songs of her own. Following the success of the album and its lead single,Wonder made an appearance on,in the episode 'A Touch of Wonder' where he demonstrated his ability to sample. The following year's featured the No.
1 pop hit '. The album also has a Top 10 Hit with 'Go Home.' It also featured the ballad ', which was originally written for Journey Through 'The Secret Life of Plants', but did not make the album. He performed 'Overjoyed' on when he was the host.
He was also featured in 's cover of 's ', alongside, playing his signature harmonica. In roughly the same period he was also featured on harmonica on ' single, ' and 's '. Wonder was in a featured duet with on the all-star charity single for African Famine Relief, ', and he was part of another charity single the following year (1986), the AIDS-inspired '. He played harmonica on the album by in the song 'If Ever', a song Wonder co-wrote with Stephanie Andrews; wrote the track 'I Do Love You' for ' 1985; and played harmonica on 'Can't Help Lovin' That Man' on. In 1987, Wonder appeared on 's album, on the duet 'Just Good Friends'. Michael Jackson also sang a duet with him entitled 'Get It' on Wonder's 1987 album. This was a minor hit single, as were 'Skeletons' and 'You Will Know'.
1991–present: Later career. Stevie Wonder at the, 1994 After 1987's Characters album, Wonder continued to release new material, but at a slower pace. He recorded a soundtrack album for 's film in 1991. From this album, singles and videos were released for 'Gotta Have You', 'Fun Day' (remix only), 'These Three Words' and 'Jungle Fever'. The B-side to the 'Gotta Have You' single was 'Feeding Off The Love of the Land', which was played during the end credits of the movie Jungle Fever but was not included on the soundtrack. A piano and vocal version of 'Feeding Off The Love of the Land' was also released on the compilation.
And the live album were released in the 1990s. Among his other activities he played harmonica on one track for the 1994 tribute album; sang at the; collaborated in 1997 with on ', a song about domestic violence that was nominated for a Grammy award; and played harmonica on 's 1999 '. In December 1999, Wonder announced that he was interested in pursuing an to partially restore his sight. Into the 21st century, Wonder continues to record and perform; though mainly occasional appearances and guest performances, he did do two tours, and released one album of new material, 2005's. His key appearances include performing at the opening ceremony of the in, the 2005, the pre-game show for in 2006, the in 2009, and the opening ceremony of the in Athens, Greece. He sang at the in 2009, at ' funeral, in 2012, and a month later at 's memorial service.
Wonder's first new album in ten years, was released in October 2005 to lower sales than previous albums, and lukewarm reviews—most reviewers appearing frustrated at the end of the long delay to get an album that mainly copied the style of Wonder's 'classic period' without doing anything new. The first single, ', was released in April. A second single, 'From the Bottom of My Heart', was a hit on adult-contemporary radio. The album also featured a duet with on the title track 'A Time to Love'. By June 2008, Wonder was working on two projects simultaneously: a new album called The Gospel Inspired By Lula, which will deal with the various spiritual and cultural crises facing the world, and Through The Eyes Of Wonder, an album he has described as a performance piece that will reflect his experience as a blind man.
Wonder was also keeping the door open for a collaboration with and concerning a rumored jazz album. If Wonder were to join forces with Bennett, it would not be for the first time; their rendition of 'For Once in My Life' earned them a Grammy for best pop collaboration with vocals in 2006. Wonder's harmonica playing can be heard on the 2009 Grammy-nominated 'Never Give You Up', featuring. In October 2013, Wonder revealed that he had been recording new material for two albums, When the World Began and Ten Billion Hearts, in collaboration with producer, the albums to be released in 2014. He is featured on two tracks on 's new album. Wonder did a 13-date tour of North America in 2007, starting in on August 23; this was his first U.S.
Tour in more than 10 years. On September 8, 2008, he started the European leg of his Wonder Summer's Night Tour, the first time he had toured Europe in over a decade. His opening show was at the in Birmingham in the.
During the tour, he played eight UK gigs; four at the in London (filmed in HD and subsequently released as a live in-concert release on DVD and Blu-Ray, Live At Last ), two in Birmingham and two at the in Manchester. Wonder's other stops in the tour's European leg also found him performing in the (Rotterdam), (Stockholm), Germany (Cologne, Mannheim and Munich), (Hamar), France (Paris), Italy (Milan) and (Aalborg). Wonder also toured Australia (Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) and (Christchurch, Auckland and New Plymouth) in October and November. His 2010 tour included a two-hour set at the in, a stop at London's 'Hard Rock Calling' in Hyde Park, and appearances at England's, Rotterdam's, and a concert in Bergen, Norway, and a concert in Dublin, Ireland, at the O2 Arena on June 24. Presents Wonder with the in 2009.
In 2000, Wonder contributed two new songs to the soundtrack for 's album ('Misrepresented People' and 'Some Years Ago'). In June 2006, Wonder made a guest appearance on ' album, on the track 'Been through the Storm'. He sings the refrain and plays the piano on the - and –produced track.
He appeared again on the last track of 's album, 'Conversations'. The song is a remake of 'Have a Talk with God' from. In 2006, Wonder staged a duet with on the latter's album, offering harmonica and additional vocals on 'Canzoni Stonate'. Wonder also performed at Washington, D.C.' S 2006 ' celebration.
Wonder appeared on singer 's studio album performing a cover of his 1985 song 'Overjoyed'. The album was released in October 2013. Legacy A prominent figure in popular music during the latter half of the 20th century, Wonder has recorded more than 30 U.S. Top ten hits and won 25 (the most ever won by a solo artist) as well as a. He has also won an, and been inducted into both the and halls of fame. He has also been awarded the. American music magazine named him the ninth greatest singer of all time.
In June 2009 he became the fourth artist to receive the Spirit Award. He has had ten as well as 20 R&B number one hits, and has sold over 100 million records, 19.5 million of which are albums; he is one of the with combined sales of singles and albums. Wonder has recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and writes and produces songs for many of his label mates and outside artists as well. Wonder plays the piano, synthesizer, harmonica, drums, organ,. In his childhood, he was best known for his harmonica work, but today he is better known for his keyboard skills and vocal ability.
Wonder was the first artist and second African-American musician to win an for, which he won for his 1984 hit single ' from the movie. Wonder's 'classic period' is generally agreed to be between 1972 and 1977. Some observers see in 1971's Where I'm Coming From certain indications of the beginning of the classic period, such as its new funky keyboard style which Wonder used throughout the classic period. Some determine Wonder's first 'classic' album to be 1972's Music of My Mind, on which he attained personal control of production, and on which he programmed a series of songs integrated with one another to make a concept album. Others skip over early 1972 and determine the beginning of the classic period to be Talking Book in late 1972, the album in which Wonder 'hit his stride'. His classic 1970s albums were considered very influential in the music world: the 1983 said they '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 albums, with three in the top 90; and in 2005, 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?' Personal life Marriages Wonder has been married three times. He was married to Motown singer-songwriter and frequent collaborator from 1970 until their amicable divorce in 1972. From 2001 until 2012 he was married to fashion designer Kai Millard.
In October 2009, Wonder and Millard separated; Wonder filed for divorce in August 2012. In 2017 he married Tomeeka Bracy. Children Wonder has nine children by five different women. The mother of Wonder's first child is Yolanda Simmons, whom Wonder met when she applied for a job as secretary for his publishing company. Simmons gave birth to Wonder's daughter Aisha Morris on February 2, 1975.
After Aisha was born, Wonder said 'she was the one thing that I needed in my life and in my music for a long time'. Aisha was the inspiration for Wonder's hit single 'Isn't She Lovely?' She is now a singer who has toured with her father and accompanied him on recordings, including his 2005 album. Wonder and Simmons also had a son, Keita, in 1977. In 1983, Wonder had a son named Mumtaz Morris with Melody McCulley.
He also has a daughter, Sophia, and a son, Kwame, with a woman whose identity has not been publicly disclosed. Wonder has two sons with second wife Kai Millard Morris; the elder is named Kailand and he occasionally performs as a drummer on stage with his father. The younger son, Mandla Kadjay Carl Stevland Morris, was born on May 13, 2005, his father's 55th birthday. Wonder's ninth child, his second with Tomeeka Robyn Bracy, was born in December 2014, amid rumors that he would be the father to triplets. This turned out not to be the case, and the couple's new daughter was given the name Nia, meaning 'purpose'–one of the seven principles of.
The name of Wonder's first child with Bracy is unknown. Other In May 2006, Wonder's mother died in Los Angeles at the age of 76. During his September 8, 2008, UK concert in Birmingham, he spoke of his decision to begin touring again following his loss: 'I want to take all the pain that I feel and celebrate and turn it around.'
Wonder was introduced to through his marriage to Syreeta Wright. Consistent with that spiritual vision, Wonder became vegetarian, and later a, singing about it in October 2015 on during the show's 'Carpool Karaoke' segment. Wonder joined on April 4, 2018, and his first tweet was a five-minute video honoring Dozens of famous personalities were rounded up in the video, which was titled 'The Dream Still Lives'. Each person involved shared their dream, calling back to King's popular speech in 1963.
Wonder's very first tweet took the Internet by storm, and he also encouraged viewers to share their own videos about their dreams with the #DreamStillLives. Wonder has been a longtime affiliated with. On August 31, 2018, Wonder performed at the funeral of at Detroit’s. He closed the ceremony with a rendition of the and his song '. Awards and recognition Grammy Awards Wonder has won 25: as well as a in 1996.
He is one of only two, along with. Wonder is the only artist to have won the award with three consecutive album releases.