Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder, aka. Stevland Hardaway Morris was a great American singer, musician, songwriter and instrumentalist. Born on a May 13th of 1950, in Sanigaw of Michigan, Stevie was optically challenged with a disorder called as ROP. Wonder, a prominent figure in popular music during the latter half of the 20th century, has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and won twenty-two Grammy Awards as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award.
He has won an Academy Award for Best Song, and has also been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of fame. He received the Montreal Jazz prize and the Polar Music Prize.
Career
When he was 4 yrs old, his mother moved with him to Detroit, he took up learning the piano and mastered it by the time he was 9. Meanwhile he was actively participating in church choir and honing other instrumental skills at the drums and harmonica.
Wonder was introduced to The Miracles’ Ronnie in 1961, at the age of eleven. White brought Wonder and his mother to Motown Records. Awed by the young musician, Berry Gordy, CEO of Motown, signed Wonder to the label with the name Little Stevie Wonder, where producer Mickey Stevenson gave Wonder his trademark name after remarking about him saying “that boy’s a wonder”. Wonder released his first two albums, Tribute to Uncle Ray and The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, in 1962.
“Fingertips”, was Wonders first major hit at age 13 making him standout in the public for his vocals, bongos and harmonica which was a #1 on the US pop charts. In the 1960’s Wonder dropped “little” from his title and proceeded with several hits like “Uptight” and “Blow in the Wind” while his song compositions like “Tears of a Clown” topped the US charts.
1971 brought a turning point in Wonder’s career. On his 21st birthday, his contract with Motown expired, and the royalties kept aside in his trust fund became available to him. One month before his birthday, Stevie released ‘Where I’m Coming From’, his first entirely self-produced album. Wonder didn’t immediately renew his Motown contract, as the label had expected.
He negotiated a new deal with Motown, which dramatically increased his royalty rate and established his own publishing company, Black Bull Music, which allowed him to retain the rights to his music; most importantly, he wrested full artistic control over his recordings.
He went on to become a superstar when The Talking Book was released having the strongest R&B sensations. He came up with “You’re the Sunshine of my Life” and “Superstition”, the ghetto chronicle “Living for the City” and the intense spiritual self-examination “Higher Ground” both went to number one on the R&B charts and ‘Innervisions’ took home a Grammy for Album of the Year.
Thereafter, Stevie’s career saw the commercial phase till 1990, with albums and hits like “Journey through the secret of Life”, “Hotter than July”, “Stevie Wonder’s Original Musiquarium”, ‘Woman in Red‘, ‘In square circle’, ‘Characters’ and Natural Wonder’.
He had a far-reaching influence in the neo-soul movement that came to prominence in the late ‘90. He remained a composer of choice for jazz artists looking to incorporate harmonically sophisticated pop/R&B tunes into their repertoires.
That only scratches the surface of Stevie’s impact on contemporary popular music, which is why he was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, and remains a living legend regardless of whatever else he does.
- Kritika Rao
Tags: amarican singer, music, musician, songwriter, stevie, stevie wonder
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