Stevland Hardaway Morris (/ˈstiːvlənd/STEEV-lənd;néJudkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally asStevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Wonder is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that includeR&B,pop,soul,gospel,funk, andjazz. A virtualone-man band, Wonder's use ofsynthesizers and otherelectronic musical instruments during the 1970s reshaped the conventions ofcontemporary R&B. He also helped drive such genres into thealbum era, crafting hisLPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was achild prodigy who signed withMotown'sTamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional nameLittle Stevie Wonder.
Wonder's single "Fingertips" was a No. 1 hit on theBillboard Hot 100 in 1963, when he was 13, making him theyoungest solo artist ever to top the chart. Wonder's critical success was at its peak in the 1970s. His "classic period" began in 1972 with the releases ofMusic of My Mind andTalking Book, the latter featuring "Superstition", which is one of the most distinctive and famous examples of the sound of theHohner Clavinet keyboard. His worksInnervisions (1973),Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) andSongs in the Key of Life (1976) all won theGrammy Award for Album of the Year, making him the only artist to have won the award with three consecutive album releases. Wonder began his "commercial period" in the 1980s; he achieved his biggest hits and highest level of fame, had increased album sales, charity participation, high-profile collaborations (including withPaul McCartney andMichael Jackson), political impact, and television appearances. Wonder has continued to remain active in music and political causes.
Wonder was born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, inSaginaw, Michigan, the third of five children born toLula Mae Hardaway,[6] and the second of Hardaway's two children with Calvin Judkins.[7] Wonder was born six weeks premature, a condition that, along with the oxygen-rich atmosphere in the hospital incubator, resulted inretinopathy of prematurity, a disease that aborts eye growth and often causes theretinas to detach, which left him blind.[8][9]
When Wonder was four, his mother divorced his father and moved with her three children toDetroit. Wonder attended WhitestoneBaptist Church, where he sang in the choir and became asoloist at age eight.[10][11] His mother later rekindled her relationship with her first child's father (whose surname was also coincidentally Hardaway),[7] changed her name back to Lula Hardaway, and had two more children.
Wonder 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.[12] When Stevie was signed byMotown in 1961, his surname was legally changed to Morris, which (according to Lula Mae Hardaway's authorized biography) was an old family name.Berry Gordy was responsible for creating the stage name of "Little Stevie Wonder".[13]
Wonder rehearsing for a performance on Dutch television in 1967
In 1961, at the age of 11, Wonder sang his own composition, "Lonely Boy", toRonnie White ofthe Miracles;[17][18] White then took Wonder and his mother to an audition atMotown, where CEOBerry Gordy signed Wonder to Motown's Tamla label.[6] Before signing, producerClarence Paul gave him the name Little Stevie Wonder.[8][19] Because of Wonder's age, the label drew up a rolling five-year contract in which royalties would be held in trust until Wonder was 21. He and his mother would be paid a weekly stipend to cover their expenses: Wonder received $2.50 (equivalent to $26.31 in 2024) per week, and a private tutor was provided when Wonder was on tour.[18]
Wonder was put in the care of producer and songwriter Clarence Paul, and for a year they worked together on two albums.Tribute to Uncle Ray was recorded first, when Wonder was still 11 years old. Mainly covers ofRay Charles's songs, the album included a Wonder and Paul composition, "Sunset".The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie was recorded next, an instrumental album consisting mainly of Paul's compositions, two of which, "Wondering" and "Session Number 112", were co-written with Wonder.[20] Feeling Wonder was now ready, a song, "Mother Thank You", was recorded for release as a single, but then pulled and replaced by the Berry Gordy song "I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It the Blues" as his début single;[21] released summer 1962,[22] it almost broke into theBillboard 100, spending one week of August at 101.[23] Two follow-up singles, "Little Water Boy" and "Contract on Love", both had no success, and the two albums, released in reverse order of recording—The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie in September 1962 andTribute to Uncle Ray in October 1962—also met with little success.[20][24]
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 earlySmokey, say, but the music is purepuberty. 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 conceivecoming of age more conventionally, and less felicitously. But he sure coveredTony Bennett better thanthe Supremes orthe Tempts could have, now didn't he?
At the end of 1962, when Wonder was 12 years old, he joined theMotortown Revue, touring the "Chitlin' Circuit" of theatres across America that accepted black artists. At theRegal Theater, Chicago, his 20-minute performance was recorded and released in May 1963 as the albumRecorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius.[20] A single, "Fingertips", from the album was also released in May, and became a major hit.[26] The song, featuring a confident and enthusiastic Wonder returning for a spontaneous encore that catches out the replacement bass player, who is heard to call out "What key? What key?",[26][27] was a No. 1 hit on theBillboard Hot 100 when Wonder was aged 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart.[28] The single was simultaneously No. 1 on the R&B chart, the first time that had occurred.[29] His next few recordings were not successful; his voice was changing as he got older, and some Motown executives were considering cancelling his recording contract.[29][30] During 1964, Wonder appeared in two films as himself,Muscle Beach Party andBikini Beach, but these were not successful either.[31] Motown producer/songwriterSylvia Moy persuaded label owner Berry Gordy to give Wonder another chance.[29]
Dropping the "Little" from his name, Moy and Wonder worked together to create the hit "Uptight (Everything's Alright)",[29] and Wonder went on to have a number of other hits during the mid-1960s, including "With a Child's Heart", and "Blowin' in the Wind",[27] aBob Dylan song, co-sung by his mentor, producer Clarence Paul.[32] He also began to work in the Motown songwriting department, composing songs both for himself and his label mates, including "The Tears of a Clown", a No. 1 hit forSmokey Robinson and the Miracles (it was first released in 1967, mostly unnoticed as the last track of theirMake It Happen 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).[33]
In 1968, Wonder recorded an album of instrumental soul/jazz tracks, mostly harmonica solos, under the titleEivets Rednow, which is "Stevie Wonder" spelled backward.[34] The album failed to get much attention, and its only single, a cover of Burt Bacharach's and Hal David's "Alfie", only reached number 66 on the U.S. Pop charts and number 11 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary charts. Nonetheless, he managed to score several hits between 1967 and 1970 such as "I Was Made to Love Her",[32] "For Once in My Life" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours". A number of Wonder's early hits, including "My Cherie Amour", "I Was Made to Love Her", and "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", were co-written withHenry Cosby. The hit single "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" was Wonder's first-ever self-produced song.[35]
In 1969, Wonder participated in theSanremo Music Festival in Italy with the song "Se tu ragazzo mio", in conjunction withGabriella Ferri. Between 1967 and 1970, he recorded four 45 rpm singles[36][37][38][39] and an Italian LP.[40]
The first prototype of theOberheim Four Voice synthesizer, as used by Wonder. The front panel still shows thebraille labeling.
In September 1970, at the age of 20, Wonder marriedSyreeta Wright, a songwriter and former Motown secretary. Wright and Wonder worked together on the next album,Where I'm Coming From (1971), Wonder writing the music, and Wright helping with the lyrics.[42] Around this time, Wonder became interested in utilizing synthesizers after hearing albums byelectronic groupTonto's Expanding Head Band.[43] Wonder and Wright wanted to "touch on the social problems of the world", and for the lyrics "to mean something".[42] The album was released at around the same time asMarvin Gaye'sWhat's Going On. As both albums had similar ambitions and themes, they have been compared; in a contemporaneous review byVince Aletti inRolling 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.[44] Also in 1970, Wonder co-wrote (and played numerous instruments on) the hit "It's a Shame" for fellow Motown actthe Spinners. His contribution was meant to be a showcase of his talent and thus a weapon in his ongoing negotiations with Gordy about creative autonomy.[45] Reaching his 21st birthday on May 13, 1971, Wonder allowed his Motown contract to expire.[46]
During this period, Wonder independently recorded two albums and signed a new contract with Motown Records. The 120-page contract was a precedent at Motown and gave Wonder a much higherroyalty rate.[47] He returned to Motown in March 1972 withMusic of My Mind. Unlike most previous albums on Motown, which usually consisted of a collection of singles,B-sides and covers,Music of My Mind was a full-length artistic statement with songs flowing together thematically.[47] 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.[47]Music of My Mind marked the beginning of a long collaboration withTonto's Expanding Head Band (Robert Margouleff andMalcolm Cecil),[48][49] and with lyricistYvonne Wright.[50]
Released in late 1972, Wonder's albumTalking Book featured the No. 1 hit "Superstition",[51] which is one of the most distinctive and famous examples of the sound of the HohnerClavinet keyboard.[52]Talking Book also featured "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", which also peaked at No. 1. During the same time as the album's release, Wonder began touring with theRolling Stones to alleviate the negative effects from being pigeonholed as an R&B artist in America.[17] His touring with the Stones was also a factor behind the success of both "Superstition" and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life".[47][53] Between them, the two songs won threeGrammy Awards.[54] On an episode of the children's television showSesame Street that aired in April 1973,[55] Wonder and his band performed "Superstition", as well as an original called "Sesame Street Song", which demonstrated his abilities with television.
Wonder performing in 1973, during the early years of his "classic period"
Wonder's studio albumInnervisions, released in 1973, featured "Higher Ground" (No. 4 on the pop charts) as well as the trenchant "Living for the City" (No. 8).[51] 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.[56]Innervisions generated three more Grammy Awards, includingAlbum of the Year.[54] The album is ranked No. 34 onRolling Stone's500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[57] Wonder had become the most influential and acclaimed black musician of the early 1970s.[47]
On August 6, 1973, Wonder was injured in a serious automobile accident while on tour inNorth Carolina, when a car in which he was riding hit the back of a truck.[47][58] 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 his sense of taste.[59] Despite orders from his doctor to refrain from performing, Wonder performed at a homecoming benefit forShaw University inRaleigh, in November 1973.[60] Shaw was facing financial difficulties, so Wonder, who was a member of the university's board of trustees, rallied other acts includingExuma,LaBelle, andthe Chambers Brothers to join the concert, which raised more than $10,000 for the school's scholarship fund.[61]
Wonder embarked on a European tour in early 1974, performing in France at theMidem convention inCannes, in England at theRainbow Theatre in London, and on the German television showMusikladen.[62] On his return to the United States, he played a sold-out concert atMadison Square Garden in March 1974, highlighting both up-tempo material and long, building improvisations on mid-tempo songs such as "Living for the City".[47] The albumFulfillingness' First Finale appeared in July 1974 and set two hits high on the pop charts: the No. 1 "You Haven't Done Nothin'" and the Top Ten "Boogie on Reggae Woman". The Album of the Year was again one of three Grammys won.[54]
By 1975, at the age of 25, Wonder had won two consecutiveGrammy Awards: in 1974 forInnervisions and in 1975 forFulfillingness' First Finale.[68] In 1976, whenPaul Simon won the Album of the Year Grammy for hisStill Crazy After All These Years, he wryly noted: "I'd like to thank Stevie Wonder, who didn't make an album this year."[69][70]
The double album-with-extra-EP,Songs in the Key of Life, was released in September 1976. Sprawling in style 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.[47][51] The album became the first by an American artist to debut straight at No. 1 in theBillboard charts, where it stood for 14 non-consecutive weeks.[71] Two tracks became No. 1 Pop/R&B hits: "I Wish" and "Sir Duke". The baby-celebratory "Isn't She Lovely" 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.[54] The album ranks 4th onRolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[72]
Also in 1976, Wonder heard about the demonstration of the Kurzweil Reading Machine, the first multi-fontreading machine for the blind, onThe Today Show, and later became the user of the first production unit, beginning a long-term association between himself andRay Kurzweil.[73]
In 1982, Wonder released a retrospective of his 1970s work withStevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium, which included four new songs: the ten-minutefunk classic "Do I Do" (which featuredDizzy Gillespie), "That Girl" (one of the year's biggest singles to chart on theR&B side), "Front Line", a narrative about a soldier in theVietnam War that Wonder wrote and sang in the first person, and "Ribbon in the Sky", one of his many classic compositions. He also gained a No. 1 hit that year in collaboration withPaul McCartney in their paean to racial harmony, "Ebony and Ivory".
Also in 1982, Wonder invited Raymond Kurzweil to his Los Angeles recording studio, Wonderland,[76] and asked if "we could use the extraordinarily flexible computer control methods on the beautiful sounds of acoustic instruments?" In response, and with Wonder as musical advisor, Kurzweil foundedKurzweil Music Systems, which unveiled theKurzweil K250 in 1984.[77][73]
In 1983, Wonder performed the song "Stay Gold", the theme toFrancis Ford Coppola's film adaptation ofS. E. Hinton's novelThe Outsiders. Wonder wrote the lyrics. In 1983, he scheduled an album to be entitledPeople Work, Human Play. The album never surfaced and instead 1984 saw the release of Wonder's soundtrack album forThe Woman in Red. The lead single, "I Just Called to Say I Love You", 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. It went on to win anAcademy award for best song in 1985. Wonder accepted the award in the name ofNelson Mandela and was subsequently banned from all South African radio by theGovernment of South Africa.[78]
Incidentally, on the occasion of his 35th birthday, Stevie Wonder was honored by theUnited Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid for his stance against racism in South Africa that same year (1985).[79] The album also featured a guest appearance byDionne Warwick, 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 onThe Cosby Show, in the episode "A Touch of Wonder", where he demonstrated his ability to sample.
In 1987, Wonder appeared onMichael Jackson'sBad album, on the duet "Just Good Friends". Jackson also sang a duet with him entitled "Get It" on Wonder's 1987 albumCharacters. This was a minor hit single, as were "Skeletons" and "You Will Know". Wonder played harmonica on a remake of his own song, "Have a Talk with God" (fromSongs in the Key of Life in 1976), onJon Gibson's albumBody & Soul (1989).[80][81]
Wonder continued to release new material, but at a slower pace. He recorded a soundtrack album forSpike Lee's filmJungle Fever 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 movieJungle 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 theNobody's Child: Romanian Angel Appeal compilation.Conversation Peace and the live albumNatural Wonder were released in the 1990s.[82]
In 1992, Wonder went to perform atPanafest, a new international festival of music held biennially inGhana; it was during this trip that he composed many of the songs featured onConversation Peace, and he would describe in a 1995 interview the powerful impact his visit to that country had: "I'd only been there for 18 hours when I decided I'd eventually move there permanently."[82][83] In 1994, as co-chair of Panafest that year,[84] he headlined a concert at theNational Theatre inAccra, capital city of Ghana.[85]
Into the 21st century: Later career and collaborations
In 2000, Wonder contributed two new songs to the soundtrack forSpike Lee'sBamboozled album ("Misrepresented People" and "Some Years Ago").[93] 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'sA Time to Love. In June 2006, Wonder made a guest appearance onBusta Rhymes' albumThe Big Bang, on the track "Been through the Storm". He sings the refrain and plays the piano on theDr. Dre- andSha Money XL–produced track. He appeared again on the last track ofSnoop Dogg's 2006 albumTha Blue Carpet Treatment, "Conversations". The song is a remake of "Have a Talk with God" fromSongs in the Key of Life. In 2006, Wonder staged a duet withAndrea Bocelli on the latter's albumAmore, offering harmonica and additional vocals on "Canzoni Stonate". Wonder also performed at Washington, D.C.'s 2006A Capitol Fourth celebration.
Wonder's first new album in 10 years,A Time to Love, 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.[99] The first single, "So What the Fuss", was released in April. A second single, "From the Bottom of My Heart", was a hit on adult-contemporaryR&B radio. The album also featured a duet withIndia Arie on the title track "A Time to Love".
Wonder did a 13-date tour of North America in 2007, starting inSan Diego on August 23; this was his first U.S. tour in more than 10 years.[100] On September 8, 2008, he started the European leg of his Wonder Summer's Night Tour, the first time he had toured Europe in more than a decade. His opening show was at theNational Indoor Arena inBirmingham, in theEnglish Midlands. During the tour, he played eight UK gigs; four at theO2 Arena in London (filmed in HD and subsequently released as a live-in-concert release on DVD and Blu-Ray,Live At Last),[101] two in Birmingham and two at theM.E.N. Arena inManchester.[102]
In October 2020, Wonder announced that he had a newvanity label released viaRepublic Records, So What the Fuss Records, marking the first time his music was not released through Motown Records. The announcement was paired with the release of two singles: "Can't Put It in the Hands of Fate", a "socially-conscious" funk track, and "Where Is Our Love Song", whose proceeds will go towards the organizationFeeding America.[111][112][113]
In June 2021, Wonder appeared in the documentarySummer of Soul, directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, showing theHarlem Cultural Festival of 1969. In never-before-seen footage, a young 19-year-old Stevie Wonder is seen performing in front of thousands of people in Harlem. His performance shown in the documentary included "It's Your Thing" bythe Isley Brothers and a drum solo. Wonder talks about the turning point made in his career during this time and how this helped him get out of being seen as just a child star.[114]
In October 2022, Wonder celebrated his 50th anniversary of his projectTalking Book.[115]
On August 30, 2024, Wonder released his first new song in four years, "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart".[116] On July 3, 2025, he headlined at theLytham Festival, inLytham St Annes,Lancashire, UK.[117]
Future projects
By June 2008, Wonder was working on two projects simultaneously: a new album calledThe Gospel Inspired by Lula, which will deal with the various spiritual and cultural crises facing the world, andThrough 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 withTony Bennett andQuincy Jones concerning a rumored jazz album.[118] Bennett and Wonder recorded a rendition of "For Once in My Life" which earned them a Grammy for best pop collaboration with vocals in 2006;[54] Bennett died in 2023 and Jones died in 2024.
In 2013, Wonder revealed that he had been recording new material for two albums,When the World Began andTen Billion Hearts, in collaboration with producerDavid Foster, to be released in 2014.[119] The albums have not seen release.
In October 2020, while promoting his two recent singles, Wonder mentioned bothThrough the Eyes of Wonder andThe Gospel Inspired by Lula as projects in development (the former as an album that may feature both singles, and the latter as a future album he may record with his former label Motown).[120]
Legacy
Wonder receiving a standing ovation in theEast Room of theWhite House in 2011Handprint of Stevie Wonder with autograph: "LOVE IS THE KEY Happy BirthdayDr. King 9.26.83" Atlantic City Boardwalk New Jersey USA 2006
Wonder is one of the most notable and influentialpopular music figures of the 20th century. He is one of themost successful songwriters and musicians.[121] Virtually aone-man band during his peak years, his use of synthesizers and furtherelectronic musical instruments during the 1970s helped expand the sound ofR&B.[122] He is also credited as one of the artists who helped drive R&B into thealbum era, by crafting hisLPs as cohesive, consistent statements with complex sounds.[122] His "classic period", which culminated in 1976, was marked by his funky keyboard style, personal control of production, and use of integrated series of songs to makeconcept albums. In 1979, Wonder used Computer Music Inc.'s early music sampler, theMelodian, on his soundtrack albumStevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants". This was his firstdigital recording and one of the earliest popular albums to use the technology, which Wonder used for all subsequent recordings.
Wonder recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and also wrote and produced songs for many of his label mates and outside artists as well. In his childhood, he was best known for his harmonica work, but today he is better known for his keyboard skills and vocal ability. He plays the piano, synthesizer, harmonica,congas, drums,bongos, organ,melodica andClavinet. Wonder has been credited as a pioneer and influence to musicians of various genres, including pop,rhythm and blues,soul,funk and rock.[123]
Wonder's "classic period" is generally agreed to be between 1972 and 1976.[124][125][126] Some observers see aspects of 1971'sWhere I'm Coming From as certain indications of the beginning of Wonder's "classic period", such as its new funky keyboard style that Wonder used throughout the classic period.[126] Some determine Wonder's first "classic" album to be 1972'sMusic 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 aconcept album.[126] Others skip over early 1972 and determine the beginning of the classic period to be in late 1972 withTalking Book,[127] the album on which Wonder "hit his stride".[126]
Let me put it this way: Wherever I go in the world, I always take a copy ofSongs in the Key of Life. For me, it's the best album ever made, and I'm always left in awe after I listen to it. When people in decades and centuries to come talk about the history of music, they will talk aboutLouis Armstrong,Duke Ellington,Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder [...] he [Wonder] evolved into an amazing songwriter and a genuine musical force of nature. He's so multitalented that it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes him one of the greatest ever. But first, there's that voice. Along with Ray Charles, he's the greatest R&B singer who ever lived.
Wonder's albums during his "classic period" were considered very influential in the music world: the 1983Rolling Stone Record Guide said they "pioneered stylistic approaches that helped to determine the shape of pop music for the next decade";[51] in 2005, American recording artistKanye West said of his own work: "I'm not trying to compete with what's out there now. I'm really trying to compete withInnervisions andSongs in the Key of Life. It sounds musically blasphemous to say something like that, but why not set that as your bar?"[129]Slate magazine's pop critic, Jack Hamilton, said: "Most Americans follow up their 21st birthdays with a hangover; Stevie Wonder opted for arguably the greatest sustained run of creativity in the history of popular music. Wonder's "classic period"—the polite phrase for when Stevie spent five years ferociously dunking on the entire history of popular music with the releases ofMusic of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, andSongs in the Key of Life [...] We've never heard anything like it since, and barring another reincarnation, we never will again."[130]
The musicianship, the arranging. Stevie Wonder is the genius in our midst. You know, I'd put him pretty close toBach.
Wonder has been married three times. He was married to Motown singer-songwriter and frequent collaboratorSyreeta Wright from 1970 until their amicable divorce in 1972, after which their musical collaboration continued (she sang on 1995'sConversation Peace).[149] From 2001 until 2015, he was married to fashion designer Kai Millard.[150] In October 2009, Wonder and Millard separated; Wonder filed for divorce in August 2012 and the divorce was finalized in 2015.[151][152] In 2017, he married Tomeeka Bracy.[153]
Wonder has nine children with five women.[154][155] Two were born to Yolanda Simmons, whom Wonder met when she applied for a job as secretary for his publishing company.[156] Simmons gave birth to Wonder's daughter Aisha Morris on February 2, 1975.[157][158] 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".[156] Aisha was the inspiration for Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely?" (a six-minute track onSongs in the Key of Life that was an airplay-only hit; Wonder refused to shorten the song for a single). She is now a singer who has toured with her father and accompanied him on recordings, including his 2005 albumA Time to Love. Wonder and Simmons also had a son, Keita, in 1977.[159]
In 1983, Wonder had a son named Mumtaz Morris with Melody McCulley.[160][161] Wonder also has a daughter, Sophia, and a son, Kwame, with a woman whose identity has not been publicly disclosed.[159] 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.[155] The younger son, Mandla Kadjay Carl Stevland Morris, was born on May 13, 2005 (his father's 55th birthday).[150]
Wonder's ninth child and his second with Tomeeka Robyn Bracy (their first was daughter Zaiah), was born in December 2014, amid rumors that he would be the father to triplets.[162] This turned out not to be the case, and the couple named their new daughter Nia,[163] meaning "purpose" (one of the seven principles ofKwanzaa).[162]
Family and health
On May 31, 2006, Wonder's motherLula Mae Hardaway died in Los Angeles at the age of 76.[164] 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."[165]
At a concert in London'sHyde Park on July 6, 2019, Wonder announced that he would be undergoing akidney transplant in September.[1] The procedure was successfully performed in December 2019.[166]
Wonder joinedTwitter on April 4, 2018, and his first tweet was a five-minute video honoringMartin Luther King Jr. 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'spopular speech in 1963. Wonder's first tweet took the Internet by storm, and he also encouraged viewers to share their own videos about their dreams with thehashtag #DreamStillLives.[174]
On May 13, 2024, Wonder's 74th birthday, Ghana's PresidentNana Akufo-Addo conferred Ghanaian citizenship on him.[177][178][179] Wonder took the Oath of Allegiance and received his Certificate of Citizenship atJubilee House inAccra.[180]
Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals(awarded toTony Bennett and Wonder)
"For Once in My Life"
From 1965 to 1980 a self-produced artist received one Grammy Award as an artist and an additional one as a producer in the Record of the Year and Album of the Year categories
In December 2016, theCity of Detroit recognized Wonder's legacy by renaming a portion of his childhood street, Milwaukee Avenue West, between Woodward Avenue and Brush Street, as "Stevie Wonder Avenue".[186] He was also awarded an honorary key to the city, presented by MayorMike Duggan on the day of the unveiling of the new street sign.[187]
In 2023, Wonder was awarded theFreedom of the City ofNewcastle upon Tyne, England, conferred in recognition of his campaign to establish a U.S. national holiday for the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., who in November 1967 had received an honorary degree fromNewcastle University.[188]
2008: Ranked at number five on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists", making him as the third most successful male artist in the history ofBillboard Hot 100 chart.[200]
February 23, 2009: Recipient of the Library of Congress's secondGershwin Prize For Popular Song, honored by U.S. President Barack Obama at theWhite House.[201][202]
2009: Recipient of theMontreal Jazz Festival Spirit Award.[141] This special award underlines a popular artist's extraordinary contribution to the musical world. The Montreal Jazz Festival Spirit Award is in bronze.
March 6, 2010: Appointed a Commander of theOrder of Arts and Letters by French Culture MinisterFrédéric Mitterrand. Wonder had been due to be invested with this honor in 1981, but scheduling problems prevented this from happening. A lifetime achievement award was also given to Wonder on the same day, at France's biggest music awards.[204]
2013: Received the Music Makes One Global Ambassador Award from the outstanding music award ceremony of Asia and the World,Mnet Asian Music Awards.[208]
2016: Recipient of honorary key to Detroit, on the occasion of "Stevie Wonder Avenue" on the corner of the city's Milwaukee Avenue and Woodward Avenue.[211]
^abRibowski, Mark (2010).Signed, Sealed, and Delivered: The Soulful Journey of Stevie Wonder. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hardaway had her first child, Stevie's half-brother Milton, prior to her relationship with Judkins; following her split with Judkins, she rekindled her relationship with Milton's father, coincidentally named Paul Hardaway, who by now had another child of his own – Stevie's stepbrother Larry – and with whom she went on to have two more children, Stevie's half-sister Renee and half-brother Timmy
^"Stevie Wonder can still find sunshine in his life".Toronto Star. May 23, 1989. p. B2.His marriage to former Motown secretary Syreeta Wright had introduced him to transcendental meditation, which Wright was qualified to teach.
"(Pussy Pussy Pussy) Whose Kitty Cat Are You?" – Music and Lyrics by Marvin Montgomery (1996)
The entire song score fromThe Postman – Music and Lyrics by Jeffrey Barr, Glenn Burke, John Coinman, Joe Flood, Blair Forward, Maria Machado, and Jono Manson (1997)
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