Steve Winwood | |
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.jpg) Winwood in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Stephen Lawrence Winwood (1948-05-12)12 May 1948 (age 77) Handsworth, Birmingham, England |
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| Years active | 1961–present |
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| Website | stevewinwood |
Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres includeblue-eyed soul,rhythm and blues,blues rock, andpop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his distinctivesoulful hightenor voice, Winwood also plays instruments includingmandolin, bass, drums and percussion.
Winwood achieved fame during the 1960s and 1970s as an integral member of three successful bands:the Spencer Davis Group (1964–1967),Traffic (1967–1969 and 1970–1974), andBlind Faith (1969). During the 1980s, his solo career flourished and he had a number of hit singles, including "While You See a Chance" (1980) from the albumArc of a Diver and "Valerie" (1982) fromTalking Back to the Night ("Valerie" became a hit when it was re-released with a remix from Winwood's 1987 compilation albumChronicles).
Winwood's 1986 albumBack in the High Life marked his career zenith, with hit singles including "Back in the High Life Again", "The Finer Things", and the USBillboard Hot 100 number 1 hit "Higher Love". He reached number 1 on the Hot 100 again with "Roll with It" (1988) from the albumRoll with It, with "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" and "Holding On" also charting highly the same year. Although his hit singles ceased after the 1980s, he continued to release new albums. His most recent album,Nine Lives, was released in 2008. The 2004 song "Call on Me", built on a sample of "Valerie", spent five weeks at No. 1 on theUK singles chart.
In 2004, Winwood was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic. He has won twoGrammy Awards and anIvor Novello Award, and has been honored as aBMI Icon. In 2008,Rolling Stone ranked Winwood the 33rd-greatest singer. In 2025, Winwood was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King'sBirthday Honours.
Winwood was born on 12 May 1948[1] inHandsworth, Birmingham.[2][3] His father Lawrence, afoundryman by trade, was a semi-professional musician, playing mainly the saxophone and clarinet. Steve Winwood began playing piano at the age of four while interested inswing andDixieland jazz, and soon started playing drums and guitar. He was also a choirboy atSt John the Evangelist's Church, Perry Barr. The family moved from Handsworth to Atlantic Road,Kingstanding, Birmingham,[4] and he attendedGreat Barr School, one of the firstcomprehensive schools. He also attended classes at theBirmingham and Midland Institute to develop his skills as a pianist, but did not complete his course.[5][page needed] During this time, he befriended futureFleetwood Mac memberChristine Perfect.[6][better source needed]
At eight years of age, Winwood first performed with his father and elder brotherMuff in the Ron Atkinson band.[7] Muff Winwood later recalled that when Steve began playing regularly with him and his father in licensed pubs and clubs, the piano had to be turned with its back to the audience to try to hide him because he was so obviously underage.[8]
While still a pupil at Great Barr School, Winwood was a part of the Birminghamblues rock scene, playing theHammond C-3 organ and guitar, backingblues and rock legends such asMuddy Waters,John Lee Hooker,Howlin' Wolf,B. B. King,Chuck Berry, andBo Diddley on their United Kingdom tours,[citation needed] the custom at that time being for US singers to travel solo and be backed bypick-up bands. At this time, Winwood was living on Atlantic Road in Kingstanding, close to the Birmingham music halls where he played. Winwood modelled his singing afterRay Charles.[4]
In 1963, Winwood (then known as "Stevie" Winwood) became singer and keyboardist ofthe Spencer Davis Group,[9] with his older brotherMuff Winwood on bass,Spencer Davis on guitar, andPete York on drums. Davis had been impressed by the Winwood brothers after he saw them performing as the Muffy Wood Jazz Band at theGolden Eagle in Birmingham.[10] The Spencer Davis Group made their debut at the Eagle and subsequently had a Monday-night residency there.[11] Winwood's distinctive high tenor singing voice and vocal style drew comparisons to Ray Charles.[12]
In 1964, the Spencer Davis Group signed their first recording contract withIsland Records. Producer and founderChris Blackwell later said of Winwood, "He was really the cornerstone of Island Records. He's a musical genius and because he was with Island all the other talent really wanted to be with Island."[13] The group's first single "Dimples" was released 10 days after Winwood's 16th birthday.[14]
The group had two UKNo. 1 singles in late 1965 and early 1966 with "Keep on Running" and "Somebody Help Me";[15] the money from this success allowed Winwood to buy his ownHammond organ.[4] Winwood co-wrote the band's breakthrough hits in America, "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man", both of which went Top 10 in the US and UK in late 1966 and early 1967.[16][17][18] Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group in April 1967.
Winwood met drummerJim Capaldi, guitaristDave Mason, and multi-instrumentalistChris Wood when they jammed together atThe Elbow Room, a club inAston, Birmingham.[19][20] After Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group in April 1967, the quartet formedTraffic.[21] Soon thereafter, they rented a cottage near the rural village ofAston Tirrold, Berkshire (nowOxfordshire), to write and rehearse new music.[19][20][22] This allowed them to escape the city and develop their music.[23][22]
Early in Traffic's formation, Winwood and Capaldi formed a songwriting partnership, with Winwood writing music to match Capaldi's lyrics. This partnership was the source of most of Traffic's material, including popular songs such as "Paper Sun", "No Face, No Name, No Number", "Dear Mr. Fantasy", and "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys", and outlived the band, producing several songs for Winwood's and Capaldi's solo albums. Over the band's history, Winwood performed the majority of their lead vocals, keyboard instruments, and guitars, guitars more so after Mason's departure in 1968. Traffic disbanded in early 1969 after two albums,Mr. Fantasy (1967) andTraffic (1968), with a third album,Last Exit, being issued later that year.
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Following Traffic's split, Winwood formed thesupergroupBlind Faith, along with formerCream membersEric Clapton (guitar) andGinger Baker (drums), and formerFamily memberRic Grech (bass).[24] The band produced onlyone album, which reached No. 1 in both the UK and US, and included "Can't Find My Way Home". The band was short-lived owing to Clapton's greater interest in Blind Faith's opening act on tour,Delaney & Bonnie & Friends; Clapton left the band at the tour's completion, bringing Blind Faith to an end.
In 1970, Winwood went into the studio to begin work on a solo album, tentatively titledMad Shadows. He called in his former Traffic bandmates Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood to help, resulting in the Traffic reunion album,John Barleycorn Must Die.[25] Traffic would continue for another five albums,Welcome to the Canteen (1971),The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971),Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory (1973),On the Road (1973) andWhen the Eagle Flies (1974). Weariness with the grind of touring and recording prompted Winwood to break up Traffic in 1974 and retire to session work for several years.[26][22]
In 1966, three years before Blind Faith, Winwood guested with Eric Clapton as part of the temporary groupEric Clapton and the Powerhouse. Three tracks were recorded and released on the 1966 various artists compilation album,What's Shakin'.[27] In 1968, Winwood was recruited byJimi Hendrix to play organ for "Voodoo Chile" on theElectric Ladyland album.[28][29]
Following the end of Blind Faith, Winwood and Ric Grech continued working with Ginger Baker, as part ofGinger Baker's Air Force, who also featured Winwood's Traffic bandmate Chris Wood.[25] Winwood played on theirself-titled first album, released in 1970.
In 1972, Winwood recorded the part of Captain Walker in the highly successfulorchestral version ofthe Who'sTommy. He recorded a 1973 album withRemi Kabaka and Abdul Lasisi Amao, as Third World,Aiye-Keta. Later, after the unrelated reggae groupThird World had formed, the album was re-released and identified by the band members' names. In 1976, Winwood provided vocals and keyboards onGo, a concept album by Japanese composerStomu Yamashta.[30] That same year, Winwood also played guitar on theFania All Stars'Delicate and Jumpy record and performed as a guest with the band in their only UK appearance, a sold-out concert at theLyceum Theatre, London.[31][32]
Under pressure from Island Records, Winwood released hisself-titled first solo album in 1977. In 1979 he played keyboards on theMarianne Faithfull albumBroken English, including synthesizer on the tracks "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" and "Broken English" which were taken as singles from the album.[33]
In 1980, Winwood released his second solo album,Arc of a Diver, which included his first solo hit, "While You See a Chance". This was followed byTalking Back to the Night in 1982,[34] which featured the song "Valerie", which would eventually become a hit single upon re-release in 1987. BothArc of a Diver andTalking Back to the Night were recorded at his home inGloucestershire with Winwood playing all instruments.
In 1986, Winwood travelled to New York City for his next album project. There, he enlisted the help of a coterie of stars to recordBack in the High Life. The album went triple platinum in the US, with its first single "Higher Love" reaching number 1 on theBillboard Hot 100 and earning WinwoodGrammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. He embarked on an extensive tour of North America in support of the album,[35] and at the end of the tour, he divorced Nicole Weir in England then settled in theNashville area with his new American wife, Eugenia Crafton.[36]
With the exception of 1969'sBlind Faith, Winwood had been with Island Records since the Spencer Davis Group's first single in 1964. However, at the peak of his commercial success, Winwood moved toVirgin Records and released the albumsRoll with It (1988) andRefugees of the Heart (1990).[37]Roll with It and its title track hit No. 1 on the US album and singles charts in the summer of 1988.
In 1994, Winwood and Jim Capaldi reformed as Traffic for the albumFar from Home. Despite lacking a significant hit, it broke the top 40 in both the UK and US.[38][39] The band toured that year, which included a performance at theWoodstock '94 Festival. That same year, Winwood appeared on theA Tribute To Curtis Mayfield CD, recording Mayfield's "It's All Right".[40]
In 1995, Winwood released "Reach for the Light" for theanimated filmBalto. Winwood's final Virgin album,Junction Seven, was released in 1997, reaching the UK top 40.[41] Later that year, he toured the US, and sang withChaka Khan at theVH-1 Honors.[42][better source needed]
In 1998, Winwood joinedTito Puente,Arturo Sandoval,Ed Calle, and other musicians to form the band "Latin Crossings" for a European tour, after which they split without making any recordings. Winwood also appeared in the filmBlues Brothers 2000, as a member of the Louisiana Gator Boys, appearing on stage withIsaac Hayes,Eric Clapton, andKoKo Taylor at the battle of the bands competition.[43][page needed]
In 2003, Winwood released a new album,About Time, on his new record label, Wincraft Music. In 2004,Eric Prydzsampled Winwood's 1982 song "Valerie" for the song "Call on Me". After hearing an early version, Winwood not only gave permission to use his song, but also re-recorded the samples for Prydz to use, to facilitatecopyright clearance. The remix spent five weeks at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.[44]
In 2005, Winwood's Soundstage Performances DVD was released. That same year, he appeared on Grammy Award winnerAshley Cleveland's albumMen and Angels Say, a mix of rock, blues, and country arrangements of well-known hymns, including "I Need Thee Every Hour", which featured a vocal duet and organ performance. On her 2006 recordBack to Basics,Christina Aguilera featured Winwood (using the piano and organ instrumentation from theJohn Barleycorn Must Die track "Glad") on her song "Makes Me Wanna Pray".[45]
In May 2007, Winwood performed in support of theCountryside Alliance, an organisation opposed to theHunting Act 2004, in a concert atHighclere Castle, joining fellow rock artists Eric Clapton,Bryan Ferry,Steve Harley, andKenney Jones.[46] In July 2007, Winwood performed with Clapton in the latter'sCrossroads Guitar Festival. Among the songs they played were "Presence of the Lord" and "Can't Find My Way Home" from their Blind Faith days, with Winwood playing several guitar leads during a six-song set. The two continued their collaboration with three sold-out nights atMadison Square Garden in New York City in February 2008.[47]
Winwood's next albumNine Lives was released in 2008.[48][49][better source needed]Nine Lives opened at No. 12 on theBillboard 200 album chart,[50] his highest US debut ever.[citation needed] On 19 February 2008, Winwood and Clapton released a collaborativeEP throughiTunes titledDirty City. Clapton and Winwood released a CD and DVD of their Madison Square Garden shows and then toured together in the summer of 2009.[51]
In 2008, Winwood was awarded an honorary doctorate from theBerklee College of Music[52] to add to his honorary degree fromAston University, Birmingham.[citation needed]
On 28 March 2012, Winwood was one ofRoger Daltrey's special guest stars for "An Evening with Roger Daltrey and Friends" gig, in aid of theTeenage Cancer Trust at theRoyal Albert Hall.[53]
In 2013, Winwood toured North America withRod Stewart as part of the"Live the Life" tour.[54] In 2014, Winwood toured North America withTom Petty & the Heartbreakers.[55]
On 17 February 2020, Winwood participated in "A Tribute to Ginger Baker", which took place atEventim Apollo Hammersmith in London. Other participants were Ron Wood, Roger Waters, and Eric Clapton. The concert was held in honour of Ginger Baker, his former band member in Blind Faith, who had died the previous year.[56]
On 7 May 2023, Winwood performed as part of theCoronation Concert atWindsor Castle, where he sang "Higher Love" backed by virtual choirs from theCommonwealth realms.[57]
In 2024 Winwood toured North America with the Doobie Brothers.[58]
Winwood has spoken very little publicly about the origin or meaning of the songs he has written. He has said that "when I write a song, I don't like to have to explain it afterwards. To me, it's like telling a joke, then having to explain it. The explanation doesn't add to the song at all."[59]
Winwood was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Traffic in 2004.[60][61] In 2005, Winwood was honoured as aBMI Icon at the annual BMI London Awards for his "enduring influence on generations of music makers."[62][63] In 2008,Rolling Stone ranked Winwood No. 33 on its list of 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.[64] Winwood has won twoGrammy Awards.[65][66][67]
He was nominated twice for aBrit Award for Best British Male Artist: 1988 and 1989.[citation needed] In 2011, he received theIvor Novello Award from theBritish Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for Outstanding Song Collection.[68][69]
Between 1978 and 1986, Winwood was married to Nicole Weir (d. 2005), who had contributed background vocals to some of his early solo work. The two married atCheltenham Register Office.[70]
Winwood's primary residence is a 300-year-oldmanor house inTurkdean in theCotswolds, where he also has a recording studio.[71] Winwood also has a home inNashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Eugenia Crafton, a Tennessee native whom he married in 1987. They have four children.[72][73][74]
In 2011, one of Winwood's daughters, Mary Clare, married businessmanBen Elliot, laterco-chairman of the Conservative Party between July 2019 and September 2022.[75] The couple have two sons.[76] Another daughter, Lilly, is a singer; she was featured with Winwood performing a duet of his song "Higher Love" in aHershey commercial.[77] She was the opening act and was backing singer for her father's 2018 Greatest Hits Live tour.[78]
In June 2025 Winwood was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in theKing's Birthday Honours for services to music.[79][80]
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(Winwood exploded onto the London music scene as a teenager with his powerful, soulful tenor). "I thought he had the greatest voice," saidBilly Joel, "this skinny little English kid singing like Ray Charles."
The stairway to classic-rock heaven extended straight into Hollywood Bowl Tuesday night as '60s British rock heroes Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood closed their all-too-quick 14-city, three-week U.S. tour with a nearly 2½-hour excursion through the music they created, individually and collectively, three and four decades ago.
Steve Winwood exploded onto the London music scene as a teenager with his powerful, soulful tenor—notably on "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man" with the Spencer Davis Group.
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