The Great 70s

Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. A prominent figure in popular music during the latter half of the 20th century, Wonder has recorded more than thirty US top ten hits, won twenty-two Grammy Awards (a record for a solo artist), plus one for lifetime achievement, won an Academy Award for Best Song, ] and been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame. He has also been awarded the Polar Music Prize.

Blind from birth, Wonder signed with Motown Records at the age of eleven, and continues to perform and record for the label. He has ten US number-one hits on the pop charts including twenty R&B number one hits, and album sales totaling more than 150 million units. 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, congas, drums, bongos, organ, talk box, melodica, and clavinet. 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 is the first Motown artist and first African American musician to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song for his 1984 hit single "I Just Called to Say I Love You".

Wikipedia contributors. Stevie Wonder. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. February 22, 2009, 22:21 UTC. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stevie_Wonder&oldid=272588791. Accessed February 23, 2009.