Stevie Wonder siblings-American musician, Stevie Wonder was born on May 13th, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan in the United States of America.
He was born six weeks early, which combined with the oxygen-rich environment of the hospital incubator to induce retinopathy of prematurity, a condition in which the development of the eyes is stunted and results in the retinas detaching, rendering him blind.
When Wonder was four years old, his mother filed for divorce from his father and relocated to Detroit, Michigan, where Wonder participated in the Whitestone Baptist Church choir as a young child.
Later, she reestablished her relationship with the father of her first child, whose last name also happened to be Hardaway, and changed her name back to Lula Hardaway. She then had two more children.
Stevie’s surname was legally changed to Morris when he joined with Motown in 1961; according to Lula Mae Hardaway’s authorized biography, this was an old family name. Little Stevie Wonder was the stage name that Berry Gordy came up with.
He started learning to play the piano, harmonica, and drums at a young age. Together with a buddy, he started the singing duo Stevie and John. They periodically performed at events like dances and parties as well as on street corners.
Wonder went to Fitzgerald Elementary School in Detroit when he was younger. The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, his debut album, was published in 1962, and soon after that he enrolled in the Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing, Michigan.
Stevie Wonder career
Wonder is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz.
Wonder was a virtual one-man band who revolutionized R&B in the 1970s by using synthesizers and other electronic instruments.
Incorporating socially conscious remarks into his LPs’ intricate compositions, he also contributed to bringing such genres into the album era.
Wonder, a child prodigy who had been blind since shortly after his birth, signed with Motown’s Tamla label at the age of 11 and was given the stage name Little Stevie Wonder.
Wonder’s single “Fingertips” was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, at the age of 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart. Wonder’s critical success was at its peak in the 1970s.
With the release of Music of My Mind and Talking Book in 1972, which included “Superstition,” one of the most recognizable and well-known instances of the sound of the Hohner Clavinet piano, his “classic phase” officially began.
He holds the joint record for the most Album of the Year awards with three thanks to his albums Innervisions (1973), Fulfillingness’ First Finale (1974), and Songs in the Key of Life (1976).
He is the only musician to have received the honor while releasing three albums in a row. In the 1980s, Wonder started his “commercial period.”
During this time, he had his biggest hits, attained the highest level of fame, increased album sales, participated in charitable causes, worked with notable artists (like Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson), had an impact on politics, and made numerous television appearances.
Wonder has continued to support political and musical causes. With over 100 million recordings sold globally, he is one of the most successful musicians ever.
He has one Academy Award and 25 Grammy Awards, the most of any solo musician (Best Original Song, for the 1984 film The Woman in Red). The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame have all recognized Wonder.
He is renowned for his work as a political activist, particularly for his 1980 drive to have Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday declared a federal holiday in the United States.
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014 after being appointed a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2009.
Meet Stevie Wonder’s siblings
Wonder shares the same parents with his five siblings; Calvin Hardaway, Larry Judkins Hardaway, Milton Hardaway, Renee Hardaway and Timothy Hardaway.
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