The Biography Of Stevie Wonder

Early Childhood:

Stevie Wonder was born on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw Michigan. Stevie was born prematurely, causing many health problems, the most noticeable one was his blindness. Stevie's life was filled with poverty, hunger, and abuse from his father. One day her mother forced his father out of the house, after that day, Stevie and his family moved to Detroit. Stevie was blind at birth but at the age of 10, he learned 3 instruments, the drums, harmonica, and piano which are arguably some of the hardest instruments to play. It was almost every day he went to a neighbor's house and practiced the piano. The thing that makes that even more impressive is that he taught himself all three. Stevie was signed his first record deal at the age of 10 and by the age of 12 he was known as little Stevie wonder, the 12-year-old genius, and began to make a following.

Early Adulthood:

At the age of 22 Stevie Wonder signed a thirteen-million-dollar contract with Motown records which gave him more creative freedom and better Royalty Rates. On August 6th, 1973 Stevie was sleeping in a car and the driver of the car got distracted and got both of them into a crash. Stevie was immediately put in intense care and was in a coma for several days. He eventually recovered full of this accident and went on and that event became an inspiration for his music. Stevie Wonder won 6 Grammy awards in his lifetime. His first one was in the year 1986 and his most recent reward was in 2009 and it was the Gershwin Prize for Most Popular Song. Stevie Wonder is now currently 68 years old and has 8 kids. He has had 3 wives. The longest lasting marriage was with Kai Millard Morris for 14 years.

Inspiration:

One of Stevie's idols was named Ray Charles. He was also a singer and song writer, and the reason Stevie looked up to him so much is because he was also blind and was able to achieve something that Stevie wanted to achieve with the same disability. At the age of 12 he released his second album which was a tribute to the passed away singer called Tribute to Uncle Ray. The inspiration for his later music was his car crash that I explained in the last paragraph that almost took his life. His music then became very inspirational and touching. A big inspiration for one of his hit songs “Happy Birthday”, was the death of Martin Luther King. He wrote the song for a massive campaign to make Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday. Other inspirations were such things as the AIDS epidemic, and raising money for famine in Africa, which was the reason he co-wrote the song “We Are the World”.

Building Upon Success:

The moment that really made Stevie successful was the signing with Motown Records, and his first album, The Jazz Souls of Little Stevie. This gained him his first real footing in the music world and gave him good momentum. This momentum led to him releasing his first single that also hit number one on the R&B charts called “Fingertips, pt.2”. This granted even more success for him, later in life he released hit songs like “Signed sealed delivered” and “Superstition”. Stevie had one album that was considered his best by most if not all and was considered one of the greatest records of all time. At this point Stevie was at his prime and at his peak in his career and it was because of this legendary release.

Philanthropic Deeds:

Stevie Wonder after his hit songs and Height of his career, went to put most of his money to different causes and charities. He was involved in 28 charities in total and involved himself in 27 different causes. As I previously stated, he co-wrote the song “We Are the World” and preformed it with Bruce Springsteen for the Famine in Africa. Some of Stevie's other charities he worked with are the Special Olympics, Stand up to cancer, Hearts of gold, the Elton John AIDS foundation, etc. These same foundations are also promoted by John Legend, Beyoncé, Elton John, and a few other celebrities. Stevie wonder also has his own charity called the Wonder Foundation and it was founded to help the survivors of hurricane Katrina.