Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder, 2009

Stevie Wonder (* 13. May 1950 as Stevland Hardaway Judkins Morris in Saginaw , Michigan ) is an American Soul - and pop singer, composer , multi-instrumentalist and producer . He celebrated his first successes in 1961 with the Motown label, where he still publishes his albums today.

In the early 1970s he became one of the most successful entertainers in the USA. He is considered to be the “innovator” of black music, whose varieties - spiritual , blues , R&B , soul, funk - he mastered and developed. Especially the years 1971 to 1976 with the albums Music of My Mind , Talking Book (1972), Innervisions (1973), Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974) and Songs in the Key of Life (1976) are considered to be his artistically most important phase.

At the same time Stevie Wonder became increasingly politically active; With his human rights campaign, launched in 1980 , he achieved that Martin Luther King's birthday has been a public holiday in the United States since 1986. Wonder has won several of the most important prizes in the entertainment industry such as the Grammy , Oscar and Golden Globe . In 1989 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his services to soul music . He has also been the UN Ambassador for Peace since 2009 .

Childhood, adolescence and 1970s

Stevie Wonder 1967

Stevie Wonder is the third of six children of the songwriter Lula Mae Hardaway (1930-2006), his father was Calvin Judkins. Wonder was born prematurely and was ventilated with high oxygen concentrations in the incubator . This led to retinopathy of prematurity and ultimately blindness . When Wonder was four years old, the family moved to Detroit , where he sang in the church choir . By the age of nine he mastered the piano , harmonica and drums .

Ronnie White from The Miracles discovered him in 1961 . This helped him to an audition date with the Motown boss Berry Gordy , who then signed him. Little Stevie Wonder made his first records in 1962: A Tribute to Uncle Ray (with cover titles by Ray Charles ) and The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie . A first success came in 1963 with the title Fingertips, Part 2 , in which Stevie Wonder played and sang the harmonica. The song was recorded live at a Motor Town Revue , with young Marvin Gaye on drums. The accompanying album The 12 Year Old Genius became Motown's first number one LP. At 14, Wonder's voice broke . He was studying classical piano at the Michigan School for the Blind at the time.

At the age of 18, Wonder began to influence the compositions and arrangement of his music on a larger scale : For Once in My Life (1968) and My Cherie Amour (1969) landed high in the charts as albums and single hits . In the early 1970s he was one of the most successful musicians in the Motown family. He took the opportunity to set up his own recording studio, significantly increase his royalties and gain greater control over his music. He started his own label, Black Bull Music. Over the years he developed his own style and thus had a lasting influence on soul music .

From 1970 to 1972 Stevie Wonder was married to the singer and songwriter Syreeta Wright. He also produced her first two albums and wrote numerous songs with her ( Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours, 1970; Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer , 1971; Come Back As A Flower , 1979). Syreeta's first top 20 hit in the UK, Your Kiss Is Sweet (1975), was also written by both of them. Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer was from Joan Baez and Phil Collins gecovert (Album Going Back ). Syreeta also worked as a background singer on songs by Wonder.

In 1972 Wonder brought out the album Talking Book , which contains outstanding soul and funk numbers with the songs You Are the Sunshine of My Life and Superstition . Superstition is seen by many keyboard players as a lesson in funky clavinet playing . Guitarist Jeff Beck assisted him on the song Lookin 'for Another Pure Love on this album . In the same year, the album Music of My Mind was released , which he recorded largely on his own, except for the guitar in the piece Superwoman , played by Buzz Feiten , and the trombone in the first piece and the background vocals.

In 1973 the album Innervisions followed with the hit Living for the City . In 1974 the album Fulfillingness' First Finale , 1976 Songs in the Key of Life was released , which includes some hits with the pieces Sir Duke , I Wish , As and Another Star . In addition, the song Pastime Paradise appeared on this album , which served rapper Coolio in 1995 as inspiration and sample source for his title Gangsta's Paradise . Wonder was supported on this album by 19-year-old Greg Phillinganes and Herbie Hancock on keyboards and George Benson on guitar. In 1979 he bought the KJLH radio station in Los Angeles for two million US dollars and founded the operating company Taxi Productions especially for this purpose.

Civil rights engagement

Stevie Wonder, 1990

Increasingly, the artist was involved in the American civil rights movement for equality for African Americans .

• In 1982 Ebony and Ivory was released, a song by Paul McCartney that hit the charts in numerous countries. The title actually means "black and white", which in turn symbolizes the peaceful coexistence of all people. To clarify the subject, McCartney ( "white" ) sang the song as a duet with Stevie Wonder ("black") . Ultimately, Wonder called himself back into the memory of the pop world through his participation and had an opportunity for his civil rights engagement.
• He dedicated the Oscar , which he received in 1984 for the song I Just Called to Say I Love You from the film The Woman in Red , to the apartheid victim Nelson Mandela .

Later productions and appearances

Stevie Wonder, 2006

In 1987 he sang the duet Just Good Friends with Michael Jackson on his album Bad . His record productions, which appear at ever larger intervals, were criticized as being below the artist's possibilities. For his 1995 solo album Conversation Peace he took eight years. In between he worked on the soundtrack to Spike Lee's Jungle Fever , with whom he is friends and at whose wedding he also played in 1992.

In 2005, after a long break, he again gained greater attention with the funk single So What the Fuss with Prince on guitar and the group En Vogue as a supporting voice. The critically acclaimed new album A Time 2 Love was released in October 2005. In 2007, Wonder and Tony Bennett won the Grammy Award for Best Collaboration with Vocal - Pop for the joint song For Once in My Life .

In 2007 and 2008, after a ten-year break, Wonder went on a world tour that also took him to Germany in autumn 2008. The concerts were enthusiastically received by the audience and critics. In January 2009 he released the song All About the Love Again for the inauguration of the President of the United States , Barack Obama . Previously, he had strongly supported Obama in the election campaign. In early 2009 the DVD Live at Last: A Wonder Summer's Night was released . In September 2014 Stevie Wonder announced that he would be going on a multi-week US tour in November / December 2014, the program of which consists exclusively of songs from his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life . In December 2013, on the occasion of his annual benefit concert House Full of Toys , he had performed the entire album with several guest musicians. This tour continued in both March / April and September to November in 2015 within the USA and Canada. The only European concert with this program to date took place in London in Hyde Park in July 2016 .

At Christmas time 2015 Stevie Wonder sang the song Someday at Christmas together with soul singer Andra Day for a commercial for the US company Apple . On the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's death on April 4, 2018, Stevie Wonder started the #DreamStillLives campaign . Stevie Wonder's aim is to revive the memory of the dream of an America without racism . The campaign is supported by 70 celebrities such as Barack Obama, Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen .

Appearances at honors

At the funeral service on July 7, 2009 on the occasion of the death of Michael Jackson , he appeared with a speech and sang his two songs Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer and They Won't Go When I Go .

Likewise, Stevie Wonder spoke at the funeral service for Whitney Houston on February 19, 2012, and then sang Ribbon in the Sky ; he had changed some lines of the lyrics of his song in honor of the deceased.

In June 2012 he performed at Buckingham Palace on the occasion of the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II of England.

On the occasion of Prince's death (April 21, 2016), a tribute evening in honor of the musician took place on October 13, 2016 in Saint Paul (US state Minnesota) in the Xcel Energy Center , on which Wonder also performed.

Private life

Wonder's marriage to Syreeta Wright ended in divorce in 1972. Both remained friends until Syreeta's death in 2004. In 2001, Wonder married fashion designer Karen Millard. In autumn 2012 he announced the separation from his wife; the marriage was divorced in October 2015. He has been married to Tomeeka Robyn Bracy since July 2017.

Wonder is the father of nine children with six wives. He has a daughter (* 1975) and a son (* 1977) with the secretary Yolanda Simmons, another son (* 1983) together with Melody McCulley, another daughter and another son (* 1988) of two not publicly named mothers , two sons (* 2001, 2005) from the relationship with the fashion designer Kai Millard Morris and another daughter (* 2013) with Tomeeka Robyn Bracy. At a concert on November 9, 2014, the singer gave the age of his current wife Tomeeka as almost 41 years (* 1973). In 2014 his ninth child was born, a daughter. He has been a vegan since 2014.

In September 2019, Stevie Wonder underwent a kidney transplant.

Discography

→ Main article : Stevie Wonder / Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1962	The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie	-	-	-	-	-	-	First published: September 1962
	Tribute to Uncle Ray	-	-	-	-	-	-	First published: October 1962
1963	With a song in my heart	-	-	-	-	-	-	First published: December 28, 1963
1964	Stevie at the Beach	-	-	-	-	-	-	First published: June 23, 1964
1966	Up tight	-	-	-	-	US33 (25 weeks) US	R&B2 (24 weeks) R&B	First published: May 4, 1966
	Down to Earth	-	-	-	-	US92 (7 weeks) US	R&B8 (12 weeks) R&B	First published: November 16, 1966
1967	I Was Made to Love Her	-	-	-	-	US45 (13 weeks) US	R&B7 (13 weeks) R&B	First published: August 27, 1967
	Someday at Christmas	-	-	-	-	-	-	First published: November 27, 1967
1968	Eivets Rednow	-	-	-	-	-	R&B37 (2 weeks) R&B	First published: November 20, 1968
	For Once in My Life	-	-	-	-	US50 (18 weeks) US	R&B4 (19 weeks) R&B	First published: December 8, 1968
1969	My cherie amour	-	-	-	UK17 (2 weeks) UK	US34 (20 weeks) US	R&B3 (26 weeks) R&B	First published: August 29, 1969
1970	Signed, Sealed & Delivered	-	-	-	-	US25 (16 weeks) US	R&B7 (23 weeks) R&B	First published: August 7, 1970
1971	Where I'm Coming From	-	-	-	-	US62 (27 weeks) US	R&B7 (28 weeks) R&B	First published: April 12, 1971
1972	Music of My Mind	-	-	-	-	US21 (35 weeks) US	R&B6 (31 weeks) R&B	First published: March 3, 1972
	Talking Book	-	-	-	UK16 gold (48 weeks)UK	US3 (109 weeks) US	R&B1 (40 weeks) R&B	First published: October 28, 1972 Sales: + 100,000
1973	Innervisions	-	-	-	UK8th gold (55 weeks)UK	US4 (89 weeks) US	R&B1 (51 weeks) R&B	First published: Aug. 3, 1973 Sales: + 100,000; Grammy Award
1974	Fulfillingness' First Finale	DE32 (1 month) DE	-	-	UK5 gold (16 weeks)UK	US1 (65 weeks) US	R&B1 (39 weeks) R&B	First published: July 22, 1974 Sales: + 100,000; 2 × Grammy Award
1976	Songs in the Key of Life	DE23 (11 months) DE	AT15 (1 month) AT	-	UK2 platinum (62 weeks)UK	US1 diamond (80 weeks)US	R&B1 (48 weeks) R&B	First published: Sep 28, 1976 Sales: +10,300,000; 2 × Grammy Award
1980	Hotter than July	DE12 (32 weeks) DE	AT2 (11 months) AT	-	UK2 platinum (55 weeks)UK	US3 platinum (40 weeks)US	R&B1 (48 weeks) R&B	First published: Sep 29, 1980 Sales: + 1,665,000
1985	In Square Circle	DE8 (21 weeks) DE	AT12 (1½ months) AT	CH4 (14 weeks) CH	UK6th gold (15 weeks)UK	US5 × 2 Double platinum (50 weeks)US	R&B1 (52 weeks) R&B	First published: September 13, 1985 Sales: + 2,100,000; Grammy Award
1987	Characters	DE55 (3 weeks) DE	AT21 (½ month) AT	CH23 (2 weeks) CH	UK33 gold (4 weeks)UK	US17th platinum (31 weeks)US	R&B1 (48 weeks) R&B	First published: November 6, 1987 Sales: + 1,100,000
1995	Conversation Peace	DE34 (9 weeks) DE	AT17 (10 weeks) AT	CH28 (4 weeks) CH	UK8 (4 weeks) UK	US16 gold (15 weeks)US	R&B2 (20 weeks) R&B	First published: March 21, 1995 Sales: + 500,000
2005	A time to love	DE43 (3 weeks) DE	-	CH24 (5 weeks) CH	UK24 silver (3 weeks)UK	US5 gold (19 weeks)US	R&B2 (23 weeks) R&B	First published: October 18, 2005 Sales: + 600,000

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

harmonica

• 1975 Steppin 'in It ( Herbie Hancock )
• 1982 Samurai ( Djavan )
• 1983 Spice of Life ( The Manhattan Transfer )
• 1983 I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues ( Elton John )
• 1984 I Feel for You ( Chaka Khan )
• 1985 There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart) ( Eurythmics )
• 1985 I do love you (The Beach Boys)
• 1987 As Time Goes By ( Carly Simon )
• 1989 "Have a talk with God" (Jon Gibson)
• 1994 Deuce ( Kiss My Ass ( tribute album ); with Lenny Kravitz )
• 1998 St. Louis Blues (Herbie Hancock)
• 1999 Brand New Day ( Sting )
• 1999 In a Rush ( BLACKstreet )
• 2005 Expressions of Love ( Raul Midón )
• 2006 Canzoni Stonate (Andrea Bocelli)
• 2012 Only our Hearts (Paul McCartney)
• 2018 Stop trying to be God (Travis Scott)

Awards

Stevie Wonder and Barack Obama, 2009

In 1999 he received the "unofficial Nobel Prize for Music ", the Polar Music Prize .

Stevie Wonder has received 25 Grammys to date. In 1985 he was awarded the Golden Globe for the soundtrack to the film The Woman in Red . For his title song I just called to say I love you , he also received an Oscar for best song at the 57th Academy Awards in 1984 . On February 25, 2009 he was awarded the prestigious Gershwin Prize by the American President Barack Obama . In 2014 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom .

The Rolling Stone listed Wonder 15th of the 100 greatest musicians, ninth of the 100 best singers and ten of the 100 best songwriters of all time .

Web links

Commons : Stevie Wonder  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Stevie Wonder in the catalog of the German National Library
• Stevie Wonder at the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Stevie Wonder at Discogs (English)
• Stevie Wonder at Allmusic (English)
• Stevie Wonder at laut.de
• Official website (English)
• UK-website (English)
• SP website (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Official artist subpage on motown.com
2. ↑ Short biography with the most important key data , Taurus Verlag
3. ^ Review of the album Music of My Mind . All music or biography. contactmusic.com
4. ↑ Martin Luther King a public holiday since 1986
5. ↑ Biography with reference to RRHOF inclusion , rockonthenet.com
6. ^ "Singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder designated UN Messenger of Peace" , UN News Center
7. ^ ZPA (magazine for practical ophthalmology). March 2010, p. 162.
8. ↑ timtvhollywood.com
9. ↑ timtvhollywood.com
10. ^ Dan Charnas: The Big Payback. Penguin, 2011, ISBN 978-1-101-56811-8 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
11. ↑ ^{a b} The sunshine of our lives - Stevie Wonder turns 60 . In: FAZ , May 13, 2010
12. ↑ The song from the Apple advertisement for Christmas. In: musikradar.de. December 14, 2015, accessed December 24, 2015 . 
13. ↑ Apple - Someday At Christmas - Stevie Wonder + Andra Day on YouTube
14. ↑ Stevie Wonder celebrates Martin Luther King. Retrieved April 5, 2018 . 
15. ↑ Jon Bream: Prince tribute shows why he is missed. In: StarTribune.com. October 14, 2016, accessed October 14, 2016 . 
16. ↑ Stevie Wonder Marries Tomeeka Robyn Bracy . In: people.com . July 19, 2017 ( online [accessed July 24, 2017]).
17. ^ Stevie Wonder Family Tree & History, Ancestry & Genealogy - FameChain. Retrieved August 23, 2020 . 
18. ↑ Stevie Wonder's ex-wife receives $ 22,000 maintenance. October 8, 2015, accessed on August 23, 2020 (German). 
19. ↑ Stevie Wonder Fast Facts. In: CNN. Retrieved April 6, 2016 . 
20. ↑ CNN Editorial Research: Stevie Wonder Fast Facts. Retrieved August 23, 2020 . 
21. ^ Stevie Wonder Expecting Triplets With 25-Year-Old Fiancée [Report]. Retrieved August 23, 2020 . 
22. ↑ Stevie Wonder became a father for the ninth time ( Memento from December 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
23. ↑ Stevie Wonder Creates Impromptu Song About Going Vegan . vegnews.com
24. ↑ How is Stevie Wonder doing today? In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten. May 13, 2020, accessed July 27, 2020 . 
25. ↑ Wonders Award , IMDB.com
26. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung , February 27, 2009
27. ↑ 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 . 
28. ↑ 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. Rolling Stone , December 2, 2010, accessed August 8, 2017 . 
29. ↑ The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. Rolling Stone , August 2015, accessed August 8, 2017 .