Recorded an instrumental jazz album under the name "Eivets Rednow" "Stevie Wonder" spelled backwards. His first 1 hit was the half-improvised "Fingertips - Part 2", recorded live in concert The first live pop single to ever reach 1. You can the hear the musicians struggling to keep up with the young vocalist and harmonica player as he improvises rhythm and blues riffs, and at one point in the recording a musician is heard shouting "What key? What key? In , he announced his interest in running for mayor of Detroit in the election.
However, he never followed through with a campaign. His ex-wife, Syreeta , died of breast cancer in Los Angeles on July 6, In his acceptance speech for the Oscar for Best Song in , Wonder dedicated his award to imprisoned civil rights leader Nelson Mandela. The South African government promptly banned Wonder's music from the country. He has 7 children. He was born on his 55th birthday and is his and Kai's first child. Kadjaly is Swahili for "Born from God".
In addition to his being blind, he also has loss of smell due to a car crash in North Carolina from which he also has a scar. Shortly after reaching his 21st birthday in the spring of , he became the first Motown Recording artist to gain complete artistic control of his records. His song "Isn't She Lovely" from album "Songs in the Key of Life" was dedicated to then newborn daughter Aisha whose name and "baby sounds" can be heard on the track.
Also played harmonica on the recording. Oddly enough, two other vocalists introduced his smash hit "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" from album "Talking Book" before Wonder actually sang any lyrics. Respectively, these singers were James Gilstrap and Lani Groves. Voted the ninth greatest singer of the rock era in a Rolling Stone magazine poll in Selection was announced September Dedicated the finale of his "Live At Last" London concert to the memory of his beloved mother who had died 31 May Wonder performed his song "As" from album "Songs in the Key of Life" to commemorate the moment.
The funky "guitar riff" that underscores most of his song "Superstition" was actually generated on a Hohner D6 Clavinet keyboard that is still, to this day, a mainstay among Wonder's array of keyboard instruments.
Freddie Mercury once said he thought Wonder was the best ballad writer in the world. Stevie's signature mouth organ sound is created on his Hohner Reed Chromonica, a hole harmonica that's been part of his musical inventory for decades. He held the title until he was surpassed by thirty-two year old Josh Klinghoffer in He is the youngest artist ever to have a song reach number one on the charts.
Elton has described his album Songs in the Key of Life as the "best album ever made" and said he always takes a copy of it with him when he travels. He is among a handful of recording artists to have won the Album of the Year Grammy three times.
He is also the only artist to have won the Album of the Year Grammy award with three consecutive album releases. Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision.
Before I ride with somebody who's been drinking, I'll drive myself. I just dig audiences. That to me is the most worthwhile thing about this whole business. Just people coming to have a good time and letting me sing for them. For the most part, I feel really comfortable with what I've given to the people.
I want to give it to them again. Eyes lie if you ever look into them for the character of the person. Clearly, love is love, between a man and a woman, a woman and a man, a woman and a woman and a man and a man. What I'm not confused about is the world needing much more love, no hate, no prejudice, no bigotry and more unity, peace and understanding. I am what I am. I love me! And I don't mean that egotistically - I love that God has allowed me to take whatever it was that I had and to make something out of it.
Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle! As the s unfolded, the musician went through an unrivaled period of production. His album Talking Book offered two No.
Next up was Innervisions , a meditative concept album that was simultaneously introspective, political, critical and full of wit. The record featured two socially conscious No. All three singles fared well on the pop charts as well. Fulfillingness' First Finale , released after Wonder had survived a serious car accident that left him in a coma, displayed his trademark odes to romance and beauty while also looking squarely at spirituality and death. The sexy "Boogie on Reggae Woman" went to No.
Even with this array of accomplishments, it was the double album with EP set Songs in the Key of Life that many have hailed as Wonder's most legendary project and one of the greatest records of all time. Offering a rich span of songs with genre fusions aplenty, Songs covered everything from ethnic diversity in the U. Over the years, other artists struck gold with Wonder remakes, as seen with Aretha Franklin 's No. By those incredible lofty standards, the s weren't nearly as successful for Wonder.
Still, he continued to be a huge musical force. That same year, Wonder also released his greatest hits compilation Original Musiquarium I , which featured the No.
The single also won Wonder an Academy Award for best original song. Wonder released his next album, Square Circle , in , which featured the historic track "Part-Time Lover," the first song to ever reach No. The album Characters was released two years later, featuring two No. In addition to his acclaimed artistry, Wonder has routinely tackled social issues through his music and appearances. He successfully spearhead a movement to create a national holiday recognizing the birthday of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. That was really his No. When Wonder turned 21, he was due the money he had earned as a minor through an arrangement stipulated in a previous agreement. After considerable legal wrangling he managed to attain a unique degree of artistic and financial autonomy.
He wanted to be free so that he could bring the best of himself to the table. What Wonder brought to the table-with the establishment of his own music publishing company and near-total creative freedom-was an increasingly sophisticated body of work that managed to fuse the high spirits of classic soul, the syncopations of funk, exquisite melodies, and his own introspective and increasingly politicized lyrics.
Wonder's momentum was almost stopped permanently by a automobile accident that nearly claimed his life and left him with deep facial scars. If anything, however, this event caused him to become more focused. Virtually all of Wonder's work during the early to mids was essentially pop, most notably his albums Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and the epic Songs in the Key of Life.
In , Wonder released Journey through the Secret Life of Plants, the theme of which many listeners found eccentric. His Hotter Than July, with its reggae-driven hit "Master Blaster Jammin' ," indicated his continuing creative restlessness. Over the years Wonder became progressively more involved in politics, lobbying for gun control, against drunk driving, against the apartheid system enforced by South Africa's white minority, and on behalf of a national holiday in recognition of civil rights martyr Martin Luther King, Jr.
He played a number of benefits and made public service announcements, often winning honors for his advocacy. Wonder was less musically prolific in the s, but still achieved a great amount of success.
He won praise for his work on the soundtrack to Spike Lee's film Jungle Fever. It was said that Wonder composed the material in just three weeks. In , Wonder signed a unique lifetime pact with Motown. Stevie is what I call the crown jewel, the epitome. I wasn't looking at Stevie as an aging superstar but as an icon who could pull us into the future. I was in the Hard Rock Cafe in Tokyo last week, and they started playing my records, and I started crying, crying like a little kid, thinking how God has blessed me with all these songs.
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