Stevland Hardaway Morris was born in Michigan, USA on May 13th 1950, was married 3 times and has 9 children. Apart from singing, he writes songs as well as plays different musical instruments. He is renowned for his ability of singing in different music genres such as jazz, pop, soul and rhythm and blues.
At the age of 4, Stevie sang in his local church’s choir and a few years later learnt to play several musical instruments. Together with a friend, they occasionally played and sang in parties and on street corners.
Wonder’s career started in 1961, when he released his first album ‘The jazz soul of Little Stevie’ at just 11 years old. Another album followed the year after, however, both of them were of little success. Stevie went on a package concerts tour with several other artists around the US and his third album was recorded live. This time, his song ‘Fingertips’ shot up to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and he became the youngest singer ever to have a hit in the top chart. Success, however, was short-lived and the songs that followed were not successful at all, so much so that his managers even considered to cancel his contract.
Stevie then started to compose songs, both for himself and for other artists, as well as continued to release more albums. In the 1970’s he did have some number one hits in a few countries, but real fame arrived in the 1980’s, after collaborating with other established artists like Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney, appearing in TV shows and participating in charity events. His biggest hits were achieved during this decade and consequently, record sales sored. These include ‘I just called to say I love you’and ‘Part-time Lover’, which were both number one hits worldwide.
During his long career, Wonder received an impressive 25 Grammy Awards, plus a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, he also received honorary degrees from 7 different US states in recognition of his music career as well as other prestigious awards.