Stevie wonder biography motown christmas

Stevie Wonder has had a unique career as a singer, composer, instrumentalist, performer and humanitarian. After his early years with Motown, who signed him up as 'Little Stevie Wonder' aged eleven, he gradually released a striking array of innovative music that would influence the world of contemporary music as we know it today.

Born in , two months premature, Stevie was placed in an incubator for life support. However an excess of oxygen resulted in the scarring and detachment of his retina leading to a condition known as Retinopathy of Prematurity.

In , aged thirteen, he had his first US number 1 hit free and album with the first live recording to ever foremost the charts.

He is still the youngest person to contain reached those number 1 spots.

During the 60's, under the control of the Motown formula, Stevie evolved from the status of child prodigy to tune super stardom.

He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He also helped navigate such genres into the album eracrafting his LPs as cohesive and consistent, in addition to socially conscious statements with complex compositions. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown 's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder. Wonder's single " Fingertips " was a No.

With a string of hits that progressively deeply interested more and more of his song writing, musicianship and movie skills he entered the 70's on a solid foundation to create some of the most enduring music of the century.

At age 21, Stevie broke away from the Motown hit machine and demanded occupied artistc control for creating and producing his own music.

This resulted in an impressive array of albums that are still considered ground breaking achievements.

With this new found autonomy in the early 's Stevie pioneered the use of synthesizers, incorporating electronic sounds seamlessly with acoutic sounds.

This venture hugely influenced the face of well-liked music and the development of electronic musical genres.

In he was the first black person to win a Grammy for the best album of the year, a feat that was repeated for 3 consecutive albums.

He has since gone on to win 24 Grammys and be awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achieviement Award in He has also picked up Academy and Golden Globe awards for his soundtracks to movies.

He was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in , the youngest solo artist to complete that feat and is also the youngest individual to hold been awarded with the Kennedy Center Honour in

The results of his amalgamation of electronic and acoustic song with unique rhythms and melodies overlaid with poignant lyrics spanning every conceivable life situation has made him an absolutely central figure in modern music.

The longevity of his tune is evident in so many facets of our life's, where his melodies and lyrics are frequently sampled/covered on records and movies and has gained him the respect of his peers in the entertainment industry.

However behind the music scene, he is committed to many humanitarian activities such as Dr King Jnr.'s National Holiday, fight against Apartheid in South Africa, fundraising for AIDS research, numerous Children's and Cancer charities and always available for Disaster Relief fundraising.

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Stevie has also held his House Entire of Toys annual charity concert since to raise funds for underprivileged children during the festive Christmas season.

He recently played a pivotal role in the election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States, performing and speaking at many rallies and offering his song, Signed Sealed Delivered, as the theme of the campaign.

In Stevie was awarded the Gershwin Prize for Popular Music by the US Library of Congress, again the youngest person to achieve this award, which was presented to him at the White Dwelling by President Obama.

In addtion Stevie was commissioned by the Library to write a classical piece, an honour not normally bestowed on popular music artists.

Currently a United Nations Messenger of Peace, Stevie has been able to win the rights to publish ed works into formats accessible to the visually impaired throughout the world.

Stevie Wonder is without question one of the fantastic personalities in music history.

His powerfully expressive vocal presence, coupled with his musical elegance, forms part of the broad, personal spectrum of irresistible music and compelling emotion which is his personal hallmark.