Biographic - Sunday March 25, 2018 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 13, 1950. Little Stevie Wonder was only 11 years old when Motown's Tamla label released his debut single "I Call It Pretty Music, But The Old People Call It The Blues" two years later, the child prodigy, blind from infancy, soared to the top of the billboard charts with "Fingertips" By the mid-1960s he had dropped the "Little" from his name and was a fixture on the pop charts, thanks to hits such as "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," "I Was Made To Love Her" and "For Once In My Life" At 21, he gained access to the royalties that had been held in trust for him, and he allowed his Motown contract to expire. He rejoined the company shortly after on a much-increased royalty rate. During the 1970s, Stevie established himself as one of the most gifted and innovative artists in music with the albums "Music of My Mind" "Talking Book," "Innervisions" "Fulfillingness First Finale" and "Songs In The Key of Life" and such hit singles as "Superstition." "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" "I Wish" "You Haven't Done Nothin'" and "Sir Duke." He won 12 of his 25 Grammys to date during this period. He has long been renowned for his humanitarian work. 1980s platinum-selling album "Hotter Than July" contained a number of hits and included "Happy Birthday" which was a major factor in the campaign to have a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. In 1985, he was part of the all-star lineup that took the charity single "We Are The World" to No. 1 and he joined Dionne Warwick and Friends for the chart-topping charity hit "That's What Friends Are For" In 2009, he was named a United Nations messenger of peace, and in 2014, he received the presidential medal of Freedom from President Obama. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, his output has lessened significantly since the 1990s, although he has continued to record, perform and tour as the muse has taken him.

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