Stevie Wonder History
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Steveland Hardaway Judkins was born on May 13, 1950 but his name was later changed to Steveland Hardaway Morris. He was born prematurely to Lula Mae Hardaway and it is believed that he receive too much oxygen in the incubator which resulted in retinopathy, a destructive ocular disorder affecting the retina.
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At a very early age in life, Stevie started singing and playing instruments in church. The piano, congas and harmonica were his favorite instruments. Stevie was educated at the Michigan School for the Blind where he learned classical piano.
Stevie Wonder was blind from infancy and he signed up with Motown Records as twelve year old, and continues to perform and record for the label even today. His stage name then was Little Stevie Wonder and he had his first hit at the age of 13, which was a single taken from a live recording of a Motor Town Revue performance. The single had Stevie Wonder on vocals, bongos and harmonica while young Marvin Gaye was on drums.
After this, Stevie Wonder dropped the Little from his stage name and went on to have many hits in mid-1960s including Uptight (Everything’s Alright), With a Child’s Heart, and cover of Bob Dylan’s song Blowin in the Wind.
Stevie Wonder won the Grammy Award in 1974 for Innervisions and then again in 1975 for Fulfillingness’ First Finale. In 1977, he won the Grammy Award for the best album for Sings In The Key Of Life. Stevie holds the record for winning most Grammy Awards by a solo artist; he has won a total of 25 which includes a Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. Luciano Pavarotti once referred to Stevie Wonder as a great, great musical genius and he was not far from the fact.
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Bob Marley was born in a small village in Jamaica on February 6, 1945. At birth he was named Nesta Robert Marley but a Jamaican passport official later swapped his first and middle names.