Stevie Wonder was born Steveland Judkins in 1950. He later went by Steveland Morris, after his mother's married name. Wonder has been blind since being given too much oxygen in an incubator as a newborn. He learned the piano at the age of seven, and also played drums and harmonica by the age of nine. In 1961 Wonder was discovered by Ronnie White of the Miracles. He was signed to Motown Records after an audition for Berry Gordy. Steveland was renamed Little Stevie Wonder and began working with writer/producer Clarence Paul. After a number of unsuccessful singles, the 1963 live song "Fingertips (Part 2)" became a #1 Pop and R&B hit in the US. It was followed by some other smaller hits. In 1964 Wonder recorded little while his voiced changed and returned in 1965 sans the "Little" nickname. "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," which he co-wrote with Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy, was a #3 US Pop hit and hit #1 on the R&B charts. It began a long series of US & UK hits including: 1965's "A Place In The Sun"; 1967's "I Was Made To Love Her"; 1968's "For Once In My Life" and "Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day"; 1969's "My Cherie Amour" and "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday"; 1970's "Heaven Help Us All," "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours"; and numerous others. Wonder co-wrote almost all of his singles from 1967 onwards, and also began to work with other Motown artists. He co-wrote Smokey Robinson And The Miracles' "The Tears Of A Clown," and wrote and produces the (Detroit) Spinners' "It's A Shame."

Wonder's contract with Motown expired in 1971. He recorded two albums of his own material, playing almost all the instruments himself, including the early use of a synthesizer in R&B. Wonder re-signed with Motown with the pretext of total artistic control. Where I'm Coming From (featuring the US Top 10 hit "If You Really Love Me") and Music Of My Mind were released in 1971 and 1972. Later in 1972, Talking Book was released and was hailed as Wonder's artistic breakthrough. It yielded two huge US #1 hits, "Superstition" and "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life." The songs were also big in the UK, as most of his subsequent hits would be as well. 1973's Innervisions was even more acclaimed than Talking Book and included "Living For The City" and "Higher Ground," which both went to #1 on the R&B charts and the pop Top 10. 1974's Fulfillingness' First Finale continued his acclaim and featured "Boogie On, Reggae Woman" (a # R&B and Top 5 pop hit) and "You Haven't Done Nothin'" (#1 R&B and Pop). HIs 1976 double album Songs In The Key Of Life was another huge critical commercial success with two #1 Pop hits, "Sir Duke" and "I Wish," as well as the classic "Isn't She Lovely."

Wonder began taking much longer between albums released no new music for the next three years. 1979 saw the release of the mostly instrumental soundtrack to the documentary The Secret Life Of Plants. He returned to pop with Hotter Than July in 1980, which included the US Pop Top 5 hit "Masterblaster (Jamming)" and "Happy Birthday," which popularized the movement which successfully made Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday a US national holiday. In 1982 Wonder released a 1972-1982 compilation, Original Musiquarium I. It featured four new songs and "That Girl" was a #1 R&B and Top 5 Pop hit. "Do I Do" featuring Dizzy Gillespie hit #2 on the R&B charts and #13 on the pop chart. Also in 1982, Wonder's duet with Paul McCartney, "Ebony and Ivory," was a #1 hit. His 1984 soundtrack to The Woman in Red featured a number of new songs, including "I Just Called to Say I Love You," which was a #1 Pop and R&B hit.

His first album of all new songs since Hotter Than July was finally released in 1985. In Square Circle featured the #1 hit "Part Time Lover," although it was not as acclaimed as his earlier albums. Another new album, Characters, came relatively quickly in 1987. It was a smaller hit than previous works, but reached the US Pop Top 20. "Skeletons" and the album were both #1 R&B hits. Wonder's next album was 1991's soundtrack to the Spike Lee film Jungle Fever. It was another R&B chart topper, reached #24 on the pop charts and featured "Gotta Have You" (R&B #3) and "Fun Day" (R&B #6). His next new album of songs, 1995's Conversation Peace, suffered from being overly anticipated. Wonder had been mentioning it for years in interviews, and it only received moderate reviews upon it's release. The album did reach #16 Pop and #2 R&B. That same year, Coolio remade Wonder's 1976 song "Pastime Paradise" into the rap song "Gangsta's Paradise." It was the year's biggest hit. In 1996 Wonder had a hit duet with Babyface, "How Come, How Long."

Credit: prex.com