Stevie Wonder is an American singer-songwriter and producer born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1950, signed to Motown at age 11 and blind from infancy. His 1972–76 run — Talking Book, Innervisions, Songs in the Key of Life — is arguably the greatest hot streak in popular music, and his 25 Grammys are the most of any solo male artist. Shop Stevie Wonder vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Stevland Hardaway Morris was born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 13, 1950. He became blind from infancy due to premature birth oxygen treatment retinopathy. He launched his recording career as a child in 1961 at age 11 with Motown Records (Berry Gordy signing as Little Stevie Wonder), with early hit Fingertips (Pt. 2) in 1963 (number one Billboard Hot 100 single, the youngest artist to have a number one Billboard Hot 100 single at age 13). He renegotiated his Motown contract at age 21 in 1971 to creative independence, launching his foundational 1972-1976 'classic period' - Talking Book (1972), Innervisions (1973), Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974), and Songs in the Key of Life (1976), widely cited as one of the most important sustained creative periods in popular music history. Songs in the Key of Life (1976) is widely cited as one of the most important popular music albums of all time, establishing the foundational template for sustained double-album conceptual Black American popular music statements. He has won 25 Grammy Awards (the most of any solo male artist) and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. He was central to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday establishment (1981 Happy Birthday single and sustained activism). His foundational influence on contemporary popular music, R&B, soul, funk, and broader contemporary Black music is widely cited as one of the most important contributions to popular music history.
Stevie Wonder's sound combines soul, R&B, funk, pop, jazz, gospel, classical, contemporary R&B, rock influences, and Motown with his distinctive vocal delivery, virtuosic multi-instrumental compositional approaches (use of synthesizers from 1971+ Bob Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil production early synthesizer adoption), and lyrical content addressing love, social justice, spirituality, and broader contemporary themes drawing on African American musical and political traditions.
Original Motown Records and Tamla Records pressings of the Stevie Wonder catalog are foundational items in soul, R&B, and broader popular music collecting, with collector premiums on rare pressings.
Listeners new to Stevie Wonder typically start with Songs in the Key of Life (1976) or Innervisions (1973).
