Stevland Hardaway Morris, known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is widely considered one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. His work has influenced many artists in genres such as R&B, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. During his most successful years, Wonder played many instruments on his own recordings. His use of electronic instruments, like synthesizers, in the 1970s changed how R&B music was made. He also helped shape the way music was presented in full albums, creating works that were both artistically strong and focused on important social issues.
Stevie Wonder was born blind. He showed musical talent at a young age and signed with Motown’s Tamla label at 11 years old. He was known as Little Stevie Wonder during his early career. As a teenager, he became one of Motown’s most popular artists. He was famous for his harmonica playing and high-pitched voice in songs like "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," "I Was Made to Love Her," "For Once in My Life," and "My Cherie Amour." His song "Fingertips" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 when he was 13, making him the youngest solo artist to top the chart. His most successful period, called the "classic period" (1972–1976), began with the albums Music of My Mind and Talking Book. These albums used synthesizers and keyboards instead of the traditional Motown sound. With albums like Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life, he became the first Black artist to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. He also won the award three times in a row, a first in music history.
In the 1980s, Wonder became a global music icon. He worked with famous musicians like Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. He appeared on television, helped with charity efforts, and supported political causes, including a campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday in the United States. His albums Hotter Than July (1980), The Woman in Red (1984), and In Square Circle (1985) all reached the top five on the Billboard 200. Songs like "Ebony and Ivory," "I Just Called to Say I Love You," "Part-Time Lover," and "That's What Friends Are For" all reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This made him the first artist to top the chart in three different decades. His 2005 album A Time to Love reached the top five, and he has continued to make music and support important causes.
Stevie Wonder is one of the best-selling music artists in history, with over 100 million records sold worldwide. He has won 25 Grammy Awards, the most by any male solo artist, and an Academy Award. He has been honored with induction into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is ranked among the greatest singers and songwriters of all time by Rolling Stone. In 2009, he was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace, and in 2014, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He believes he has Ghanaian heritage and was given citizenship in Ghana in 2024.
Early life
Stevie Wonder was born on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan, as Stevland Hardaway Judkins. He was the third of five children born to Lula Mae Hardaway and Calvin Judkins. He was born six weeks early, and the high oxygen levels in the hospital incubator caused retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that stops eye growth and often leads to retinal detachment, which resulted in him being blind.
At age four, Wonder’s mother divorced his father and moved with her three children to Detroit. He attended Whitestone Baptist Church, where he sang in the choir and became a soloist at age eight. Later, his mother reunited with her first child’s father (whose last name was also Hardaway), changed her name back to Lula Hardaway, and had two more children.
Wonder began playing musical instruments such as the piano, harmonica, and drums at a young age. He formed a singing partnership with a friend, performing as "Stevie and John" on street corners and at parties and dances. In 1961, when he was signed by Motown, his last name was legally changed to Morris, a name from his family’s history. Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown, created the stage name "Little Stevie Wonder."
Wonder attended Fitzgerald Elementary School in Detroit. After his first album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie (1962), was released, he enrolled at the Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing, Michigan.
Career
In 1961, when he was 11 years old, Stevie Wonder performed a song he wrote called "Lonely Boy" for Ronnie White of the Miracles. White then took Stevie and his mother to an audition at Motown, where the company's leader, Berry Gordy, signed Stevie to Motown's Tamla label. Before signing, producer Clarence Paul gave him the name Little Stevie Wonder. Because Stevie was so young, Motown created a contract that would last five years, but money from sales would be kept in trust until Stevie turned 21. He and his mother received a weekly payment to cover their expenses: Stevie got $2.50 (which was worth about $26.93 in 2025) each week, and a private tutor was provided when he was on tour.
Stevie was placed under the care of producer and songwriter Clarence Paul, and for one year, they worked together on two albums. The first album, Tribute to Uncle Ray, was recorded when Stevie was 11 years old. It mostly included songs by Ray Charles, but also featured a song Stevie and Paul wrote together called "Sunset." The second album, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, was recorded next. It was mostly instrumental music written by Paul, with two songs co-written by Stevie: "Wondering" and "Session Number 112." A song called "Mother Thank You" was recorded for release as a single, but it was later replaced by "I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It the Blues," which was released in the summer of 1962. This song almost reached the top 100 on the Billboard charts, spending one week at number 101 in August. Two other singles, "Little Water Boy" and "Contract on Love," were not successful. The two albums were released in reverse order of recording—The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie in September 1962 and Tribute to Uncle Ray in October 1962—and also did not gain much attention.
Most of Stevie's songs became popular on the charts before he turned 21 in 1971. His music reflected his growth and maturity, even though he was still young. His rock songs had a unique, energetic style that made listeners pay close attention. His ballads, or slower songs, focused more on traditional themes of growing up. Stevie also performed a song called "Fingertips" that became a major hit. This song, which included a spontaneous encore where the bass player was caught off guard, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 when Stevie was 13 years old, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart. It was also number one on the R&B chart, the first time a song had achieved that feat.
At the end of 1962, when Stevie was 12, he joined the Motortown Revue, a touring group that performed at theaters across the United States known as the "Chitlin' Circuit." His performance at the Regal Theater in Chicago was recorded and released in May 1963 as the album Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius. A single from the album, "Fingertips," became a major hit. However, some of his later recordings were not successful, as his voice was changing with age, and some Motown executives considered ending his contract. In 1964, Stevie appeared in two films, Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach, but these were not successful. Motown producer Sylvia Moy convinced label owner Berry Gordy to give Stevie another chance.
Moy and Stevie worked together to create the hit song "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," and Stevie had several other hits in the mid-1960s, including "With a Child's Heart" and "Blowin' in the Wind," a song originally written by Bob Dylan and co-sung by his mentor, Clarence Paul. Stevie also began writing songs for Motown artists, including "The Tears of a Clown," which became a No. 1 hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
In 1968, Stevie recorded an album of instrumental soul and jazz tracks called Eivets Rednow, which is "Stevie Wonder" spelled backward. The album received little attention, and its only single, a cover of "Alfie," reached number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. However, Stevie had several hits between 1967 and 1970, including "I Was Made to Love Her," "For Once in My Life," and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours." Many of his early hits, such as "My Cherie Amour" and "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," were co-written with Henry Cosby. The hit single "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" was the first song Stevie ever produced himself.
In 1969, Stevie performed at the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy with the song "Se tu ragazzo mio," which he recorded with Gabriella Ferri. Between 1967 and 1970, he released four 45 rpm singles and an Italian album.
Stevie's performance at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is featured in the 2021 music documentary Summer of Soul. During his set, he played a drum solo.
In September 1970, at the age of 20, Stevie married Syreeta Wright, a songwriter and former Motown secretary. Wright and Stevie collaborated on the next album, Where I'm Coming From (1971), with Stevie writing the music and Wright helping with the lyrics. The album focused on social issues and was released around the same time as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. While both albums addressed similar themes, critics praised Gaye's work more than Stevie's. In 1970, Stevie co-wrote and played on the hit song "It's a Shame" for the Spinners. This song was meant to showcase his talent and support his efforts to gain more creative control over his music. After turning 21 on May 13, 1971, Stevie allowed his Motown contract to expire.
Around the time Where I'm Coming From was released, Stevie became interested in synthesizers after hearing the album Zero Time by the electronic group Tonto's Expanding Head Band. He hired the group's members, Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil, as associate producers. Together, they created a large amount of music using a custom-built synthesizer called TONTO. Stevie used this music to negotiate a new contract with Motown, which was signed in July 1971 and gave him a higher royalty rate of 14%.
Legacy
Stevie Wonder is one of the most well-known and influential musicians of the 20th century. He is also one of the most successful songwriters and musicians. During his most famous years, he handled most of the music himself, using synthesizers and other electronic instruments in the 1970s to change the sound of R&B music. He helped make R&B music more popular with full albums, creating cohesive and consistent albums with complex sounds. His most famous time, called the "classic period" from 1972 to 1976, was known for his funky keyboard style, control over how his music was produced, and making concept albums with connected songs. In 1979, he used a new music technology called the Melodian on his album Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants". This was his first digital recording and one of the earliest popular albums to use this technology, which he continued to use in all his future recordings.
Stevie Wonder recorded many critically praised albums and hit songs. He also wrote and produced songs for other artists. As a child, he was known for playing the harmonica, but today he is better known for his keyboard skills and singing. He plays the piano, synthesizer, harmonica, congas, drums, bongos, organ, melodica, Clavinet, and harpejji. He is seen as a pioneer who influenced many musicians in different music styles, including pop, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and rock.
Stevie Wonder's "classic period" is generally considered to be between 1972 and 1976. Some people believe his "classic period" began in 1971 with the album Where I'm Coming From, which showed his new funky keyboard style. Others say his first "classic" album was Music of My Mind (1972), where he took control of the production and created a concept album with connected songs. Others think the "classic period" started with his 1972 album Talking Book, where he reached his creative peak.
Stevie Wonder's albums from his "classic period" were very influential in the music world. In 1983, Rolling Stone said these albums "pioneered stylistic approaches that helped shape pop music for the next decade." In 2005, musician Kanye West said he wanted to compete with albums like Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life, calling them "the bar" for his own work. A music critic named Jack Hamilton said, "Stevie Wonder had one of the greatest creative runs in the history of popular music" with his "classic period" albums, which included Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life.
Stevie Wonder has recorded more than 30 U.S. top-ten hits, including ten U.S. number-one songs on the pop charts and 20 R&B number-one songs. He has sold over 100 million records, with 19.5 million of those being albums. He is one of the top 60 best-selling music artists in history. He was the first Motown artist and the second African-American musician to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song, which he received for his 1984 song "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from the movie The Woman in Red. He has won 25 Grammy Awards (the most ever by a solo artist) and a Lifetime Achievement Award. His albums Innervisions (1973), Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974), and Songs in the Key of Life (1976) all won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, making him the tied-record holder for the most Album of the Year wins with three. He is the only artist to win this award with three consecutive album releases. He has been inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. He has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Polar Music Prize. Rolling Stone named him the seventh greatest singer and fifteenth greatest artist of all time. In 2024, The Daily Telegraph ranked him the fifth greatest keyboard player of all time. In 2009, he became the fourth artist to receive the Montreal Jazz Festival Spirit Award.
In 2003, Rolling Stone included Innervisions at number 23, Songs in the Key of Life at number 56 (later promoted to number 4 in 2020), Talking Book at number 90 (later promoted to number 59 in 2020), and Music of My Mind at number 284 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. In 2004, Rolling Stone listed "Superstition" at number 74 (later promoted to number 12 in 2020), "Living for the City" at number 104, "Higher Ground" at number 261 (later promoted to number 113 in 2020), and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" at number 281 (later promoted to number 183 in 2020) on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" was also included in the 2020 edition at number 203.
Stevie Wonder is also known for his work as an activist. In 1980, he helped campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday in the United States. In 1974, during the Boston busing desegregation, he spoke to students and led them in song at the University of Massachusetts Boston after performing at the Boston Garden.
Personal life
Stevland Morris, known as Wonder, has been married three times. His first marriage was to Syreeta Wright, a Motown singer-songwriter and frequent collaborator, from 1970 until their friendly divorce in 1972. They continued to work together musically, and she sang on his 1995 album Conversation Peace. From 2001 to 2015, he was married to fashion designer Kai Millard. They separated in 2009, and their divorce was finalized in 2015. In 2017, he married Tomeeka Bracy.
Wonder has nine children with five different women. Two of his children were born to Yolanda Simmons, who worked for his publishing company. His daughter, Aisha Morris, was born in 1975. Aisha inspired Wonder’s song “Isn’t She Lovely?” on his album Songs in the Key of Life. She later became a singer and performed with her father. Wonder and Simmons also had a son, Keita, in 1977.
In 1983, Wonder had a son named Mumtaz Morris with Melody McCulley. He also has a daughter, Sophia, and a son, Kwame, with a woman whose identity is not public. He has two sons with his second wife, Kai Millard: Kailand, who sometimes plays drums with his father, and Mandla Kadjay Carl Stevland Morris, born on May 13, 2005, on Wonder’s 55th birthday.
Wonder’s ninth child, and his second with Tomeeka Bracy, was born in December 2014. Rumors suggested he might have triplets, but the couple had a daughter named Nia, meaning “purpose,” one of the seven values of Kwanzaa.
On May 31, 2006, Wonder’s mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, passed away in Los Angeles at age 76. During a 2008 concert in Birmingham, England, he shared that he began touring again after her death, saying, “I want to take all the pain I feel and celebrate and turn it around.”
At a 2019 concert in London’s Hyde Park, Wonder announced he would receive a kidney transplant in September 2019. The surgery was completed successfully in December 2019.
Wonder is a Baptist who attends Black churches. He learned about Transcendental Meditation through his marriage to Syreeta Wright. He became vegetarian and later vegan, discussing this on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2015.
Wonder joined Twitter on April 4, 2018. His first tweet was a five-minute video titled “The Dream Still Lives,” honoring Martin Luther King Jr. The video featured many celebrities sharing their dreams, referencing King’s 1963 speech. The video became widely shared online.
On August 21, 2024, Wonder performed “Higher Ground” at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. He also spoke briefly, saying, “This is a moment to tell your children where you were and what you did. When we stand between history’s pain and tomorrow’s promises, we must choose courage over complacency.”
On May 13, 2024, Wonder’s 74th birthday, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo granted him Ghanaian citizenship. Wonder took the Oath of Allegiance and received his Certificate of Citizenship at Jubilee House in Accra.
Awards and recognition
Stevie Wonder has won 25 Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He is one of only four artists or groups who have won the Grammy for Album of the Year three times as the main artist credited, along with Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon, and Taylor Swift. He is the only artist to have won this award with three album releases in a row.
Stevie Wonder has received many awards for his music and his work to support civil rights. These include a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Civil Rights Museum, being named a United Nations Messenger of Peace, and receiving a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2014. The medal was presented during a ceremony at the White House on November 24, 2014.
In December 2016, the City of Detroit honored Stevie Wonder by renaming part of the street where he grew up, Milwaukee Avenue West, between Woodward Avenue and Brush Street, to "Stevie Wonder Avenue." He also received an honorary key to the city, given by Mayor Mike Duggan on the day the new street sign was unveiled.
In 2023, Stevie Wonder was awarded the Freedom of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. This honor recognized his efforts to create a U.S. national holiday for the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received an honorary degree from Newcastle University in November 1967.
In May 2024, Stevie Wonder was honored with the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America. He received this award alongside Misty Copeland. The medal is the highest honor given by the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
Stevie Wonder has received many honorary degrees to recognize his music career. These include: