The wonderful Stevie Wonder
by Ruwini Jayasinghe
Stevie Wonder was born in 1950
at Saginaw as Stevland Hardaway Judkins (later it changed to Stevland
Hardaway Morris and subsequently took another turn with his stage name
as Stevie Wonder). He turned blind shortly after birth.
He began playing the piano, harmonica, drums and bass, at an early
age and was active in his church choir since his childhood. At the age
of 11, Wonder signed up with Motown Records’ Tamla label and continues
to perform and record for Motown to this day. His record as singer,
songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist is
unshaken.
 In 1983, Wonder scheduled an album titled “People Work, Human Play.”
The album never surfaced and instead, 1984 saw the release of Wonder’s
soundtrack album for The Woman in Red. The lead single, I Just Called to
Say I Love You, was a number one pop hit.
I Just Called to Say I Love You is a midtempo song showing how simple
it is to convey your love over the phone to your lover and make their
day lively. I Just Called to Say I Love You was one of Stevie Wonder’s
most commercially successful singles to date. It became Wonder’s only
solo UK number-one success, staying at the top for six weeks.
It also became his tenth number-one on the R&B chart and his fourth
number-one on the adult contemporary chart. In addition, the song won a
Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
On June 27, 2009, two days after the death of Wonder’s friend Michael
Jackson, he was at a public event, and changed the words of the song to
let a massive audience hear it as: ‘Michael knows, I’m here, and I love
you’. While singing, his voice cracked several times, and at the end of
the song he pointed to the sky, and quietly said ‘We love you Michael’.
The album also featured a guest appearance by Dionne Warwick, singing
the duet It’s You with Stevie and a few songs of her own. The following
year’s In Square Circle featured the number one pop hit Part-Time Lover.
The album also features Top 10 Hits such as That’s What Friends are For
and Higher Ground.
Wonder is also noted for his work as an activisit for political
causes including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s
birthday a holiday in the U.S. In 2009, Wonder as named a United Nations
Messenger of Peace. Wonder is a civil rights activist and endoresed the
United States Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama in
2008.
Wonder, so far has received 25 Grammy awards with a Lietime
Achievement Award. In 2008, Billboard magazine named Wonder as the fifth
person on their Hot 100 All-time Top Artists. |
