Stevie Wonder facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stevie Wonder
Wonder in 1994
Born	Stevland Hardaway Judkins (1950-05-13) May 13, 1950 (age 74) Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.
Other names	Stevland Hardaway Morris Little Stevie Wonder
Citizenship	United States Ghana
Occupation	Singer songwriter musician record producer
Years active	1961–present
Spouse(s)	Syreeta Wright ​ ​ (m. 1970; div. 1972)​ Kai Millard ​ ​ (m. 2001; div. 2012)​ Tomeeka Bracy ​ (m. 2017)​
Children	9
Parent(s)	Lula Mae Hardaway (mother)
Musical career
Genres	Soul R&B pop funk gospel progressive soul
Instruments	Vocals keyboards harmonica drums harpejji
Labels	Tamla Motown So What the Fuss Records
Signature

Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, soul, gospel, funk, and jazz. Blind since shortly after his birth, Wonder was a child prodigy who signed with Motown's Tamla label at the age of 11, where he was given the professional name Little Stevie Wonder.

Wonder's single "Fingertips" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963, at the age of 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart.

Wonder is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of over 100 million records worldwide. He has won 25 Grammy Awards (the most by a solo artist) and one Academy Award (Best Original Song, for the 1984 film The Woman in Red). Wonder has been inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday in the U.S.

Early life

Wonder was born Stevland Hardaway Judkins in Saginaw, Michigan, on May 13, 1950. He was the third of five children born to Lula Mae Hardaway, and the second of Hardaway's two children with Calvin Judkins. He was born six weeks premature. This resulted in a condition in which the growth of the eyes is aborted and causes the retinas to detach, so he became blind.

When Wonder was four, his mother divorced his father and moved with her three children to Detroit, Michigan, where Wonder sang as a child in a choir at the Whitestone Baptist Church. She later rekindled her relationship with her first child's father (whose surname was also coincidentally Hardaway) and changed her own name back to Lula Hardaway, going on to have two more children.

He began playing instruments at an early age, including piano, harmonica, and drums. He formed a singing partnership with a friend; calling themselves Stevie and John, they played on street corners and occasionally at parties and dances.

As a child, Wonder attended Fitzgerald Elementary School in Detroit. After his first album was released, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie (1962), he enrolled in Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing, Michigan.

Career highlights

In 1961, at the age of 11, Wonder signed to Motown's Tamla label. Wonder is one of the most notable popular music figures of the second half of the 20th century. He is one of the most successful songwriters and musicians.

He recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and also wrote and produced songs for many of his label mates and outside artists as well. Wonder has been credited as a pioneer and influence to musicians of various genres including pop, rhythm and blues, soul, funk and rock.

Wonder's "classic period" is generally agreed to be between 1972 and 1976. His albums of the "classic period", 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 also the only artist to have won the award with three consecutive album releases.

Wonder performing in 1973, during the early years of his "classic period"

Wonder began his "commercial period" in the 1980s; he achieved his biggest hits and highest level of fame, had increased album sales, charity participation, high-profile collaborations (including Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson), political impact, and television appearances. Wonder has continued to remain active in music and political causes.

The first prototype of the Oberheim 4-voice synthesizer, as used by Wonder. The front panel still shows the braille labeling.

Wonder has recorded more than 30 U.S. top-ten hits, including ten U.S. number-one hits on the pop charts, well as 20 R&B number one hits. He has sold over 100 million records, 19.5 million of which are albums; he is one of the top 60 best-selling music artists with combined sales of singles and albums.

In 2003, Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list included Innervisions at number 23, Songs in the Key of Life at number 56, Talking Book at number 90, and Music of My Mind at number 284. In 2004, on their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list, Rolling Stone included "Superstition" at number 74, "Living for the City" at number 104, "Higher Ground" at number 261, and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" at number 281.

Personal life

Marriages

Wonder has been married three times. He was married to Motown singer-songwriter and frequent collaborator Syreeta Wright from 1970 until their amicable divorce in 1972. From 2001 until 2012 he was married to fashion designer Kai Millard. In October 2009, Wonder and Millard separated; Wonder filed for divorce in August 2012. In 2017 he married Tomeeka Bracy.

Children

Wonder has nine children with five women. Wonder's first child's name is not publicly known. They were born to Yolanda Simmons, whom Wonder met when she applied for a job as secretary for his publishing company. Simmons gave birth to Wonder's daughter Aisha Morris on February 2, 1975. After Aisha was born, Wonder said "she was the one thing that I needed in my life and in my music for a long time". Aisha was the inspiration for Wonder's hit single "Isn't She Lovely?" She is now a singer who has toured with her father and accompanied him on recordings, including his 2005 album A Time to Love. Wonder and Simmons also had a son, Keita, in 1977.

In 1983, Wonder had a son named Mumtaz Morris with Melody McCulley. Wonder also has a daughter, Sophia, and a son, Kwame, with a woman whose identity has not been publicly disclosed. Wonder has two sons with second wife Kai Millard Morris. The elder is named Kailand, and he occasionally performs as a drummer on stage with his father. The younger son, Mandla Kadjay Carl Stevland Morris, was born on May 13, 2005 (his father's 55th birthday).

Wonder's ninth child, his second with Tomeeka Robyn Bracy, was born in December 2014, amid rumors that he would be the father to triplets. This turned out not to be the case, and the couple's new daughter was given the name Nia, meaning "purpose" (one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa).

Interesting facts about Stevie Wonder

• Wonder's last name was Hardaway. When Stevie was signed by Motown in 1961, his surname was legally changed to Morris, which was an old family name.
• Motown producer Clarence Paul gave him the name Little Stevie Wonder.
• His single "Fingertips" was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when Wonder was aged 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart.
• During 1964, Wonder appeared in two films as himself, Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach.
• Wonder was introduced to Transcendental Meditation. He became vegetarian, and later a vegan.
• In 2024, Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo conferred Ghanaian citizenship on Wonder. Wonder took the Oath of Allegiance and received his Certificate of Citizenship at Jubilee House in Accra.

Stevie Wonder quotes

• "You can't base your life on other people's expectations."
• "Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle!"
• "Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
• "Minds ripen at very different ages."

Awards and recognition

Barack Obama presenting Wonder with the Gershwin Prize in 2009

Wonder receiving a standing ovation in the East Room of the White House in 2011

Grammy Awards

Wonder has won 25 Grammy Awards, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996. He is one of only two artists and groups who have won the Grammy for Album of the Year three times as the main credited artist, along with Frank Sinatra. Wonder is the only artist to have won the award with three consecutive album releases.

Other awards and recognition

Wonder has been given a range of awards, both for his music and for his civil rights work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Civil Rights Museum, being named one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace, and earning a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2014, presented at a ceremony in the White House on November 24 that year.

In December 2016, the City of Detroit recognized Wonder's legacy by renaming a portion of his childhood street, Milwaukee Avenue West, between Woodward Avenue and Brush Street, as "Stevie Wonder Avenue". He was also awarded an honorary key to the city, presented by Mayor Mike Duggan.

Honorary degrees

Stevie Wonder has received many honorary degrees in recognition of his music career. These include:

Discography

Images for kids

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  Wonder rehearsing for a performance on Dutch television in 1967

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  Billboard advertisement, June 17, 1967

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  Wonder backstage at the 1990 Grammy Awards

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  Wonder in 2006

See also

In Spanish: Stevie Wonder para niños

• List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones
• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)