STEVIE Wonder is one of the all-time great singer-songwriter-musicians with a monumental career spanning over 60 years.
Here’s everything you need to know about the seminal multi-talented artist whose once-in-a-generation talent redefined the music industry.
1
Who is Stevie wonder and how old is he?
Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stevie Wonder, real name Stevland Hardaway Morris, was born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 13, 1950, making him 73 years old at the time of writing.
He was the third of six children, and his parents — songwriter Lula Mae Hardaway and Calvin Judkins — divorced when he was four.
Stevie began making music from a young age by playing instruments including the piano, drums and harmonica.
He performed his own song Lonely Boy at the age of 11 in 1961 to Ronnie White from The Miracles, which led to him bagging a record contract with Motown as “Little Stevie Wonder”.
His first album came out when Stevie was just 11 years old and mainly consisted of Ray Charles covers.
Stevie then started releasing original tracks by songwriter Clarence Paul, with his first single Mother Thank You released in 1962, before he embarked on his first theatre tour with other artists.
He scored a Number One aged 13 with track Fingertips, but faced criticism from his label as his voice was beginning to change.
However his first famous songs Upright (Everything Is Alright) and The Tears Of A Clown were written towards the end of the 60s, when Stevie dropped “little” from his name.
He wrote The Tears Of A Clown when he was just 20 years old along with Smokey Robinson and Henry Crosby, which just goes to show how highly respected the musical genius was even at this relatively early stage of his career.
How did Stevie Wonder become blind?
Stevie’s blindness occurred shortly after birth.
He was born six weeks premature and vulnerable to retinopathy of prematurity while in his oxygen-rich incubator.
The rapid development of his eye blood vessels caused his retinas to detach, leading him to lose his sight.
Is Stevie Wonder married?
Stevie’s first marriage was to fellow singer and collaborator Syreeta Wright.
The two walked down the aisle in September 1970 and split sometime in 1972.
In 2001, Stevie married his second wife Kai Millard Morris.
Following the end of his marriage to Millard, the Grammy Award winner tied the knot with Tomeeka Bracy.
Bracy was born in 1975 in Virginia.
She married Stevie in July 2017, becoming his third wife.
The pair held their ceremony at Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.
John Legend, Usher, Babyface, and Pharrell Williams all attended and performed in honor of the then-newlyweds.
An insider from the wedding told The Sun: “It was a very lavish, romantic, and star-studded affair.
“Stevie’s musical pals each got up on stage to take turns serenading the couple, much to the delight of the other guests.”
“Then Stevie got up to sing for his new bride,” the source further observed.
Who are Stevie Wonder’s children?
Stevie and Tomeeka have two children together, daughters named Zaiah, 11, and Nia, 9.
Zaiah and Nia are the youngest of Stevie’s nine children.
From his marriage to Kai Millard he has two sons named Kailand, 22, and Mandla, 18.
His five older kids are daughters Aisha, 48, Sophia, 38, and sons Keita, 46, Mumtaz, 40, and Kwame, 35.
Is Stevie Wonder playing at Glastonbury?
Glastonbury bosses were dealt a massive blow after talks collapsed with potential 2024 headliner Stevie Wonder.
Festival organiser Emily Eavis spent weeks wooing the US megastar to play the Pyramid Stage this coming June.
Stevie was even added to a draft of the official line-up poster.
However The Sun understands negotiations hit the rocks after Stevie’s team struggled to make his schedule work alongside a yet-to-be-announced string of summer shows.
It leaves a gaping hole in the biggest festival in the world’s line-up, which has usually been announced by now.
Stevie Wonder to headline Glastonbury
What is Stevie Wonder’s net worth and what awards has he won?
Having such a huge roster of hits, Stevie is worth a pretty penny as he approaches his seventies.
The vegan musician and father-of-nine is estimated to be worth $110m or around £83m in British sterling.
Stevie has also won 25 Grammys and received their Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996.
He and Frank Sinatra are the only artists to have ever won Album Of The Year three times.
Also hailed as a civil rights hero, Stevie earned a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2014 after becoming a United Nations Messenger Of Peace.
What are Stevie Wonder’s most famous hits?
Stevie’s first major hits came out towards the end of the 60s — For Once In My Life, Signed Sealed Delivered (I’m Yours) and My Cherie Amour.
But his distinctive sound came into its own in the 70s with his tracks Superstition, As, You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, Living For The City, Sir Duke, I Wish and Isn’t She Lovely?.
In the 80s and 90s Stevie’s music became much more commercial and he released songs like Happy Birthday – to help establish Martin Luther King’s birthday as a national holiday – Part-Time Lover, Do I Do, Ebony And Ivory wit Paul McCartney and I Just Called To Say I Love You.
The prolific composer has also written hits for the likes of Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond and Roberta Flack.
