Stevie Wonder: The Life Story Behind the Musical Genius

Saginaw, Detroit and a Blind Boy Who Heard Everything

Stevland Hardaway Judkins, known as Stevie Wonder, was born on 13 May 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, and he was born prematurely, six weeks early, and placed in an incubator, where the oxygen, which was given in too high a concentration, caused retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that left him blind shortly after birth, a fact that has shaped his life, his music and his public image, and that he has spoken about with a matter-of-factness that is striking, saying that blindness is not a tragedy but a condition, and that his other senses, especially his hearing, became sharper because of it, a claim that is supported by his music, which is, by any measure, extraordinary, with a sense of melody, of harmony, of rhythm, that is unlike anyone else’s. He was the third of six children born to Lula Mae Hardaway, a songwriter, and Calvin Judkins, and the family moved to Detroit when Stevie was four, a move that put him in the centre of American music, in a city that was, in the 1950s and 1960s, the home of Motown, of gospel, of soul, and that gave him a musical education that was as important as any formal training, because he absorbed the sounds of the city, the church, the radio, and he turned them into his own.

He sang in the church choir at the Whitestone Baptist Church in Detroit, where his mother was a member, and where his voice, which was powerful, soulful and distinctive, first found an audience, and he learned to play the piano, the harmonica and the drums, teaching himself, by ear, with a talent that was obvious to everyone who heard him, and he has described himself as a child who was obsessed with music, who would listen to the radio for hours, who would try to play what he heard, and who knew, even then, that music was his life, a certainty that is rare in a child, and that shaped everything that followed. Detroit in the 1950s was a place of music, of cars, of factories, and Stevie grew up inside it, with a childhood that was, in his words, happy, with a family that supported him, with a mother who encouraged his talent, and with a city that gave him a sound, a rhythm, a feeling, that is audible in every record he has made, from Fingertips to Songs in the Key of Life, because he is not inventing a sound, he is reporting a place, and the place is Detroit.

The blindness, which could have been a limitation, became, in Stevie’s hands, a different kind of seeing, a way of hearing the world that is more acute, more detailed, more musical, than sighted people experience, and he has spoken about it as a gift, not as a loss, saying that he hears colours, that he feels music in a way that others do not, and that his blindness has made him a better musician, because it forced him to listen, to pay attention, to understand sound as a physical, emotional experience, and that understanding, which is the foundation of his music, is the reason his records have a depth, a warmth, a humanity, that few others possess, and it is also the reason his story, from a premature baby in Saginaw to a musical genius, is one of the most inspiring in American music.

Little Stevie Wonder: Signed to Motown at Eleven

At eleven Stevie was discovered by Ronnie White of the Miracles, who heard him singing and playing, and who took him to Motown Records, where Berry Gordy, the founder of the label, signed him, in 1961, and gave him the stage name Little Stevie Wonder, a name that reflected his age and his talent, and that would stay with him until he was a teenager, when he dropped the Little, and became simply Stevie Wonder, a name that is now one of the most famous in music. He was the youngest artist on Motown, a label that was then home to the Supremes, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson, and he was treated as a prodigy, a child who could play, sing and write, and who was given the best producers, the best songwriters, and the best musicians, and who learned, in the Motown studios, the craft of making a record, how to arrange, how to harmonise, how to work with a band, lessons that he learned while still a child, and that made him a professional long before he was an adult, and that gave him the skills to take control of his own music, when he was old enough to do so.

His first albums, The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie in 1962 and Tribute to Uncle Ray in 1962, were commercial disappointments, and Motown, which was unsure what to do with a blind child prodigy, considered dropping him, a fact that Stevie has spoken about with humour, saying that he was saved by a single, Fingertips, which was recorded live, and which became a hit, and that the hit, which was a turning point, proved that he could sell records, and that Motown should keep him, a decision that changed the history of the label, and of American music, because Stevie would go on to become one of Motown’s biggest stars, with a catalogue that is unmatched, and with a career that has lasted for more than sixty years. The early years were also the years when he learned to play the harmonica, an instrument that became his signature, with a sound that is distinctive, soulful and instantly recognisable, and that he still plays in concert, to the delight of audiences who know it as the sound of Stevie Wonder.

The Motown years were a period of intense work, with Stevie recording constantly, touring constantly, and learning from the other artists on the label, from Smokey Robinson, who became a mentor, from Marvin Gaye, who became a friend, and from the Funk Brothers, the studio musicians who played on his records, and who taught him about groove, about feel, about the importance of a rhythm section, and those lessons, which he learned as a teenager, are the reason his records have a musicality that is rare in pop, because they were made by a musician, not just a singer, and that musicianship, which is the foundation of his career, is the reason he has lasted, when other child stars have faded, because he was never just a voice, he was a musician, and musicians last.

Fingertips, Uptight and the Teenage Hitmaker

Fingertips, recorded live at the Regal Theater in Chicago in 1963, was Stevie’s first hit, a song that reached number one on the Hot 100, making him, at thirteen, the youngest artist to have a number-one single, a record that he still holds, and the song, which featured his harmonica playing, his energetic vocal, and a call-and-response with the audience, became an anthem, and it established him as a star, with a fanbase that was young, Black and white, and with a future that was bright, although the years that followed were difficult, because he was a teenager, his voice was changing, and Motown, which did not know how to handle a child star becoming an adult, struggled to find the right material for him, a struggle that lasted through the mid-1960s, when his records were less successful, and when he was in danger of becoming a former child star, a fate that he avoided by taking control of his own music, a decision that would change everything.

Uptight (Everything’s Alright), released in 1965, was a comeback, a song co-written by Stevie, Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby, with a driving beat, a catchy chorus, and a vocal that was confident and mature, and it reached the top five, and it established him as a teenage hitmaker, with a sound that was more grown-up, more soulful, and more personal, and it was followed by other hits, including I Was Made to Love Her in 1967, a song about a blind boy’s love, with a lyric that was personal, and For Once in My Life in 1968, a song that became a standard, covered by many artists, and that showed a singer who was now an adult, with a voice that had deepened, with a style that was more sophisticated, and with a catalogue that was growing in depth. He also began to write songs for other Motown artists, including the Spinners and the Supremes, a sign of his growing reputation as a songwriter, and a skill that would become central to his later career, when he would write all of his own material, and produce it himself.

The teenage years were also the years when he learned to play multiple instruments, to arrange, to produce, and to think about music as a whole, not just as a singer, and that education, which was practical, not theoretical, made him a musician in the fullest sense, one who could write a song, arrange it, play it, sing it, and produce it, a combination that is rare, and that is the reason his later albums, which he made with complete control, are so coherent, so personal, and so brilliant, because they are the work of a single vision, not a committee, and that vision, which was formed in his teens, is the foundation of his classic run in the 1970s, when he would make some of the greatest albums in American music.

Taking Control: Music of My Mind and Talking Book

In 1971, when he turned twenty-one, Stevie’s Motown contract expired, and he negotiated a new deal, one that gave him complete artistic control, a royalty rate that was unheard of for a Black artist at the time, and the freedom to make the music he wanted, a deal that was a landmark, and that changed the way record contracts were negotiated, and that gave him the power to make the records that would define his career, starting with Music of My Mind in March 1972, an album that he wrote, produced and played almost entirely himself, with a sound that was more personal, more experimental, and more soulful than anything he had made before, and that was praised by critics as a breakthrough, a record that showed a mature artist, one who had taken control, and who was ready to make the music he had always wanted to make. The album’s songs, including Love Having You Around and Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You), showed a songwriter who was now writing about love, about life, about being a young man, with a directness that was new, and a musicality that was sophisticated, with synthesizers, with clavinet, with a sound that was both modern and timeless.

Talking Book, released in October 1972, was even better, with the singles Superstition, a song with a clavinet riff that is one of the most famous in music, and You Are the Sunshine of My Life, a ballad that won a Grammy Award, and the album, which was a commercial and critical success, established Stevie as a major artist, with a sound that was funky, soulful and intelligent, and with a voice that was now fully mature, powerful, warm and distinctive, and the record’s success, which was driven by radio, by word of mouth, and by the sheer quality of the songs, made him a star, not just a former child prodigy, but a contemporary artist, with a future that was as bright as his past, and the album’s production, which featured Stevie playing most of the instruments himself, using a TONTO synthesizer, a large, custom-built instrument, showed a musician who was pushing the boundaries of what a record could sound like, and who was doing it on his own terms.

Superstition deserves a special mention, because it is a song that is almost perfect, with a clavinet riff that is instantly recognisable, a drum pattern that is funky, a vocal that is powerful, and a lyric about superstition, about believing in things that are not true, and the song’s success, which was driven by its groove, its energy, and its catchiness, made it one of his most played songs, and it remains, more than fifty years later, a standard, a song that is played on radio, at parties, in films, and that is a proof that a great riff, like a great melody, does not go out of fashion, and that Stevie, who wrote it in a matter of hours, understood, better than most, how to make a song that is both simple and profound, and that is the mark of a genius.

Innervisions, Fulfillingness and the Classic Run

Innervisions, released in August 1973, was his next album, and it won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, with the singles Higher Ground, a funky, driving song about reincarnation, and Living for the City, a seven-minute epic about a young Black man from Mississippi who comes to New York and is destroyed by the city, a song that is, by any measure, one of the greatest in American music, with a spoken-word intro, with sound effects, with a vocal that is both angry and compassionate, and with a musical arrangement that is complex, layered and brilliant, and the album, which also included the songs Too High, Visions and Don’t You Worry ‘bout a Thing, was a critical and commercial success, and it established Stevie as a socially conscious artist, one who wrote about race, about poverty, about the city, with a directness that was rare in pop, and that made his music more than entertainment, but a commentary, a witness, a voice for people who had no voice. The album was recorded after a serious car accident in August 1973, in which Stevie was in a coma for four days, after a car he was travelling in hit a truck, an accident that left him with a scar on his forehead, and with a new perspective on life, and that he has described as a turning point, a moment that made him appreciate his life, his music, and his second chance, and the album’s themes, of survival, of hope, of the city, reflect that experience, and the record’s power, which is both musical and emotional, is the reason it is still regarded as a classic.

Fulfillingness’ First Finale, released in July 1974, won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, his second in a row, with the singles Boogie On Reggae Woman, a funky, playful song, and You Haven’t Done Nothin’, a political song about President Nixon, featuring the Jackson 5 on backing vocals, and the album, which was more subdued, more reflective, than Innervisions, showed a singer who was now thinking about his life, his career, and his place in the world, and it was praised by critics for its maturity, its coherence and its musicality, and it confirmed that Stevie was not a one-album artist, but a consistent, brilliant songwriter, with a run of albums that was unmatched in the 1970s, a run that would culminate in his masterpiece, Songs in the Key of Life, two years later. The album’s success, which was both critical and commercial, is a testament to his work ethic, his talent and his vision, and it is a reminder that a great artist can sustain a peak for years, if the songs are good enough, and if the artist is honest enough to keep growing.

The classic run, from Music of My Mind in 1972 to Songs in the Key of Life in 1976, is one of the great runs in American music, five albums in five years, each of which won awards, each of which produced hits, and each of which is still regarded as a classic, a run that is comparable to the Beatles’ run in the 1960s, to Bob Dylan’s in the 1960s, to any great artist’s peak, and that is the reason Stevie Wonder is regarded as a genius, not just a talented singer, but a musician who, for five years, made music that was perfect, that was important, and that has lasted, and that is a legacy that few artists achieve, and that is the measure of his greatness.

Songs in the Key of Life: The Masterpiece

Songs in the Key of Life, released in September 1976, was a double album, with 21 tracks, plus a bonus EP, and it is widely regarded as Stevie Wonder’s masterpiece, and as one of the greatest albums of all time, with the singles Sir Duke, a tribute to Duke Ellington, with a horn arrangement that is joyful, I Wish, a song about childhood, with a funky bassline, Isn’t She Lovely, a song about the birth of his daughter, Aisha, with a harmonica solo that is tender, and As, a love song that is epic, with a length of seven minutes, and the album, which debuted at number one, won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, his third, and it spent thirteen weeks at number one on the R&B chart, and it has sold more than ten million copies, a figure that makes it one of the best-selling albums of the 1970s, and a record that is still, more than forty-five years later, a standard, a album that other musicians cite as an inspiration, and that listeners return to, again and again, because it is complete, because it is joyful, because it is profound, and because it is, in a word, perfect.

The album’s scope is extraordinary: it deals with love, with childhood, with race, with God, with joy, with sorrow, with the whole of life, and it does so with a musical range that is equally broad, with funk, with soul, with jazz, with pop, with classical, and with a production that is lush, layered and, above all, human, with Stevie playing most of the instruments, singing all of the vocals, and producing the record himself, a feat that is remarkable, and that is the reason the album feels like a single vision, not a committee, and that vision, which is Stevie’s, is one of optimism, of love, of a belief that music can make the world better, a belief that is naive, perhaps, but that is also, in the hands of a genius, profoundly moving, and the album’s success, which was both critical and commercial, is a testament to that vision, and to the power of a record that is made with love, with care, and with a complete artistic freedom.

Isn’t She Lovely deserves a special mention, because it is a song about the birth of his daughter, Aisha, with a lyric that is simple, direct and tender, and with a harmonica solo that is one of the most beautiful in pop, and the song’s success, which was driven by radio, by word of mouth, and by the sheer beauty of the performance, made it one of his most beloved songs, and it remains, more than forty-five years later, a standard, played at births, at weddings, at celebrations, and that is a legacy that few songs achieve, a song that is about a specific child, a specific moment, and that becomes universal, because every parent understands it, and that universality, which is the mark of a great song, is the reason Songs in the Key of Life is still, after all these years, a masterpiece, and the reason Stevie Wonder is still, after all these years, a genius.

Happy Birthday, the MLK Holiday and the Later Years

Hotter than July, released in September 1980, was his next album, and it produced the single Happy Birthday, a song that became the anthem of the campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday, a campaign that Stevie led, with a rally in Washington in 1981, with a petition, with concerts, and with a determination that the holiday, which was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, and first observed in 1986, was a recognition of King’s legacy, and of the civil rights movement, and Stevie’s role in that campaign, which he has described as one of the proudest achievements of his life, is a testament to his activism, to his belief that music can change the world, and to his willingness to use his fame for a cause, a cause that was not commercial, not personal, but moral, and that is a legacy that goes beyond music, and that is as important as any album he has made. The album also included the singles Master Blaster (Jammin’), a tribute to Bob Marley, and I Ain’t Gonna Stand for It, and it was a commercial success, although it was less critically acclaimed than Songs in the Key of Life, a fact that Stevie has acknowledged, saying that the masterpiece was hard to follow, and that the years after it were a period of adjustment, of finding a new direction, after a peak that was, by any measure, extraordinary.

The Woman in Red, a film soundtrack released in 1984, produced the single I Just Called to Say I Love You, a ballad that became a worldwide number-one hit, and that won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe, a recognition that Stevie had been working towards for years, and that established him as a songwriter who could write a hit for a film, as well as for an album, and the song’s success, which was driven by its simplicity, its melody, and its universal message, made it one of his most played songs, and it remains, more than forty years later, a standard, played on radio, at weddings, on Valentine’s Day, and that is a legacy that few songs achieve, a song that is about a phone call, a simple act, and that becomes universal, because every person understands it, and that universality, which is the mark of a great song, is the reason I Just Called to Say I Love You is still, after all these years, a classic, although some critics have noted that it is less complex than his 1970s work, a criticism that Stevie has acknowledged, saying that the song was written for a film, and that its simplicity was deliberate, and that is a fair point, because a film song must be simple, must be direct, and must be memorable, and this one is, in spades.

He has won twenty-five Grammy Awards, one of the highest totals for any artist, including three for Album of the Year, for Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life, a record that is unmatched, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1999, and the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2009, a set of honours that reflects both the quality of his music and the length of his career, which has lasted for more than sixty years, from Little Stevie Wonder at eleven to a legend at seventy-five, and he continues to perform, to record, to tour, with a voice that has not lost any of its power, with a harmonica that is still distinctive, and with a presence that is still commanding, and the fact that he is still working, still singing, still playing, is the clearest measure of what he has built, a catalogue that is unmatched, a legacy that is secure, and a place in music history that is permanent.

In October 2020 he released two new songs, Where Is Our Love Song, featuring Gary Clark Jr., and Can’t Put It in the Hands of Fate, featuring Rapsody, Cordae, Chika and Busta Rhymes, his first new music in years, and his first releases on Republic Records, after a long career on Motown, and the songs, which dealt with love, with justice, and with the state of the world, were praised for their warmth, their honesty, and their musicality, and they showed a singer who was still, at seventy, writing, recording, and, above all, caring, about the world, about his audience, and about the power of music to change it, and that is a legacy that goes beyond any single album, and that is as important as any Grammy he has won, because it is about a musician who never stopped, who never retired, and who, at seventy, was still making music that mattered, and that is a story that is, by any measure, remarkable. He also toured in 2024 on the Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart tour, playing ten cities across the United States, with a setlist that mixed his hits, from Superstition to Isn’t She Lovely to Happy Birthday, and with a message that was, in his words, about unity, about voting, and about fixing a broken heart, a tour that was both a concert and a call to action, and that proved, at seventy-four, that he could still, in every sense, command a room, and that is a testament to his talent, his work ethic, and his audience, which is loyal, global, and, above all, patient.

My Take:

When I listen to Songs in the Key of Life now, more than forty-five years after it came out, the thing that still strikes me is how complete it is, how every song, from Sir Duke to Isn’t She Lovely to As, feels like it belongs, and how the album’s sound, which is joyful, profound, funky and soulful, is a perfect summary of Stevie Wonder at his peak, a musician who could write a hit, who could write a ballad, who could write a political song, and who could do all three on the same record, with a coherence that is rare, and a beauty that is unmatched. The album works because it is a story, the story of a life, of love, of childhood, of race, of God, and every song is a chapter, and the story is true, which is why it connected with audiences who had never been to Detroit, because life is a universal story, and Stevie tells it with a directness that is rare in music, without ornament, without apology, and that directness is the reason the album still sounds fresh, more than four decades later.

Superstition is the song I would play for someone who wants to understand Stevie Wonder in three minutes, because it is a perfect record, with a clavinet riff that is instantly recognisable, a drum pattern that is funky, a vocal that is powerful, and a lyric about superstition, about believing in things that are not true, and the song’s success, which was driven by its groove, its energy, and its catchiness, made it one of his most played songs, and it remains, more than fifty years later, a standard, a song that is played on radio, at parties, in films, and that is a proof that a great riff, like a great melody, does not go out of fashion, and that Stevie, who wrote it in a matter of hours, understood, better than most, how to make a song that is both simple and profound, and that is the mark of a genius.

Living for the City is the track I return to most, because it is a seven-minute epic about a young Black man from Mississippi who comes to New York and is destroyed by the city, a song that is, by any measure, one of the greatest in American music, with a spoken-word intro, with sound effects, with a vocal that is both angry and compassionate, and with a musical arrangement that is complex, layered and brilliant, and the song’s power, which is both musical and emotional, is the reason it is still discussed, still studied, still loved, more than fifty years after it was released, and I think it is Stevie’s most important song, not because it is his biggest hit, but because it is his most honest, a song that tells the truth about race, about poverty, about the city, with a directness that is rare in pop, and that makes his music more than entertainment, but a witness, a voice for people who had no voice.

The classic run, from Music of My Mind in 1972 to Songs in the Key of Life in 1976, is the period I admire most, because it is five albums in five years, each of which won awards, each of which produced hits, and each of which is still regarded as a classic, a run that is comparable to the Beatles’ run in the 1960s, to Bob Dylan’s in the 1960s, to any great artist’s peak, and that is the reason Stevie Wonder is regarded as a genius, not just a talented singer, but a musician who, for five years, made music that was perfect, that was important, and that has lasted, and that is a legacy that few artists achieve, and that is the measure of his greatness. I think the run’s secret was control: Stevie negotiated a contract that gave him complete artistic freedom, and he used it, to write, to produce, to play, to make the records he wanted, and that freedom, which is rare, is the reason the albums are so coherent, so personal, and so brilliant, because they are the work of a single vision, not a committee.

Isn’t She Lovely is the song that moves me most, because it is about the birth of his daughter, Aisha, with a lyric that is simple, direct and tender, and with a harmonica solo that is one of the most beautiful in pop, and the song’s success, which was driven by radio, by word of mouth, and by the sheer beauty of the performance, made it one of his most beloved songs, and it remains, more than forty-five years later, a standard, played at births, at weddings, at celebrations, and that is a legacy that few songs achieve, a song that is about a specific child, a specific moment, and that becomes universal, because every parent understands it, and that universality, which is the mark of a great song, is the reason Isn’t She Lovely is still, after all these years, a classic, and the reason Stevie Wonder is still, after all these years, a genius.

Happy Birthday is the song that I think best captures Stevie’s activism, because it is a song that became the anthem of the campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday, a campaign that Stevie led, with a rally, with a petition, with concerts, and with a determination that the holiday, which was signed into law in 1983, was a recognition of King’s legacy, and of the civil rights movement, and Stevie’s role in that campaign, which he has described as one of the proudest achievements of his life, is a testament to his belief that music can change the world, and to his willingness to use his fame for a cause, a cause that was not commercial, not personal, but moral, and that is a legacy that goes beyond music, and that is as important as any album he has made.

His blindness is the part of his story that I think about most, because it is a fact that could have been a limitation, and that Stevie turned into a different kind of seeing, a way of hearing the world that is more acute, more detailed, more musical, than sighted people experience, and he has spoken about it as a gift, not as a loss, saying that he hears colours, that he feels music in a way that others do not, and that his blindness has made him a better musician, because it forced him to listen, to pay attention, to understand sound as a physical, emotional experience, and that understanding, which is the foundation of his music, is the reason his records have a depth, a warmth, a humanity, that few others possess, and it is also the reason his story, from a premature baby in Saginaw to a musical genius, is one of the most inspiring in American music.

If a new listener asked me where to start with Stevie Wonder, I would begin with Songs in the Key of Life, because it is the masterpiece, with Sir Duke, Isn’t She Lovely and As, and then I would go to Talking Book, to hear Superstition, and then to Innervisions, to hear Living for the City, and then to Fulfillingness’ First Finale, to hear Boogie On Reggae Woman, and those four albums, taken together, show the arc, from a young man taking control to a genius at his peak, in a way that no single record can. After that I would go to Fingertips, to hear the thirteen-year-old, and the journey through those works is the journey of a musician who turned a disability into a gift, a gift into a career, and a career into a legacy, and that is a journey worth following.

What Stevie Wonder has given music, beyond the songs, is a model of how to be a musician, not just a singer, of an artist who writes, produces, plays, sings, and who does each of those things at the highest level, and that model matters, because the industry often treats singers as voices, not as musicians, and Stevie has spent sixty years proving that a singer can be a musician, that a blind child from Saginaw can be a genius, and that a song, well written and well played, is enough. I think young musicians will look at his career and see a permission slip, a proof that you do not have to see to hear, that you do not have to be sighted to be a visionary, and that is a legacy that goes beyond any single hit, beyond any single album, and that will be remembered as one of the most important stories in music history.

The Detroit thread runs through everything he does, and I think it is the most important part of his story, because it is not a marketing detail but a real influence. He grew up in Detroit, he sang in church there, he signed to Motown there, he learned to play there, and the city’s sound, its soul, its gospel, its funk, is in every record he has made, from Fingertips to Songs in the Key of Life, because he is not inventing a sound, he is reporting a place, and the audience can tell the difference, because the details are specific, the streets are real, the feeling is real, and that is why his work resonates with people who have never been to Detroit as well as with people who grew up there.

Looking at the whole arc, from a premature baby in Saginaw to a musical genius with twenty-five Grammys, I see a career that was built on talent, on hard work and on a refusal to be limited, and I think that refusal is its strength. Stevie Wonder has been a child prodigy, a teenage hitmaker, a classic album artist, an activist and a legend, and each of those roles has left something in the work, a lesson, a skill, a perspective, and the result is an artist who is harder to categorise than almost anyone of his generation. That is not a failure of branding, it is a sign of a person who kept growing, and the audience that has grown with him, from Fingertips to the present, has been rewarded with a catalogue that is honest, varied and unmistakably his, and I expect the next chapter to be as powerful as the last.

Where Is Our Love Song is the recent track I find most moving, because it is a song released in 2020, featuring Gary Clark Jr., about love, about justice, and about the state of the world, with a vocal that is warm, a harmonica that is tender, and a lyric that is direct, and the song’s release, which was his first new music in years, and his first on Republic Records, after a long career on Motown, proved that Stevie, at seventy, was still writing, still recording, and, above all, still caring, about the world, about his audience, and about the power of music to change it, and that is a legacy that goes beyond any single album, and that is as important as any Grammy he has won, because it is about a musician who never stopped, who never retired, and who, at seventy, was still making music that mattered, and that is a story that is, by any measure, remarkable, and that is the key to understanding Stevie Wonder, a genius who never stopped being a citizen, and who used his gift, for sixty years, to make the world better, one song at a time.

The 2024 Sing Your Song tour is the live run I admire most, because it was a ten-city tour, with a setlist that mixed his hits, from Superstition to Isn’t She Lovely to Happy Birthday, and with a message that was, in Stevie’s words, about unity, about voting, and about fixing a broken heart, a tour that was both a concert and a call to action, and that proved, at seventy-four, that he could still, in every sense, command a room, and that is a testament to his talent, his work ethic, and his audience, which is loyal, global, and, above all, patient, and that is a legacy that goes beyond any single album, and that is as important as any Grammy he has won, because it is about a musician who understands that a concert can be more than entertainment, it can be a moment, a movement, and a memory, and Stevie, who has been doing that for sixty years, understands it, better than most, and that is why his concerts are still, after all these years, events, not just shows.

Sir Duke is the track I return to most from Songs in the Key of Life, because it is a tribute to Duke Ellington, with a horn arrangement that is joyful, a vocal that is celebratory, and a lyric that is, in essence, a thank-you note, to a musician who came before, and the song’s success, which was driven by radio, by its energy, and by word of mouth, made it one of his most played songs, and it remains, more than forty-five years later, a standard, a song that is played on radio, at parties, in cars, and that is a proof that a great tribute, like a great song, does not go out of fashion, and that Stevie, who wrote it, understood, better than most, how to honour a predecessor, without imitating him, by making a song that is, in every sense, his own, and that is a rare talent, and one that deserves respect, even from critics who prefer his ballads, because Sir Duke is, by any measure, a great song, and a great performance, and that is why it works, and why it will last.

Frequently Asked Questions

When and where was Stevie Wonder born?

Stevie Wonder was born on 13 May 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, as Stevland Hardaway Judkins, and he became blind shortly after birth due to retinopathy of prematurity, after being born six weeks early.

How old was Stevie Wonder when he had his first hit?

He was thirteen when Fingertips, recorded live in 1963, reached number one, making him the youngest artist to have a number-one single, a record he still holds.

Which Stevie Wonder album won three Grammy Awards for Album of the Year?

He won Album of the Year three times, for Innervisions in 1974, Fulfillingness’ First Finale in 1975 and Songs in the Key of Life in 1977, and he has won twenty-five Grammy Awards in total.

What song did Stevie Wonder write for the Martin Luther King holiday campaign?

Happy Birthday, from the album Hotter than July in 1980, became the anthem of his campaign for a national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr., which was signed into law in 1983.

Which Stevie Wonder song won an Academy Award?

I Just Called to Say I Love You, from the film The Woman in Red in 1984, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became a worldwide number-one hit.

What is Stevie Wonder’s masterpiece album?

Songs in the Key of Life, a double album released in September 1976, is widely regarded as his masterpiece, featuring Sir Duke, Isn’t She Lovely, I Wish and As.

Sources

• Wikipedia — Stevie Wonder
• Billboard — Stevie Wonder
• Metacritic — Stevie Wonder