By Elly Herrick, Editor-in-Chief
A son, a dad, a musician and a songwriter.
Stevland Hardaway Morris, aka Stevie Wonder, is internationally known as an iconic American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has greatly influenced the blues, soul, gospel, funk and jazz genres during the 20th century.
Wonder was born six weeks premature and became blind from the combination of conditions in the incubator and his early birth, but that definitely did not stop him from pursuing music. Raised in inner-city Detroit, Wonder had already mastered the piano, harmonica, drums, and bass before he was a teen. He signed with a Motown label at age 11 and had a No.1 hit on Billboard Hot 100 by age 13. He would later go on to sell out stadiums, win 25 Grammy Awards, and sell over 100 million records worldwide. He also won Album of the The Year three times.
A fighter for social justice, when Wonder won the 1985 Oscar for Best Original Song, he dedicated the award to anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
“Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.” – Stevland Hardaway Morris (Stevie Wonder)