Stevie Wonder was born Steveland Hardaway Judkins. His mother was Lula May Hardaway, who was 17 at the time of his birth, and his father was Calvin Judkins, a man who was nearly 30 years her senior. When he was 4 years old, Stevie, his mother, and his two older brothers moved from Saginaw to Detroit. It was then that Wonder's surname was legally changed to Morris, an old family name, as a preemptive strike against any attempt by Calvin Judkins to cut in on their sudden good fortune. Many say that Morris was Lula's married name, but this is clearly erroneous, as her second husband was a man named Paul Lynch.
According to his official biography, Wonder was born six weeks premature in a Saginaw Hospital. He was kept alive in an incubator for a month, and during this time, too much oxygen was pumped into the incubator, causing him to develop retrolental fibroplasia, now technically known as retinopathy of prematurity, which caused his blindness. Wonder says he tries to create "sonic pictures" with his songs.
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Eddie Murphy, a huge fan, famously imitated Wonder on
Saturday Night Live. Wonder didn't mind - he even
appeared on the show in a skit with Murphy.
Motown Records signed him when he was 11 and released his first album when he was 12. He was billed as "Little" Stevie Wonder, the boy genius. His 1963 album Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius, went to #1. Motown dropped the "Little" part of his name when Stevie grew to 6 feet tall.
In 1976, Wonder signed what was the biggest record deal ever, for $13 million over 7 years.
In 1973, he was in a coma for four days after getting in a car accident (someone else was driving). His vehicle hit a logging truck, and one of the logs went through the windshield and struck Stevie as he was listening to a mix of his Innervisions album. He lost his sense of smell for a while but it gradually returned along with the higher consciousness that comes with a near-death experience. "I was definitely in a much better spiritual place that made me aware of a lot of things that concern my life and my future," Wonder said.
Stevie took a year off when he was 14 because his voice was changing.
He graduated from the Michigan State School For The Blind.
He plays most of the instruments on his albums. Wonder is skilled on the keyboard, bass, drums and harmonica. He mastered all four instruments before hitting his teenage years.
In 1969, Motown gave him complete control of his recordings. He was one of the first artists to write, produce, arrange, and perform his own songs.
In 1968, Stevie Wonder wrote the music to Smokey Robinson's #1 hit "
The Tears of a Clown." Then in 1970, with the help of Lee Garrett, another blind songwriter, Stevie produced and wrote the 1970 hit "
It's A Shame" for a local band in Michigan, The Spinners. Lee Garrett soon became friends with Stevie, and before long, they were songwriting partners.
Before they were solo artists, Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams were backup singers for Stevie Wonder. Riperton is most remembered for the song "
Lovin' You" and Williams is famous for singing "
Let's Hear It For The Boy" on the
Footloose soundtrack. Both could sing in the whistle register.
Motown head Berry Gordy said Wonder was "the most innovative person that I've ever known. But also unique with his tones and his voice quality."
In his early years, Stevie wanted other people in the studio with him when he recorded his vocals so he could feel their presence, which made him more comfortable. There were times when workers and people hanging around the studio were summoned to join Stevie while he tracked his vocals.
Wonder doesn't see his blindness as a liability. "Being blind, you don't judge books by their covers," he said. "You go through things that are relatively insignificant, and you pick out the things that are more important."
He never took drugs. "I like my mind the way it is," he said.
Stevie Wonder has been married three times. His first wife was the soul and R&B singer Syreeta Wright; their marriage lasted 18 months, from 1970 to 1972. Wonder then exchanged vows with designer Kai Millard in 2001, but they divorced 11 years later. The soul legend tied the knot for the third time on the July 15-16, 2017 weekend, this time with his longtime girlfriend Tomeeka Bracy. Wonder's nine children from five different relationships served as their father and new stepmother's groomsmen and bridesmaids.
In the 2010s, Stevie Wonder became vegetarian, and later, a vegan. He said he did it both for his own personal health and for the environmental impact. Wonder so loves his meatless diet, he sang it about it in October 2015 on
The Late Late Show with James Corden during the show's
"Carpool Karaoke" segment.