54 Fun Facts About Stevie Wonder

In which Michigan city was Stevie Wonder born in 1950?

Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw in May 1950; his family moved to Detroit when he was four, and he sang in the choir at Whitestone Baptist Church there.

What condition left Stevie Wonder blind in infancy?

Retinopathy of prematurity, in which abnormal vessel growth detaches the retinas, was worsened by the oxygen-rich incubator air given to the six-weeks-early newborn.

Which Motown label signed the 11-year-old Stevie Wonder in 1961?

Tamla, the original Motown imprint that also released the Miracles and the Marvelettes, signed him in 1961 after Berry Gordy heard his audition.

Which member of the Miracles heard the young Stevie sing his own song and brought him to Motown?

Ronnie White, whose brother Gerald was a friend of Stevie's, heard the boy perform his own 'Lonely Boy' and arranged the Motown audition.

What was Stevie Wonder's weekly stipend under his first Motown contract?

His allowance was $2.50 a week; because he was a minor, royalties were held in trust until he turned 21, and Motown supplied a private tutor on tour.

Stevie Wonder's first hit, 'Fingertips', was recorded live at which Chicago venue?

The Regal Theater on Chicago's South Side hosted the June 1962 Motortown Revue stop at which it was recorded for Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius.

How old was Stevie Wonder when 'Fingertips' hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100?

He was 13 when 'Fingertips (Pt. 2)' topped the Hot 100 in August 1963, making him the youngest solo artist to reach No. 1 on that chart.

Which future Motown star played drums on 'Fingertips'?

Marvin Gaye, who drummed on Motown sessions before his own hits, played drums on the June 1962 live recording of 'Fingertips'.

On the live recording of 'Fingertips', a replacement bassist is heard shouting what during the encore?

'What key? What key?' is bassist Larry Moses, already on stage for the next act, Mary Wells, when Wonder unexpectedly returned for an encore.

Which Motown songwriter saved Stevie Wonder from being dropped, then co-wrote 'Uptight (Everything's Alright)'?

Sylvia Moy persuaded Berry Gordy to keep the teenager whose voice was changing, then co-wrote 'Uptight (Everything's Alright)', which reached No. 3 in early 1966.

Stevie Wonder co-wrote which song that became a No. 1 hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in 1970?

'The Tears of a Clown' sat unnoticed on the Miracles' 1967 LP Make It Happen until a 1970 single release took it to No. 1 in both the UK and US.

Under what pseudonym did Wonder release his 1968 instrumental album?

Eivets Rednow, his name spelled backwards, fronted a mostly harmonica album whose 'Alfie' single peaked at No. 66 on the Hot 100 in 1968.

Which was Stevie Wonder's first-ever self-produced single?

'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' (1970) was the first single Wonder produced himself; it reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 and topped the R&B chart.

Which former Motown secretary and songwriter did Stevie Wonder marry in 1970?

Syreeta Wright, whom he married in September 1970 and divorced in 1972, co-wrote much of Where I'm Coming From (1971) and stayed a collaborator.

Hearing which electronic group's album Zero Time got Wonder hooked on synthesizers around 1971?

Tonto's Expanding Head Band's 1971 album Zero Time showcased TONTO, the giant custom synthesizer whose two builders Wonder then hired as associate producers for his classic albums.

Which 1972 album is generally considered the first of Wonder's 'classic period'?

Music of My Mind (March 1972), on which Wonder played nearly every instrument himself, peaked at only No. 21 but opened the five-album run known as his classic period.

Which rock band did Stevie Wonder open for on their 1972 American tour?

The Rolling Stones took Wonder out as the opening act on their 1972 American tour, exposing his new synthesizer-driven music to white rock audiences.

The famous riff on 'Superstition' was played on which instrument?

The riff was played on a Hohner Clavinet, the electric keyboard whose funky bite defines the track; Wonder improvised it in 1972 over a drum pattern a visiting guitarist had started.

Which guitarist was originally meant to release 'Superstition' before Wonder?

Jeff Beck was promised the song for helping at the Talking Book sessions, but Motown rushed out Wonder's version, which hit No. 1 in January 1973; Beck's appeared on Beck, Bogert & Appice that spring.

How many days after Innervisions came out was Wonder nearly killed in a car crash?

The rental car hit the back of a flatbed farm truck; he spent four days in a coma and permanently lost part of his sense of smell.

Which sense did Wonder partially lose as a result of his 1973 car accident?

Smell was the sense permanently impaired by the head injuries (a fractured skull and brain contusion) he suffered in the August 1973 crash.

Which 1976 Grammy winner thanked Wonder, 'who didn't make an album this year'?

Paul Simon made the joke while accepting for Still Crazy After All These Years at the February 1976 ceremony, a year with no new Wonder album.

Songs in the Key of Life was the first album by an American artist to do what on the Billboard chart?

Debut at No. 1: only Elton John's Captain Fantastic and Rock of the Westies had entered the Billboard album chart on top before Songs in the Key of Life did in October 1976.

Which song on Songs in the Key of Life was written about Wonder's newborn daughter Aisha?

'Isn't She Lovely' celebrates Aisha Morris, born in 1975 to Wonder and Yolanda Simmons; he refused to cut the six-minute track down for a single.

Which singer kept 'Sir Duke' off No. 1 in the UK despite singing backing vocals on Wonder's album?

Deniece Williams, a former member of Wonder's backing group Wonderlove, held the UK No. 1 with 'Free' in May 1977 while 'Sir Duke' stalled at No. 2.

Which Wonder song did the Red Hot Chili Peppers cover on their 1989 album Mother's Milk?

'Higher Ground', a No. 4 hit from Innervisions in 1973, was covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Mother's Milk in 1989.

Which 1979 Wonder album was made with the Melodian, an early digital sampler?

Secret Life of Plants, the mainly instrumental score for a 1979 documentary, was built with the Computer Music Melodian, one of the first digital sampling synthesizers.

Wonder's single 'Happy Birthday' was a vehicle for his campaign to create which national holiday?

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was the goal; 'Happy Birthday' (1980) became the anthem of the campaign, and the holiday was signed into law in 1983 and first observed in 1986.

Which 1982 No. 1 duet paired Wonder with Paul McCartney?

'Ebony and Ivory', written by McCartney and released on his Tug of War, spent seven weeks at No. 1 in 1982; Wonder's own 'That Girl' topped the R&B chart that year.

Wonder wrote the lyrics to 'Stay Gold', the theme for which 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film?

The Outsiders, adapted from S. E. Hinton's novel, takes 'Stay Gold' from the Robert Frost line 'Nothing gold can stay' recited in the story; Carmine Coppola wrote the music.

'I Just Called to Say I Love You' won an Academy Award as the theme of which film?

The Woman in Red (1984), a Gene Wilder comedy, had Wonder's song as its theme; it topped the Hot 100 in October 1984 and took the Oscar for Best Original Song.

Which Chaka Khan hit features Stevie Wonder on harmonica alongside rapper Melle Mel?

'I Feel for You', written by Prince, reached No. 3 in late 1984 with Melle Mel's rap intro and Wonder's harmonica, and won Khan the 1985 Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female.

On 'We Are the World', Stevie Wonder shared a featured duet passage with which artist?

Bruce Springsteen and Wonder trade lines on the final choruses of the January 1985 USA for Africa recording; later that year Wonder also sang on the AIDS benefit 'That's What Friends Are For'.

For which Spike Lee film did Stevie Wonder record a full soundtrack album in 1991?

Jungle Fever (1991) got a full Wonder album, with singles 'Gotta Have You' and 'Fun Day'; he later wrote two songs for Lee's Bamboozled (2000).

Wonder headlined the halftime show of which numbered Super Bowl in early 1999?

Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami on January 31, 1999 featured a halftime show of soul, salsa and swing with Wonder, Gloria Estefan and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

What was the title of Stevie Wonder's 2005 album, his first new studio release in ten years?

A Time to Love (October 2005) ended a decade without a new Wonder studio album; its title track is a duet with India.Arie, and his daughter Aisha sang on it.

Wonder's 2006 duet with Tony Bennett, which won a Grammy, was a version of which of his own hits?

'For Once in My Life', a 1968 Wonder hit originally cut by Bennett himself a year earlier, won the pair the 2007 Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Which 1985 Wonder single first topped Billboard's pop, R&B, dance and adult contemporary charts simultaneously?

'Part-Time Lover', from In Square Circle, reached No. 1 in November 1985 and was the first single to lead the Hot 100, R&B, dance and adult contemporary charts at once.

Which US president awarded Stevie Wonder the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Barack Obama presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 24, 2014; five years earlier the United Nations had named Wonder a Messenger of Peace.

Wonder's vanity label, launched in 2020, is named after which of his singles?

So What the Fuss Music, distributed by Republic, launched in October 2020 with 'Where Is Our Love Song', whose proceeds went to Feeding America, and 'Can't Put It in the Hands of Fate'.

On his 74th birthday in 2024, Stevie Wonder was granted citizenship of which country?

He first visited the country for Panafest in 1992 and said he decided within 18 hours that he would eventually move there.

Which inventor built the reading machine Wonder adopted in 1976 and later founded a synthesizer company?

Ray Kurzweil's 1976 reading machine made Wonder an early customer and friend; his 1984 Kurzweil K250 synthesizer grew out of Wonder asking whether computers could control acoustic instrument sounds.

What organ transplant did Stevie Wonder announce at a 2019 Hyde Park concert and receive that December?

Kidney: Wonder told the Hyde Park crowd on July 6, 2019 that he had a donor lined up, and the transplant took place that December.

What was Stevie Wonder's surname at birth, before it was legally changed to Morris?

Judkins was the surname of his father, Calvin Judkins; Hardaway came from his mother Lula Mae, and Morris was said to be an old family name.

Where did Wonder enrol as a student after his 1962 debut album The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie?

Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing, about 90 miles from Detroit, took him as a student while Motown supplied a tutor so he could keep touring.

Which Bob Dylan song gave the teenage Wonder a mid-1960s hit, co-sung with his producer-mentor?

'Blowin' in the Wind', cut in 1966 as a duet with his producer, reached No. 9 on the Hot 100 and topped the R&B chart.

Which Motown songwriter co-wrote 'My Cherie Amour' and 'I Was Made to Love Her' with Wonder?

Henry Cosby, Wonder's producer and co-writer through the late 1960s, shared credit on 'My Cherie Amour' (1969), 'I Was Made to Love Her' (1967) and 'Uptight'.

Which two musicians made up Tonto's Expanding Head Band, Wonder's synthesizer collaborators?

Margouleff and Cecil (Robert and Malcolm) built TONTO from Moog, ARP 2600 and Oberheim modules and won the 1974 engineering Grammy for Innervisions.

Which 1974 single from Fulfillingness' First Finale reached No. 1 on the Hot 100?

'You Haven't Done Nothin'', a funk swipe at Richard Nixon with the Jackson 5 on backing vocals, topped the Hot 100 in November 1974; 'Boogie On Reggae Woman' reached No. 3.

In whose name did Wonder accept his 1985 Academy Award, prompting a South African radio ban?

Nelson Mandela, then in his 23rd year in prison, was the dedicatee; South Africa's state broadcaster SABC banned Wonder's music within days of the March 1985 ceremony.

Which R&B group took Wonder's ballad 'Lately' to No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1993?

Jodeci's 1993 cover of 'Lately', recorded for MTV's Uptown Unplugged, reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 4 on the Hot 100.

Which single from Conversation Peace won Wonder two Grammys in 1996?

'For Your Love', the lead single from Conversation Peace (1995), won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song at the 1996 Grammys.

Which fashion designer was Wonder married to from 2001 to 2015?

Kai Millard, a fashion designer, married Wonder in 2001; they separated in 2009 and the divorce was finalised in 2015; their sons are Kailand and Mandla.

How many children does Stevie Wonder have?

Nine children by five women, the eldest Aisha (born 1975); son Mandla arrived on Wonder's own 55th birthday in 2005.