Stevie Wonder biography

Essay by prophet0783University, Bachelor'sA+, April 2007

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Stevie Wonder is a world renowned American icon and an indisputable genius not only of R&B but popular music in general. Blind virtually since birth, Wonder's heightened awareness of sound helped him create vibrant, colorful music filled with life and excitement. At a young age, Wonder demonstrated amazing talent on any instrument put in front of him. Stevie Wonder is an indisputable music phenomenon that has influenced many contemporary for generatrions.

Steveland Morris Judkins was born at St. Mary's Hospital on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw Michigan, to parents Calvin and Lula Mae Judkins. Steveland was born four months premature and was placed in an incubator where he received oxygen. At that time, no one knew that high doses of oxygen could potentially ruin a newborn baby's eyes. By the time Wonder was allowed to leave the hospital, he was totally blind.

Stevie had a great childhood. Thanks to his five brothers, Stevie was taught to run, climb trees and ride a bike if someone else steered.

"I always have loved my mother for giving me that independence," he recalled in the book Stevie Wonder, by John Swenson. "She let me feel the breeze of riding a bicycle" (page 13).

Stevie had a true gift for music but due to financial circumstances, his family could not afford instruments so he started out on pots and pans at the age of two. When he was four, a neighbor gave him a piano which he immediately started learning how to play. He also enjoyed playing the drums and beat several toy drum sets to their end, until the local Lions Club gave him a real drum set for Christmas one year. Even though he was seen as a talented young boy, it wasn't until his uncle gave him a harmonica that Stevie...