The Boy Who Topped the Charts at Thirteen and Never Stopped

Stevland Hardaway Judkins was born on 13 May 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, six weeks premature. The oxygen-rich atmosphere in the hospital incubator caused retinopathy of prematurity, which left him blind. When he was four his mother moved the family to Detroit, where he sang in the choir at Whitestone Baptist Church and became a soloist at eight. He started playing instruments early: piano, harmonica and drums.

At eleven he signed with Motown's Tamla label and was given the name Little Stevie Wonder. At thirteen his single “Fingertips” topped the Billboard Hot 100, making him the youngest solo artist ever to do so. Through his teens he was one of Motown's most successful acts, known for excited harmonica playing and a high-pitched voice.

His classic period, from 1972 to 1976, began with Music of My Mind and Talking Book, which left behind the Motown sound for one driven by synthesisers and keyboards. With Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life, he became the first Black musician to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and the only artist to win it with three consecutive albums. His catalogue includes songs such as “Superstition”, “Higher Ground”, “Sir Duke” and “Isn't She Lovely”.

In the 1980s he became a presence across popular culture: he collaborated with Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, and in 1980 campaigned to make Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday in the United States. “Ebony and Ivory”, “I Just Called to Say I Love You”, “Part-Time Lover” and “That's What Friends Are For” all reached number one, making him the first act to top the Hot 100 in three consecutive decades. He has sold more than 100 million records and won 25 Grammy Awards, the most by a male solo artist. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.