Stevie Wonder

from Stevie Wonder, the Web Site

My hero is Stevie Wonder who is an American singer and composer. He plays piano, harmonica, bass, and guitar. He wrote virtually all the songs for his more than 40 albums.

He also has been blind since birth.

I admire him most because even though he has a sight problem, he established himself as a famous person. He has touched many people’s hearts with his songs.

Stevie Wonder was born Steveland Morris on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. He was a premature baby and placed in an incubator. Accidentally, he was given too much oxygen which caused him to go blind.

When he was a little boy, he used to pass his time by beating spoons on pots, pans, and any other surface that helped him keep rhythm with the tunes he heard on the radio. When he became proficient on various real instruments, he started playing at the local church and became famous in his neighborhood. When he was seven, he was a vocal and piano prodigy. Later, he learned the drums and harmonica.

When he was 12, he received his first record deal from Motown founder Berry Gordy. In 1962, his first album for Motown, Twelve Year Old Genius, spawned the No. 1 hit "Fingertips (Part 2)." He hit the road with other Motown acts, and scored hits with "Uptight (Everything's Alright)," "For Once in My Life," and "I Was Made To Love Her." Wonder co-produced, wrote, and played many of the instruments in the songs on his albums.

In 1971, he started his own studio and made records that combined elements of gospel, rock and roll, jazz, African, and Latin American rhythms. He studied formal music theory to improve his compositional skills. From 1972 through 1976, he had hit after hit, including classics such as "Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You)," "Superstition," and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life." In 1996, Stevie Wonder received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and many other awards. He was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.