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.
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.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.