MIXXLIST celebrates the child prodigy who has never stopped giving.
It’s no secret that Stevie Wonder’s ‘Happy Birthday’ track has a hidden meaning.
Leaving the Michigan School for the Blind in 1968, Wonder heard of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr on the radio. Years later, he wrote the song ‘Happy Birthday’ aimed to encourage people to sign a petition for Martin Luther King Day, which is now a US national holiday known as King’s Day.
Born Stevland Hardaway Judkins, Wonder was diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that later worsened after he received excessive oxygen in his incubator, causing permanent loss of vision.
However, his love for music overshadowed his condition. In fact, from an early age he mastered the art of playing the piano, harmonica, drums and bass and joined his local church choir, turning him into a child prodigy.
At the tender age of 12, he adopted the stage name Little Stevie Wonder and had his first hit ‘Fingertips’, by 15 he was producing pop and R&B classics and way into his mid-thirties, Wonder had endless chart-topping hits.
His classics, ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours’, ‘Superstition’, ‘Isn’t She Lovely’, and ‘Ebony and Ivory’, and many more, are an embodiment of the singer himself. Filled with joy, love and happiness, his music and performances offer the same emotions, and just like ‘Happy Birthday’ his aim was to spread a deeper message.
Wonder is more than a musician, he is a philanthropist and a political activist, and his works have led to numerous awards, including the Gershwin Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
MIXXLIST leaves you with Wonder’s words of wisdom: “Music, at its essence, is what gives us memories. And the longer a song has existed in our lives, the more memories we have of it.”
So, sit back and listen to MIXXLIST’s ‘Ultimate Stevie Wonder’ playlist and make everlasting memories. [www.mixxlist.com/invite]