Stevie Wonder (born on May 13, 1950; name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Blind from birth, Stevie Wonder signed with Tamla Records at the age of eleven and continues to perform and record for the label. Stevie Wonder has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and won twenty-two Grammy Awards, the most ever won by a male solo artist. On December 1, 2009, Stevie Wonder was named a UN Messenger of Peace. On March 6, 2010, Wonder was awarded the Commander of the Arts and Letters by French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand who referred to him as "music's familiar genius". A lifetime achievement award was also given to Stevie Wonder, the same day, at France's biggest music awards.
Wonder's songs are renowned for being quite difficult to sing. He has a very developed sense of harmony nd uses many extended chords utilizing extensions such as 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, b5s, etc. in his compositions. Many of his melodies make abrupt, unpredictable changes. Many of his vocal melodies are also melismatic, meaning that a syllable is sung over several notes. In the American Idol Hollywood Performances, judge Randy Jackson repeatedly stated the difficulty of Wonder's songs. Some of his best known and most frequently covered songs are played in keys which are more often found in jazz than in pop and rock. For example, "Superstition", "Higher Ground" and "I Wish" are in the key of E flat minor, and feature distinctive riffs in the E flat minor pentatonic scale (i.e. largely on the black notes of the keyboard).
Wonder played a large role in bringing synthesizers to the forefront of popular music. With the help of Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil, he developed many new textures and sounds never heard before. In 1981, Wonder became the first owner of an E-mu Emulator.[52] It was Wonder's urging that led Raymond Kurzweil to create the first electronic synthesizers that realistically reproduced the sounds of orchestral instruments; Wonder had become acquainted with the inventor as an early user and evangelist of his reading machine, the technology for which would prove instrumental in the success of the Kurzweil K250.
Stevie Wonder will perform Live on Sat, Jun 26, 2010 at Hyde Park,London,United Kingdom.
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