Stevie Wonder is 59 today

Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. A prominent figure in popular music during the latter half of the 20th century, Wonder has recorded more than thirty top ten hits, won 22 Grammy Awards (a record for a solo artist), plus one for lifetime achievement, won an Academy Award for Best Song and been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame. He has also been awarded the Polar Music Prize.

Blind from infancy, Wonder signed with Motown Records as a pre-adolescent at age twelve, and continues to perform and record for the label. He has ten U.S. number-one hits on the pop Charts, 20 U.S. R&B number one hits, and album sales totaling more than 150 million units. Wonder has recorded several critically acclaimed albums and hit singles, and writes and produces songs for many of his label mates and outside artists as well. Wonder plays the piano, synthesizer, harmonica, congas, drums, bongos, organ, talk box, melodica, and clavinet. In his childhood, he was best known for his harmonica work, but today he is better known for his keyboard skills and vocal ability.

Stevie Wonder was born on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, United States. The product of a premature birth, the blood vessels at the back of his eyes had not yet reached the front, and an aborted growth spurt caused the retinas to detach. The medical term for this condition is known as Retinopathy of prematurity, or "ROP", and while it may have been exacerbated by the oxygen pumped into his incubator, this treatment was not the primary cause of his blindness.

When Wonder was 4, his mother left his father and moved herself and her children to Detroit, Michigan. Wonder took up piano at age 7, and had mastered it by age 9. During his early childhood he was active in his Church choir. He also taught himself to play the harmonica and the drums, and had mastered both by age ten. Wonder also learned to play the bass during his early years.

Wonder has seven children from several relationships and two marriages: in 1970, to deceased Motown singer Syreeta Wright (the marriage ended in divorce in 1972) and, since 2001, to fashion designer Kai Milla Morris.

His daughter, Aisha Morris, was the inspiration for his hit single "Isn't She Lovely." Aisha Morris is a singer who has toured with her father and accompanied him on recordings, including his 2005 album, A Time 2 Love. Wonder has two sons with Kai Milla Morris; the older is named Kailand and he occasionally performs as a drummer on stage with his father. The younger son, Mandla Kadjay Carl Steveland Morris, was born May 13, 2005, his father's 55th birthday.

His children are: Aisha Morris (born April,1975) (by Yolanda Simmons); Keita Morris (by Yolanda Simmons); Kwame Morris; Mumtaz Morris; Sophia Morris; Kailand Morris (by Kai Milla Morris); Mandla Kadjay Carl Stevland Morris (born May 13, 2005) (by Kai Milla Morris)

One of my favorites
from "Songs in the Key of Life"
"Knocks Me Off My Feet"
(just music on the video)