Isn’t Stevie wonderful?
When it comes to music, this rocker relies on love to lead the way.
A MARKETING-savvy producer dubbed the 11-year-old musician Little Stevie Wonder. What a prophetic decision, because he turned out to be one of the most revered musicmakers of our time, with catchy, creative songs about relationships and social issues.
He’s performed for presidents, kings and queens; recorded with some of music’s biggest names; visited the top of the charts many times, and won rooms full of awards.
Here are 25 fun facts about Stevie Wonder.
1. In his 53-year career, he has recorded for only one record label: Tamla, one of the Motown imprints.
2. When he plays keyboards, he doesn’t use his right thumb.
3. He and Bob Dylan both released their debut albums in 1962. Dylan was 21, Wonder, 12.
4. In 1966, his version of Dylan’s
reached No. 9 on the pop chart and No. 1 on the R&B chart.
5. Stevland Morris (his legal name) graduated from the Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing.
6. At age 13, he became the youngest person to top Billboard’s Hot 100, with in 1963, recorded live in concert.
7. He has won 25 Grammys. Only three people have more: conductor Georg Solti (31) and producer Quincy Jones and bluegrass queen Alison Krauss (27 each).
8. He is the only artiste to win the Grammy for album of the year for three consecutive albums — 1973’s Innervisions, 1974’s, First Finale and 1976’s Key Of Life.
9. On 1976’s Wonder wrote to celebrate the birth of his daughter Aisha. Now Aisha Morris is a backup singer, accompanying her father on a tour in which he’s performing that album in its entirety.
10. He has released only one album of new music in this century, 2005’s
but he delivered 12 albums in the 1960s and 10 in the 1970s. He released just four in the 1980s and three in the 1990s (one studio, one soundtrack, one live).
11. His harmonica can be heard on 2015 albums by Mark Ronson, Donny Osmond and Melissa Manchester.
12. Hits he’s written for other artistes include for Smokey Robinson, for the Spinners,
for Rufus and for Jermaine Jackson.
13. He has scored 10 No. 1 pop songs and 20 No. 1 R&B songs, but only three of his albums topped Billboard’s chart. 14. During a rehearsal for
in the late 1960s, a 30-piece orchestra was playing the song Wonder was going to perform that night. He stopped the musicians and told his conductor that one saxophonist had the wrong arrangement. Indeed, the sax man was half a tone lower than everyone else. The conductor hadn’t heard it.
15. He won an Oscar for best song for from in 1985. The tune landed at the top of both the pop and R&B charts.
16. He opened for the Rolling Stones STP Tour in 1972.
17. released in 1972, was an artistic turning point. His songs were longer and more musically ambitious and stylistically diverse. His lyrics were topical, an approach established on 1971’s
which was filled with social commentary. On
for the first time, he played all the instruments except guitar and trombone.
18. He has performed at funerals for friends: Michael Jackson in 2009, Etta James in 2012 and Whitney Houston a month later.
19. In 1973, he was in a serious auto accident while on tour in North Carolina. His car hit the back of a truck. The singer was in a coma for four days and suffered a partial loss of his sense of smell.
20. While on tour, he goes through two to three harmonicas a week.
21. His 1981 song helped establish Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday as a national holiday.
22. His harmonica can be heard on such hits as Chaka Khan’s
Elton John’s
and Sting’s 23. Among the other stars with whom Wonder has recorded are Ray Charles, Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Bruce Springsteen, Tony Bennett, John Denver, Snoop Dogg, Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion.
24. In 2009 he became the second recipient of the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for pop music, honoured by President Barack Obama.
25. A vegan, he travels with his own chef. — Star Tribune/Tribune News Service
EFFORTLESSLY cool rocker Lenny Kravitz has come a long way since the release of his debut album in 1989. With the popularity of songs like
and Kravitz cemented himself as a formidable rocker in the music scene.
Throughout his illustrious career, Kravitz has won the Grammy for Best Male Vocal Rock Performance four times. Fans would also be glad to know that
I get the sense that was meant to have a narrative about falling in love, losing it and then feeling hopeful again; it’s like you’re taking listeners on a journey through different experiences of love.
Love is usually the centre of what I sing about. To me love, represents different kinds of things. Love has to do with relationships, spirituality, and it’s a universal subject.
If you write about love in your entire life, you never risk repeating yourself. It’s such a deep subject.
Where does your optimism and outlook on love come from?
I think it’s just the way I was raised. I grew up in a positive household and was always surrounded by love. I have faith in God, life and in people.
I also always believe that the best is yet to come. I learned that from my grandfather and I’ve watched him live his own life that way.
Is it true that a piece of broken drumstick got into your eye while you were Kravitz has retained his signature mix of rock, funk and soul on his latest album which features the single In this phone interview with
Kravitz – who will turn 50 next month — tells us that fans can continue to expect more from him.
recording the song on Apparently, you continued playing despite the injury.
Yeah, it’s true. I should have stopped but I decided to finish the take anyway. I was into the music, I was dedicated. I’d probably just keep on playing until my arm falls off. I’m crazy like that (laughs). I was rushed to the hospital after I finished recording.
Yes, I could still play after I saw the doctor and got the injury treated. But I had to wear an eyepatch and I was also told to keep my eyes shut for a period of time.
I think I was really lucky that I didn’t tear my cornea or something. That was a long time ago.
Looking back at your career, is there anything you’d do differently?
No, because all the things I’ve done has made me what I am today.
So, it is safe to say that we have yet to see the best from Lenny Kravitz?
Absolutely! I’m just getting started (laughs).