Happy 76th Birthday, Stevie Wonder. Here's Why His Story Is as Remarkable as His Music.
Stevie Wonder was born blind. At age 11 he signed with Motown Records. By the time most people his age were learning to drive, he had already recorded songs that would outlast generations. What followed was one of the most extraordinary careers in the history of popular music, 30 top-ten hits in the US, 25 Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a male solo artist, and a catalogue that includes Superstition, Signed Sealed Delivered, My Cherie Amour, and I Wish, songs that feel less like recordings and more like shared memories.
He turns 76 today, and he is still going. What is easy to forget, given how naturally his talent seems to flow, is that none of it was inevitable. He was born six weeks premature, and the excess oxygen in his incubator left him permanently blind. He could have been defined entirely by that. Instead he became someone whose music makes people feel seen.
He turns 76 today, and he is still going. What is easy to forget, given how naturally his talent seems to flow, is that none of it was inevitable. He was born six weeks premature, and the excess oxygen in his incubator left him permanently blind. He could have been defined entirely by that. Instead he became someone whose music makes people feel seen.
