Born on May 13: Stevie Wonder is not just the name of an asteroid. Far from it

He was born in 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. For his 75th birthday, give him a quick call to say you love him...

Steveland Judkins, as known on official records, was initially nicknamed Little Stevie Wonder at the start of his career for the Tamla Motown label in Detroit from the age of eleven. "Little Stevie Wonder" is, furthermore, the title of his first album in 1962. That year, he experienced his first big hit with the song "Fingertips". As he grew older, he lost the "Little" label and gained other colourful nicknames such as El Toro Negro.

Enjoying complete artistic freedom from the early '70s, which was not a given at that time, he recorded albums that became classics such as "Where I'm Coming From" and especially "Music Of My Mind" in 1972, which he produced entirely by himself: composition and singing obviously, but also production and all instruments (except two). Still extremely rare at the time, especially in black music, he experimented early on with synths, particularly the Moog. But undoubtedly the album "Innervisions" (1973) deserves the label of masterpiece.

And yet, likely built on more accessible choruses, the most striking popular successes of his career would only come a decade later, notably with the album "Hotter Than July" in 1980. From "Happy Birthday" to "Master Blaster", from "Ebony & Ivory" (with Paul McCartney) to "I Just Called To Say I Love You" (from the movie "The Lady In Red" soundtrack), Stevie alternates up-tempo tracks and ballads with equal success.

Despite his blindness, Stevie Wonder, who is also vegan, has been setting records for decades. Over 100 million albums sold and no less than 25 Grammy Awards (the prestigious American showbiz accolades) including three for "album of the year"! And every month, he charms a staggering number of 20 million listeners on Spotify alone. More unusually, since February 2004, an asteroid has traded its initial designation (the unromantic 144296) to now being called Stevie Wonder. Few artists can boast of literally having their head in the stars...

Desperate about the growing gap between his fellow citizens, Stevie recorded "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" a few furlongs away from the last US presidential elections. However, this first new song since 2020 failed to bring supporters of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris closer together!

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Stevie Wonder at the Stade de Schaerbeek in Brussels (Belgium) on 2nd July 1984