Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts tagged as “Saginaw”

The Merry, Merry Month of Stevie: GBN Honors Stevie Wonder All Month in Celebration of His 70th on May 13 (LISTEN)

The Merry, Merry Month of Stevie: GBN Honors Stevie Wonder All Month in Celebration of His 70th on May 13 (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on May 1, 2020

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

On May 13, 1950 a celestial event occurred: musical genius and living legend Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw, Michigan, and the world has reaped the benefits ever since.

In commemoration of our collective extraordinary fortune, Good Black News is offering not just a day, but a month’s worth of Stevie Wonder-related content and playlists.

GBN contributors Jeff Meier (“The Clark Sisters”), whose brilliant idea this was, Marlon West (“Afrofuturism”, “Hidden Jazz Figures”, “Soul Jazz”) and I will be posting eclectic playlists and words about Stevie in the coming days and weeks, starting with my all-encompassing, comprehensive thoughtpiece:

STEVIE WONDER IS THE BEST MUSICIAN AND SONGWRITER ALIVE!!!!!!

That’s it.

Stevie Wonder (photo via commons.wikipedia.org)

As Stevie’s music speaks for itself, to kick off GBN’s tribute I offer an 80-track Spotify playlist of his Billboard Chart hits across six decades, in chronological order, from “Fingertips” from 1963 all the way through his 21st century hits from his last studio album, 2005’s “A Time To Love” so listeners can 1) hear the evolution of Stevie’s genius from child prodigy working in within the Motown sound to adult visionary who revolutionizes it and 2) hear all the hits you know and love (and some you don’t!) in one, grand compilation.

(Track 81, called “Stevie’s Dream” from Janelle Monae‘s “Dirty Computer” was not a chart hit, I know, but I added it as a “one to grow on” because it’s Stevie speaking about his mission in music and for the planet and it’s beautiful!)

[spotifyplaybutton play=”spotify:playlist:1TIN6vh4WNnWgvV5Ivf0Ck”/]

Enjoy!

Happy 64th Birthday, Music Legend Stevie Wonder (VIDEO)

By goodblacknews on May 13, 2014

stevieAccording to Wikipedia.org, Stevie Wonder was born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michgan, and has spent over fifty years as a revered, award-winning musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. A child prodigy, he has become one of the most creative and loved musical performers of the late 20th and early 21st century.  Wonder signed with the Motown label at the age of eleven and continues to perform and record for Motown as of the early 2010s. He has been blind since shortly after birth.

Among Wonder’s works are singles such as “Superstition”, “Sir Duke”, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You”; and albums such as Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life. He has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and received twenty-two Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a male solo artist, and has sold over 100 million albums and singles, making him one of the top 60 best-selling music artists. Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a holiday in the United States.

In 2009, Wonder was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists to celebrate the US singles chart’s 50th anniversary, with Wonder at number five.

To learn more about Wonder’s life and music, click here.  To hear him do a live version of “As” with a moving speech towards the end, click below:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCHJ_UFSaes&w=560&h=315]

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson).