Stevie Wonder, a figure who exemplifies American popular music in the second half of the 20th century Although he was blind since childhood, his music shines all the time with: Talking book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness first finale, Songs in the key of life…
Stevie Wonder is considered one of the most prolific contributors to American music
In the World of Music program airing at 6pm on October 5 on HTV7 with the theme "Songs for the community", the audience will especially enjoy the talent of the legendary voice of blind African-American singer Steve Wonder and some artists who are his friends, through the song That's what friends are for. Best Song from The Woman In Red and was awarded an Oscar in 1984.
Steve Wonder was born Steveland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. He later changed his name to Steveland Hardaway Morris. He wrote music, performed a variety of instruments, produced recording programs, and was a brilliant pop talent in the second half of the 20th century.
Wonder has more than 20 US top 10 records, won 26 Grammy Awards, (being the most winning solo artist in the history of this award), with 1 Lifetime Achievement Award, Best Song Award, and was honored in the Music Museum for Rock and Roll and as a songwriter. One special thing about Stevie Wonder is that he was born blind, and at the age of 11 started singing on street corners, signed with Motortown Records, and continued to perform and record for the label. At the age of 12, young Steveland Morris made a strong impression on the audience when he appeared on the show American Bandstand.
Stevie Wonder before the admiration of international artists
With 10 #1 pop hits and 20 #1 R&B hits (Rhythm and Blues), with total album sales of over 100 million copies, Stevie Wonder ranks as the second black artist to win an Academy Award for “ Best Song", and ranked 11th out of all famous musicians in the UK chart.
A very favorite artist of Obama, Stevie Wonder performed on January 18, 2009 at President Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial. He sang 2 songs, Brand new day and the new song All about the love again and with other singers in the songs: Signed, Sealed, and Delivered.
On February 23, 2009, Stevie Wonder was awarded the Gershwin Prize by the US Library of Congress (the second person to receive this award) because his songs are very popular among music lovers around the world. This award aims to honor artists whose works transcend musical borders to create understanding between people.
The success of "That's what friends are for"
The success of "That's what friends are for"
The song That’s what friends are for was written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager; Rob Stewart sang it as the closing theme to the comedy Night Shift in 1982. Three years later the song became famous when it was covered by Dionne Warwick and friends including Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, and Elton John to raise funds for charity in the UK and US.
That's what friends are for was recorded to raise money for the American Foundation for AIDs Research and raised more than 3 million dollars for this purpose. This song ranked No. 1 for 4 weeks in January 1986 on the Billboard chart, and was chosen by Billboard as the best single of 1986. Later, this group of artists won a Grammy Award for "Performing Group". Best Pop Performance" and won "Song of the Year" in 1986.
Legendary Stevie Wonder and close friends in the song "That's what friends are for"
This song later became the theme for a large charity music night named after the song in New York City to raise money for AIDS victims. A month later, the music night was broadcast on CBS television with That's what friends are for as the closing song of the 2-hour music program with the participation of Warwick and all the famous guest artists. The music night raised more than 2.5 million dollars for AIDS relief activities.
That's what friends are for is ranked 51st on the Billboard list for "Greatest Hits of All Time".
