Stevie Wonder was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1950. He joined the Tamla label as a child and reached a national audience with "Fingertips." The Recording Academy's biography traces the early recording career that preceded albums such as *Talking Book*, *Innervisions*, *Fulfillingness' First Finale* and *Songs in the Key of Life*.
His musical life included collaboration as well as recordings under his own name. A Black History Month profile from the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus discusses his work with artists including Syreeta, Rufus and Minnie Riperton, places him within Black American music and describes his use of electronic instruments.
Wonder's public activity extended to advocacy for a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and participation in charitable music projects, connecting his artistic platform with civic concerns shared by organizers, audiences and other performers.
In 1989, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted him, with Paul Simon presenting the honor. Another kind of recognition came through the Library of Congress's Gershwin Prize. The Library also commissioned a new concert work from him.
On February 23, 2009, he performed *Sketches of a Life* in the Library's Coolidge Auditorium with a twenty-one-piece chamber ensemble. Playing piano, electronic keyboard and harmonica, he introduced a work he said had developed over many years. The Library's contemporary account documents the performance and his interest in classical melody. Two days later, President Barack Obama presented him with the Gershwin medal at the White House, where other artists also performed his music. The Recording Academy's record additionally identifies his 1999 MusiCares recognition and his appointment as a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2009.
