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Stevie Wonder’s Awesome Motivation
Stevie Wonder wasn’t born Blind.
In an interview with Larry King, Stevie Wonder stated that he wasn’t born blind. A major cause of Wonder’s blindness was an overabundance of oxygen he experienced as an infant in a hospital incubator. This was an accident on the part of the hospital, which coupled with being six weeks premature resulted in Wonder becoming permanently blind.
Stevie Wonder’s single, “Happy Birthday,” is a big reason why Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday is a National Holiday.
In 1981, Wonder, along with many other supporters, were rallying for the government to recognize Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a national holiday. “Happy Birthday” was Wonder’s way of spreading the word. He even helped organize the Rally for Peace Conference in 1981. President Ronald Reaganwould ultimately approve the holiday thanks to these efforts two years later.
Wonder was the first person to own the E-Mu Emulator, an early sampler.
It would be hard to imagine what the last thirty years of music would be like without sampling technology. The art of sampling has been instrumental in a wide variety of genres like hip-hop and electronic dance music, helping both genres shape the foundations of their sound. The E-Mu Emulator was one of the first affordable samplers on the market, and Stevie Wonder was its first owner.
