Stevie Wonder: Gershwin prize second recipient

Steven Wonder

Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris) will be awarded the Gershwin prize on February 23, 2009.

Steven will be only the second recipient to receive the Gershwin prize. The Gershwin Prize, is an award handed out by the U.S. Library of Congress.

James Billington of the Librarian of Congress announced the prize. He noted that the prize honors an artist whose work transcends musical styles to bring diverse listeners together and foster mutual understanding. It recognizes a musician’s lifetime of work

The honor is awarded to select musicians who have contributed a huge body of work in popular music and whose impact has been monumental in the genre. Paul Simon was awarded the first prize last year.

Wonder says, "It’s an immense privilege to join such a remarkable roster of musicians and composers, I am touched to receive this honor, and look forward to creating music for the celebration."

For the award ceremony, Wonder plans on writing a new piece of music for the library of Congress for the event.

During a Barack Obama election rally at Invesco Field at Mile High, Wonder said “We live in a time in the world where everyone in the world must understand that prejudice is a sickness,” Wonder, who is blind, told the crowd before he started with a three-song set. “I’m saying this to you as a man who has the vision of the heart because I am color free.” Songs sang included were a previously unreleased song, "Fear Can’t Put Dreams to Sleep," and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours", a song that was used regularly during the Obama campaign.

Wonder is now in his fifth decade as one of the most prolific artists in music history, with 30 top 10 hits, 11 number one pop singles, and 19 Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1996. His contribution to worldwide social and political change is just as impressive, having championed the effort to make Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday, as well as becoming a driving force behind 1985’s USA For Africa campaign.