Stevie Wonder

This thing was written for my seventh grade music class. It was a "biography on a famous musician" type thing. I'm fairly new to the site, so I'm not entirely sure if I should really be posting this on here...I just want to know how to improve it. The discription on Non-fiction said 'biographies.' I hope this will pass for that.

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Stevie Wonder

Steveland Morris was born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 13, 1950. Being born prematurely, health complications led to blindness. He attended the Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing, Michigan where he was trained in classical piano.

At the age of twelve, Morris signed a deal with Motown Records and was named “Little Stevie Wonder.” In 1963, Little Stevie Wonder topped the pop charts with “Fingertips (Pt II).” It was recorded in concert and was the first live single in history to reach Number One.

As he grew, Wonder began to argue with Motown’s factory-like operation methods which left the artist very little creative control. As these arguments continued, Wonder allowed his contract with Motown to expire and left the label on his twenty-first birthday in 1971. His last album before his departure was Where I’m Coming From, which was strongly fought against releasing by the people at Motown.

Wonder independently created two albums that became a bargaining tool with Motown. Eventually, the label agreed to his negotiations and allowed the artist total creative control and the rights to his songs. Wonder returned to Motown in March of 1972.

In the years to follow, Stevie Wonder would have several hits topping the R&B and pop charts with well-known songs such as “Superstition,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “I Wish,” and “Sir Duke.” In fact, the singer/songwriter has scored more than thirty Top Ten hits and eleven #1 Pop Singles. He has so far won nineteen Grammys and one Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1996.

Stevie Wonder’s audience was widened in 1972 when he opened for The Rolling Stones on their 1972 American Tour. Later, he boosted his appearance by appearing at many charity events and on television shows such as Sesame Street, The Cosby Show, and, more recently, American Idol. Along with that, Wonder was featured in a duet with Bruce Springsteen on the charity single for African famine relief, “We Are the World.”

Stevie Wonder has performed songs at the closing ceremonies for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the 2002 Paralympics in Salt Lake City. He has also performed at the pre-game show for Super Bowl XL in Detroit with his four-year-old son on the drums.

Wonder has also appeared as the subject of several blind jokes, one of them being impersonated by Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live. He even joined in some of the jokes himself. In The Motown Revue, Smokey Robinson presented Wonder with a plaque which he “read” for the audience, and then noticed a spelling mistake.

In 1989, Wonder was inducted into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame, though most of his songs were in either the R&B or pop genre. In addition, he was made a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2002.

Throughout the years, many other performers and musicians have listed Stevie Wonder as one of his or her major influences. Among these people are Alicia Keys, Beyonce Knowles, and Justin Timberlake, just to name a few. Some members of the band Maroon 5 have also named Wonder as a main influence. These people, along with many others, believe Stevie Wonder to be one of the greatest singers/songwriters of all time, due to his amazing career that lasts to this day.

Just FYI, the biography is so long 'cause the minimum amount of words was something like 400. Sorry, but I forgot to mention that. Forgive me for commenting on my own work!

This is a decent essay. It flows well while efficiently disclosing information. Your main problems are mainly in syntax and grammar and all that--I'm just going to correct them here. Crossed out are things that can go, in red are things I've added or changed, and in blue are additional comments.

Steveland Morris was born in Saginaw, Michigan on May 13, 1950. [s]Being born prematurely,[/s]Health complications following premature birth led to blindness. He attended the Michigan School for the Blind in Lansing[s], Michigan[/s] where he was trained in classical piano.

At the age of twelve, Morris signed a deal with Motown Records and was named “Little Stevie Wonder.” In 1963, [s]Little Stevie Wonder [/s]he topped the pop charts with “Fingertips (Pt II).” It was recorded in concert and was the first live single in history to reach Number One.

As he grew older, Wonder began to argue with Motown’s factory-like operation methods which left the artist very little creative control. [s]As these arguments continued, [/s]Wonder allowed his contract with Motown to expire and left the label on his twenty-first birthday in 1971. His last album before [s]his[/s] departure was Where I’m Coming From, whose release was fought against by Motown[s]which was strongly fought against releasing by the people at Motown[/s].
I rephrased that last sentence, but it's still in passive voice, so you might want to change it altogether: Motown fought against the release of Where I'm Coming From, his last album before departure.")

Wonder independently created two albums that became [s]a[/s] bargaining tools with Motown. Eventually, the label agreed to his [s]negotiations[/s]terms and allowed the artist total creative control and the rights to his songs. Wonder returned to Motown in March of 1972.

In the years to follow, Stevie Wonder would have several hits topping the R&B and pop charts with well-known songs such as “Superstition,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “I Wish,” and “Sir Duke.” [s]In fact, [/s]The singer/songwriter has scored more than thirty Top Ten hits and eleven #1 Pop Singles. He has so far won nineteen Grammys and one Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1996.

Stevie Wonder’s audience was widened [s]in 1972[/s] when he opened for The Rolling Stones on their 1972 American Tour. Later, he boosted his [s]appearance[/s]popularity by appearing at many charity events and on television shows such as Sesame Street, The Cosby Show, and, more recently, American Idol. [s]Along with that,[/s] Wonder was also featured in a duet, "We Are the World", with Bruce Springsteen on the charity single for African famine relief[s], “We Are the World.”[/s]

Stevie Wonder [s]has [/s]performed songs at the closing ceremonies for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and the 2002 Paralympics in Salt Lake City. He [s]has[/s] also performed at the pre-game show for Super Bowl XL in Detroit with his four-year-old son on the drums.

Wonder has also appeared as the subject of several blind jokes; once he was impersonated by Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live[s], one of them being impersonated by Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live[/s]. He has even joined in some of the jokes himself. In The Motown Revue, Smokey Robinson presented Wonder with a plaque which he “read” for the audience, [s]and [/s]then noticed a spelling mistake.

In 1989, Wonder was inducted into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame, though most of his songs were in either the R&B or pop genre. In addition, he was made a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2002.

Throughout the years, many other performers and musicians have listed Stevie Wonder as one of [s]his or her[/s]their major influences. Among these people are Alicia Keys, Beyonce Knowles, and Justin Timberlake[s], just to name a few[/s]. Some members of the band Maroon 5 have also named Wonder as a main influence. These people, along with many others, believe Stevie Wonder to be one of the greatest singers/songwriters of all time, due to his amazing career that lasts to this day.

That last bit is awkwardly phrased and clunky--you might want to rethink those last few sentences entirely. Good job on this essay.

-Colleen