Stevie Wonder

Blind from birth, Little Stevie Wonder - as he was then known - was a child star, recording from the age of 11 and getting his first hit Fingertips (Part 2) at 13. He'd already taught himself piano, harmonica, drums and bass and first sang in the church choir, acquiring his stage name after Motown Records producer Mickey Stevenson commented "That boy's a wonder." In 1964 he made his film debut in Muscle Beach Party and went on to make a deluge of hits, including Upright (Everything's Alright) and a cover of Bob Dylan's Blowin' In The Wind, although his greatest work probably came in the 1970s with the ambitious albums Talking Book, Innervisions and Songs in the Key of Life producing classic tracks like Superstition, You Are The Sunshine Of My Life and Isn't She Lovely? His effortless ability to assimilate so many diverse styles, from gospel to reggae, and fuse them into something distinctively original makes him massively influential.