As an added distinction to this year's Gershwin Prize, the Library has offered, and Wonder has accepted, a musical commission. He joins a group of eminent composers who have received Library commissions, ranging from Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein to Paquito D'Rivera.

"It's an immense privilege to join such a remarkable roster of musicians and composers," Wonder said. "I am touched to receive this honor, and look forward to creating music for the celebration." A concert gala celebrating the award is currently being planned for the following evening.

"The Gershwin Prize was created to honor an artist whose creative output transcends distinctions between musical styles and idioms, bringing diverse listeners together, and fostering mutual understanding and appreciation," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "Stevie Wonder's music epitomizes this ideal."

The prize commemorates George and Ira Gershwin, the legendary American songwriting team whose extensive manuscript collections reside in the Library of Congress. The prize is given annually to a musician whose lifetime contribution in the field of popular song exemplifies the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins.
The first Gershwin Prize was awarded in May 2007 to Paul Simon.

Born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1950, Stevie became blind shortly after birth. He learned to play the harmonica, piano and drums by the age of 9 years old. By the time he was 10, his singing and other musical skills were known throughout his neighborhood, and when the family moved to Detroit, impressed adults made his talents known to the owners of Motown Records, who gave him a recording contract when he was age 12.

The LP featured his first nationwide hit - "Fingertips." That recording was followed in just a few more years by "Uptight (Everything's All Right)" "For Once in My Life," "My Cherie Amour," and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours," and "If You Really Love Me." He undertook the study of classical piano, and later, music theory, and beginning in 1967, he began writing more of his own material. He authored the Smokey Robinson hit "The Tears of a Clown." In the early 1970s, Wonder toured with the Rolling Stones and had major hits with the songs "Superstition" and "You are the Sunshine of My Life." In the mid-70s, his album Songs in the Key of Life topped the charts for 14 weeks. It includes the breakout hits "I Wish", "Sir Duke", and "Pastime Paradise"; the latter song was sampled in 1995 within a hit by another artist, Coolio. Stevie's songs have been covered by many artists including Eric Clapton, Barbra Streisand, Marc Anthony, Mary J. Blige, John Mellencamp, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, just to name a few.

Over the years Stevie Wonder has delivered 32 #1 R&B and Pop singles, 49 Top 40 R&B and Pop singles, garnered 25 Grammy Awards (including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996) and collected an Academy Award for the 1984 hit "I Just Called To Say I Love You" from the film The Woman in Red. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. In 1999, Stevie became the youngest honoree of the Kennedy Center Honors.