Who Is Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely Really About?
Stevie Wonder is one of the smoothest, silky-voiced performers in the music business, and his story is an incredible one. Born Steveland Judkins/Steveland Morris, per Britannica, he had set himself apart as a great musical talent by the age of 8. He was given the moniker "Little Stevie Wonder" by Motown Records President Berry Gordy Jr. ahead of making his first recording, at just 12 years old.
That promising young man went on to enjoy a stellar career. Among other highlights, he was inducted into the Song Writers Hall of Fame in 1983, given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994, deemed a U.N. Messenger of Peace in 2009, and awarded a huge crop of Grammy Awards the website Stevie Wonder reported.
On a personal level, though, becoming a parent was one of Wonder's proudest achievements to date. His daughter's birth inspired one of his best-loved songs, "Isn't She Lovely." According to Biography, his first child, Aisha, was born in 1975, and it was her he was thinking of when he created the song.
Wonder sings on the hit, which is featured on his 1976 album "Songs In The Key Of Life, "Isn't she precious? Less than one minute old. I never thought through love we'd be making one as lovely as she."
A brief moment between Stevie Wonder and his daughter inspired 'Isn't She Lovely'
In 2004, Wonder spoke to Oprah Winfrey about his childhood, the trials and tribulations of his extraordinary career, and a subject that's incredibly dear to him: parenthood. He said, per O, The Oprah Magazine" (via Oprah), "I remember writing 'Isn't She Lovely.' The sound of my daughter Aisha splashing in the bathtub created a picture. I can almost cry right now thinking about it," he confessed to the veteran host, stating that the seemingly everyday occurrence struck him profoundly: "That was emotion stuck in a moment, and that can never, ever be taken away."
Wonder's creativity and his ability to make the ordinary extraordinary has been showcased countless times both in his music and his philanthropy, and it is as plain as his adoration for his daughter (now one of nine children, per the Los Angeles Times) in this song. "Isn't She Lovely" continues to resonate with Wonder, as well as with fans and fellow artists around the world.
In February 2015, according to the Los Angeles Times, the hitmaker attended "Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life — An All-Star Grammy Salute." During the event, Ne-Yo surprised him with a rendition of the classic song, accompanied by none other than Aisha Morris herself, an accomplished singer in her own right. The Times reported that Wonder was, quite understandably, "visibly moved" by the performance.