![]() ![]() “Happy Birthday to You” received the Towering Song Award at the annual Songwriters Hall of Fame induction and awards dinner in 1996. By 1933, the widely accepted title was “Happy Birthday to You.” Mildred died in 1916 at age 57, years before the tune became famous as “Happy Birthday to You.” Patty died in 1946 at age 78, having lived to see that she and her sister had started a worldwide birthday tradition.Īccording to the Guinness Book of World Records, “Happy Birthday to You” is one of the most recognized pieces of music in the English language, along with the New Year’s Eve perennial “Auld Lang Syne” and another celebration anthem, “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” In the songbook, Coleman used the original title and first stanza lyrics but altered the second stanza’s opening line to read “Happy Birthday to You.” Thus, through Coleman, the sisters’ line “Good morning dear children” became “Happy birthday dear (name).”ĭuring the next decade, the song was published several times, each time with minor alterations to the lyrics. There are various accounts of how “Good Morning to All” morphed into “Happy Birthday to You.” According to the one published on the Songwriters Hall of Fame website, in March 1924, the sisters’ song appeared without authorization in a songbook edited by Robert H. The sisters copyrighted their song in October 1893. Patty wrote the lyrics to “Good Morning to All” while serving as the principal of a kindergarten in Louisville, Ky., where Mildred was a teacher. The song was written by two sisters, Mildred and Patty Smith Hill. The song was then titled “Good Morning to All,” with the same melody we all know today. “Happy Birthday to You” was first published in 1893 in a book titled Song Stories for the Kindergarten. By 2006, Wonder had been awarded twenty-two Grammy awards and eighteen American Music awards.'Happy Birthday to You' Is One Step Closer to Being in the Public Domain Stevie Wonder was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. His 1985 duet with former Beatle Paul McCarthy, "Ebony and Ivory," became another social statement calling for racial harmony. Music mogul Berry Gordy immediately signed him on the Motown label and changed his name to "Little Stevie Wonder." His first album, A Tribute to Uncle Ray (1962) was released when Wonder was just twelve years old.īy the early 1970s, thought provoking Stevie Wonder albums like Talking Book (1972) Innervisions (1973) and Songs in the Key of Life (1976) propelled the musical genius to the pinnacle of his career. ![]() The child prodigy was discovered in 1961 while performing for friends. Singer Ray Charles became his role model. Young Steveland sang in his church's choir, and by the time he was nine years old, he had mastered piano, drums and harmonica. When his mother later remarried, he changed his name to Steveland Morris. He teamed with Gladys Knight and Dionne Warwick, and Elton John (1988) to produce "That's What Friends Are For" to support AIDS charities.īlind from infancy, Steveland Hardaway Judkins moved with his family to Detroit Michigan when he was four years old. Wonder joined a number of musicians and entertainers, including Quincy Jones, Lionel Ritchie, and Michael Jackson to produce the song "We are the World" (1985) to raise funds for humanitarian aid in Africa. Wonder's song echoed as the anthem of the holiday. On Monday, January 20, 1986, in cities and towns across the country people celebrated the first official Martin Luther King Day, the only federal holiday commemorating an African-American. ![]() The song became a hit and a rallying cry for the King Holiday. In support of making Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a national holiday, Wonder released "Happy Birthday" (1980), a song celebrating Dr. ![]() In addition to being an award winning musical innovator, Stevie Wonder is a humanitarian who has used his music to support a number of social causes. ![]()
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