Born Steveland Morris in Michigan, Stevie Wonder started off his illustrious career in music in 1962. Billed as "Little Stevie Wonder," he was only 13 at the time of his first hit. Wonder has been racking up chart hits since the early 60s, scoring #1 smashes in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. In addition to countless awards and honors, he is ranked as the 6th most successful chart artist of all-time. Wonder has amassed nine #1 hits, his most successful being a duet with Paul McCartney: 1982's "Ebony And Ivory" stayed at the top for seven weeks. His first #1 goes back to 1963 when "Fingertips - Pt 2" hit the top spot and secured a place in the R&R Hall of Fame. Wonder himself was inducted in 1989. His final #1 was in 1985 when "Part-Time Lover" claimed the top spot. His final Top 10 was the follow-up single, "Go Home," which hit #10. Wonder maintained a bit of a chart presence in the 90s with songs like "Gotta Have You" and "For Your Love," which reached #92 and #53, respectively. "For Your Love" earned him two more Grammys. His final chart appearance was in 2005 when "So What The Fuss" peaked at #96, a song that also featured En Vogue and Prince. With that song, Wonder became one of the elite artists to have had a charting single for 5 decades in a row. "Did I Hear You Say You Love Me" is a hidden gem in his catalogue that kicks off his 1980 release, "Hotter Than July."
How Will Owsley III, known better as simply Owsley, never became a chart success I'll never know. Owsley was an uber-talented singer and songwriter who specialized in pop rock melodies that are just a joy to listen to again and again. Owsley got his start in Judson Spence's band, but came into his own with the 90s power pop band called The Semantics, which also featured Ringo Starr's son. The band was terrific but their music did not fit with the times. Owsley then went solo, releasing his first self-titled effort in 1999 to critical acclaim but into a commercial abyss. "Sonny Boy" is just a taste of wonderful stuff from this record, which includes other highlights like "Coming Up Roses" and "Good Old Days." Starting in 1994, Owsley also became a longtime player with superstars Amy Grant and Shania Twain. He still found time to release a second solo record in 2004 called "The Hard Way" (be sure not to overlook "Undone" and his version of Paul McCartney's "Band On The Run"). Sadly, he died from an apparent suicide in 2010 at the age of 44.
How do you top being a member of one of the greatest bands in history? You don't. But you can come real close. Paul McCartney has had a phenomenal run after his time in The Beatles, and with a new record out this month, he doesn't show signs of stopping even at the age of 76. (By the way, his new single "Come On To Me" proves he still has the magic.) The Beatles were the #1 artist of the 60s, and McCartney came close to being the #1 artist of the 70s (he landed at #2 since Elton John claimed #1). McCartney currently ranks as the 18th most successful artist of all-time, and this does not include his time with The Beatles. McCartney came out of The Beatles strong, with the #5 hit "Another Day" quickly followed by the #1 smash, "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey." He'd hit the #1 spot five more times in the 70s and three times in the 80s. Some of his biggest hits of the 80s included duets: "Ebony and Ivory" with Stevie Wonder was #1 for 7 weeks in 1982, and he scored two hits with Michael Jackson: "The Girl Is Mine" hit #2 and "Say, Say, Say" was #1 for 6 weeks. McCartney fever began to fade in the 90s as silly love songs and catchy pop riffs fell out of fashion, but his 2005 record, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" was widely acclaimed to be a significant comeback album. "Promise To You Girl" is just one of the many fine tracks gracing this record. Nothing from this terrific record charted, nor has any of his subsequent work. However, an unlikely hit sung with Rihanna and Kayne West surfaced in 2015 that took McCartney back to #4 on the charts (his first top 10 hit in 30 years, since "Spies Like Us" reached #7 in 1985).
