Isn't he chunky? (Or why Stevie's a bigger star these days)

Last updated at 08:24 06 December 2006


When he first shot to fame as a scrawny teenager, music bosses named him Little Stevie Wonder.

Since then, he has grown and grown ... and not just in showbusiness stature.

Presenting a lifetime achievement award to Tony Bennett at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas this week, the legendary singer-songwriter looked three times the man he used to be.

Gallery: The Billboard Awards

Only his famous fingertips remain as slim as the days when he first wowed record industry supremos - who dubbed him the '12-year-old genius'.

Dressed in a huge beige suit and orange top, 56-year-old Wonder dwarfed Bennett.

The blind singer is one of the artists to feature on the veteran crooner's 80th birthday album Duets: An American Classic - which also features Bono, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand.

Wonder was drafted in to present the award at the last minute after hosts Paris Hilton and Britney Spears reportedly pulled out.

Born Stevland Hardaway Junkins in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1950, the star has been blind since infancy.

Being given too much oxygen after his premature birth is thought to have developed a disorder which eventually caused

his retina to detach. Despite this, he began learning to play the piano at the age of seven and by the time he was nine, had mastered the drums and harmonica.

When he was 11, he auditioned for Motown bosses and went on to have his first record success, Fingertips, two years later. A string of hits followed over the years, including Isn't She Lovely?

He is now one of the most successful artists in the world - with nine number one hits in America and album sales of more than 100million.

He has won 21 Grammys and an Oscar for Best Song for his mega-hit I Just Called To Say I Love You. In addition, he has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Songwriters halls of fame.

Most watched News videos