<P> Wonder sang as a child in a choir at the Whitestone Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan . </P> <P> In 1961, when aged 11, Wonder sang his own composition, "Lonely Boy", to Ronnie White of the Miracles; White then took Wonder and his mother to an audition at Motown, where CEO Berry Gordy signed Wonder to Motown's Tamla label . Before signing, producer Clarence Paul gave him the name Little Stevie Wonder . Because of Wonder's age, the label drew up a rolling five - year contract in which royalties would be held in trust until Wonder was 21 . He and his mother would be paid a weekly stipend to cover their expenses: Wonder received $2.50 (equivalent to $20.47 in 2017) per week, and a private tutor was provided for when Wonder was on tour . </P> <P> Wonder was put in the care of producer and songwriter Clarence Paul, and for a year they worked together on two albums . Tribute to Uncle Ray was recorded first, when Wonder was still 11 years old . Mainly covers of Ray Charles's songs, it included a Wonder and Paul composition, "Sunset". The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie was recorded next, an instrumental album consisting mainly of Paul's compositions, two of which, "Wondering" and "Session Number 112", were co-written with Wonder . Feeling Wonder was now ready, a song, "Mother Thank You", was recorded for release as a single, but then pulled and replaced by the Berry Gordy song "I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It the Blues" as his début single; released summer 1962, it almost broke into the Billboard 100, spending one week of August at 101 before dropping out of sight . Two follow - up singles, "Little Water Boy" and "Contract on Love", both had no success, and the two albums, released in reverse order of recording--The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie in September 1962 and Tribute to Uncle Ray in October 1962--also met with little success . </P> <P> At the end of 1962, when Wonder was 12 years old, he joined the Motortown Revue, touring the "chitlin' circuit" of theatres across America that accepted black artists . At the Regal Theater, Chicago, his 20 - minute performance was recorded and released in May 1963 as the album Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius . A single, "Fingertips", from the album was also released in May, and became a major hit . The song, featuring a confident and enthusiastic Wonder returning for a spontaneous encore that catches out the replacement bass player, who is heard to call out "What key? What key?", was a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when Wonder was aged 13, making him the youngest artist ever to top the chart . The single was simultaneously No. 1 on the R&B chart, the first time that had occurred . His next few recordings, however, were not successful; his voice was changing as he got older, and some Motown executives were considering cancelling his recording contract . During 1964, Wonder appeared in two films as himself, Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach, but these were not successful either . Sylvia Moy persuaded label owner Berry Gordy to give Wonder another chance . Dropping the "Little" from his name, Moy and Wonder worked together to create the hit "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", and Wonder went on to have a number of other hits during the mid-1960s, including "With a Child's Heart", and "Blowin' in the Wind", a Bob Dylan cover, co-sung by his mentor, producer Clarence Paul . He also began to work in the Motown songwriting department, composing songs both for himself and his label mates, including "The Tears of a Clown", a No. 1 hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (it was first released in 1967, mostly unnoticed as the last track of their Make It Happen LP, but eventually became a major success when re-released as a single in 1970, which prompted Robinson to reconsider his intention of leaving the group). </P>

When did stevie wonder released his first album