Biography

Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his distinctive soulful high tenor voice, Winwood also plays instruments including mandolin, bass, drums and percussion. Winwood achieved fame during the 1960s and 1970s as an integral member of three successful bands: the Spencer Davis Group (1964–1967), Traffic (1967–1969 and 1970–1974), and Blind Faith (1969). During the 1980s, his solo career flourished and he had a number of hit singles, including "While You See a Chance" (1980) from the album Arc of a Diver and "Valerie" (1982) from Talking Back to the Night ("Valerie" became a hit when it was re-released with a remix from Winwood's 1987 compilation album Chronicles). Winwood's 1986 album Back in the High Life marked his career zenith, with hit singles including "Back in the High Life Again", "The Finer Things", and the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "Higher Love".