Steve Winwood’s ‘80s solo career saw the musician adopt a slick and polished blue-eyes soul persona, however before going solo Winwood had an eclectic career spanning decades and genres. Growing up in Handsworth, Birmingham, UK, with a semi-professional musician father, Winwood was a part of the rhythm and blues scene playing the organ and guitar on tours for esteemed artists such as Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker and Chuck Berry.

Aged 14 Winwood joined the Spencer Davis Group with his older brother Muff and collaboratively had the 1965 No. 1 hit single “Keep on Running” after which Winwood was able to purchase his own Hammond B-3 organ. He was noted for his surprisingly Ray Charles-esque vocals with a maturity and soulfulness way past his years.

Tired of the pop-single format Winwood explored his rock & roll and jazz interests and formed the band Traffic with guitarist Dave Mason, hornist Chris Wood and drummer Jim Capaldi, all of whom had played on Spencer Davis Group’s records. Merging the sounds of R&B, psychedelia, and British pop folk, Traffic released their debut single “Paper Sun” in May 1967, followed a year after with the album “Mr. Fantasy”, before the band split.

Winwood then looked to old friend Eric Clapton who had recently diverged with his band Cream. The two began playing together, along with ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker, which eventually led to the band Blind Faith, named after the faith record labels were putting into the collaboration. The band released their self-titled debut in the summer of 1969 but the pressure was too much and Blind Faith broke up before the year’s end. Winwood subsequently played in the supergroup Ginger Baker’s Air Force however departed after their debut performance at the Royal Albert Hall.

With the aim of creating a solo album Winwood took to the studio in 1970 however he gradually invited more ex-Traffic member so much so it became a reunion. Traffic subsequently released the albums “John Barleycorn Must Die” in 1970 and “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” in 1971 after which they reached their peak of commercial appeal. The band broke up in 1974 and Winwood spent the next few years as a session musician.

Finally going solo, Winwood released his self-titled debut in 1977 to disappointing results in the wake of a punk revolution, however his follow-up “Arc of a Driver” where he played all the instruments himself became a platinum selling hit in the U.S. After another disappointing album “Taking Back to the Night” in 1983, Winwood left it until 1986 to release “Back in the High Life”, a sophisticated and polished pop affair. The album sold over three million records and spawned his first No. 1 single “Higher Love” which also won a Grammy for Record of the Year.

Winwood has subsequently released the chart-topper “Roll With It” in 1988, “Refugees of the Heart” in 1990 and the Traffic reunion album “Far From Home”. Returning to his solo career his released “Junction Seven” in 1997 co-produced by Narada Michael Walden, the critically acclaimed “About Time” in 2003 and “Nine Lives” in 2008.

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