Steve Winwood's work as an independent performer tends to evoke the refined blue-eyed soul-pop that propelled him to prominence throughout the 1980s. Still, his position as a sleek, high-end staple on adult contemporary stations marked only the most recent chapter in an extended and eclectic path, during which the onetime adolescent R&B belter traversed jazz, psychedelia, blues-rock, and progressive rock. Endowed with a forceful and singular vocal timbre, Winwood also proved himself a skilled keyboardist who stayed sought after as a studio player across much of his professional life, even amid prominent band commitments. That history did not always surface on his own releases, which settled into a dependable commercial approach that proved highly successful whenever delivered with conviction.
Stephen Lawrence Winwood entered the world on May 12, 1948, in Birmingham's Handsworth district in England. Initially drawn to swing and Dixieland jazz, he took up drums, guitar, and piano during childhood and made his first appearance alongside his father and older brother Muff in the Ron Atkinson Band at age eight. In the early 1960s, Muff directed a locally favored ensemble known as the Muff Woody Jazz Band and permitted young Steve to participate; before long they incorporated R&B material into their sets, and in 1963 the siblings opted to focus on that style exclusively, teaming with guitarist Spencer Davis to establish the Spencer Davis Group. Though just fifteen, Steve delivered vocals that sounded remarkably soulful and assured, while his keyboard technique likewise surpassed typical expectations for his age. Within twelve months he had performed alongside several American blues icons both onstage and in recording sessions; in 1965 he also cut the standalone single "Incense" under the name the Anglos, listing himself as Stevie Anglo. At the same time, the Spencer Davis Group issued several notable R&B-inflected singles such as "Keep on Running," "I'm a Man," and the landmark "Gimme Some Lovin'," which matched the intensity of any gritty hardcore soul emerging from the American South.
Winwood eventually grew weary of the constrained pop single format; by the mid-1960s, forward-thinking rock frequently emphasized extended instrumental passages, and his jazz background prompted him to seek comparable freedom. Consequently he departed the Spencer Davis Group in 1967 to launch Traffic alongside guitarist Dave Mason, horn player Chris Wood, and drummer Jim Capaldi, all of whom had contributed to "Gimme Some Lovin'." The four retreated to a modest cottage in the Berkshire countryside, allowing them to develop their sound—a distinctive fusion of R&B, Beatlesque pop, psychedelia, jazz, and British folk—while improvising late into the night without disturbing residents. Traffic first appeared in the U.K. with the single "Paper Sun" in May 1967 and soon delivered their debut album, Mr. Fantasy (issued in the U.S. as Heaven Is in Your Mind); the jazzy psychedelic landmark Traffic followed in 1968. Tensions nevertheless developed between Winwood and Mason regarding the latter's precisely arranged folk-pop compositions, which clashed with Winwood's preference for expansive, improvisation-driven band concepts. Mason exited, rejoined, and was dismissed once more, after which Winwood dissolved the group at the start of 1969. Even then, he had already assumed the role of unofficial house keyboardist for Traffic's label Island, contributing to numerous studio dates.
Winwood later reconnected with longtime acquaintance Eric Clapton, who had recently left Cream. The pair began jamming and discovered mutual enjoyment in the collaboration, and word of their partnership spread rapidly; anticipation intensified further once ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker joined, despite Clapton's reservations about the resulting expectations. Concert promoters hurried to secure dates before any material existed (prompting the band's eventual name, Blind Faith) and presented fees too substantial to decline, despite limited rehearsal time. Their self-titled debut, issued in summer 1969, achieved commercial success, yet mounting strain precipitated the group's dissolution before year's end. Winwood then joined Baker in the expansive, wide-ranging supergroup Ginger Baker's Air Force, yet contractual ties to Island remained, leading him to exit shortly after Air Force's inaugural performance at the Royal Albert Hall in early 1970.
Winwood commenced work on what was intended as his debut solo album, but he gradually enlisted additional former Traffic members until the project evolved into a full band reunion. John Barleycorn Must Die emerged later in 1970, highlighting the extended, jazz-infused rock approach Winwood had originally envisioned. Several further releases in that idiom appeared, among them 1971's The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys, which elevated Traffic to their highest commercial standing in America. The sequence paused briefly when Winwood suffered peritonitis around 1972, though he recovered sufficiently to play a central part in Eric Clapton's early 1973 comeback shows at the Rainbow Theatre. Traffic disbanded in 1974, but rather than pursue solo work immediately, a fatigued Winwood spent the ensuing years as a session musician, unwinding at his Gloucestershire farm in spare moments. He also figured prominently in collaborations with Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamash'ta, contributing to the hit jazz fusion album Go in 1976.
When Winwood at last issued his self-titled solo debut in 1977, Britain was immersed in the punk upheaval, and the music itself left even Winwood somewhat dissatisfied. Discouraged, he withdrew to Gloucestershire and largely vanished from music. He resurfaced in late 1980 with the understated Arc of a Diver, a more substantial effort on which he performed every instrument. Updating Winwood's sound through increased use of synthesizers and electronic percussion, Arc of a Diver became a platinum-selling success in the U.S., buoyed by the hit single "While You See a Chance"; critics also responded favorably, frequently praising the vitality of his updated contemporary approach. The closely related 1982 successor Talking Back to the Night struck some listeners as hastily assembled and proved less commercially potent, with none of its singles entering the Top 40. Displeased with the outcome, Winwood briefly contemplated retirement in favor of production work, though his brother dissuaded him.
Devoting greater care to his subsequent project, Winwood waited until 1986 before releasing the meticulously shaped, urbane pop collection Back in the High Life, his first 1980s album to incorporate outside session players. It achieved major success, moving over three million copies and yielding Winwood's initial number one single with "Higher Love," which also earned a Grammy for Record of the Year. In 1987 Virgin extended a considerable offer and enticed him from Island; a remixed rendition of Talking Back to the Night's "Valerie," included on the Island retrospective Chronicles, reached the Top Ten later that year. Winwood's momentum persisted with his Virgin debut, 1988's Roll with It. The title track secured his second number one and his most substantial hit to date, while the album itself topped the charts; additionally, the atmospheric ballad "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" appeared in a notable television advertising campaign. By this point Winwood had cultivated a sizable, predominantly adult audience, yet that backing began to erode with 1990's Refugees of the Heart. Refugees revisited the polished blue-eyed soul revisions of its predecessor, yet many critics felt it lacked comparable intensity, except for the lead single "One and Only Man," a partnership with Traffic colleague Jim Capaldi.
Thereafter Winwood maintained his habit of following less successful efforts with stretches of reduced activity; he next emerged in 1994 as part of a Traffic reunion alongside Capaldi. The pair issued the fresh album Far from Home and performed internationally. Winwood then resumed his solo trajectory and spent two years preparing Junction Seven, which surfaced in 1997 under the co-production of Narada Michael Walden. Momentum had nonetheless diminished, and the album, which drew mixed notices, sold modestly. The following year Winwood toured with his new ensemble Latin Crossings, a jazz outfit that also included Tito Puente and Arturo Sandoval (though the group never recorded). He subsequently ended his association with Virgin. About Time arrived in 2003, followed in 2008 by Nine Lives.
Winwood rejoined Eric Clapton for three concerts at New York City's Madison Square Garden in February 2008. Excerpts from those performances appeared as the 2009 album Live from Madison Square Garden. Over the subsequent decade Winwood undertook occasional studio sessions—he contributes to Miranda Lambert's 2011 album Four the Record and Gov't Mule's 2013 LP Shout!—while maintaining a steady schedule of live dates. In September 2017 he issued Greatest Hits Live, his first solo live album.
