The holiday was first observed in 1986, and it is now observed every third Monday in January. become a national holiday, and created this single to. Wonder, a social activist, was one of the main figures in the campaign to have the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. This would lead into a singing of Happy Birthday as Wonder spoke. This song has no relation to the nursery rhyme of the general title.'Happy Birthday' is a 1981 single written, produced and performed by Stevie Wonder for the Motown label. According to Scott-Heron’s 2012 memoir, the crowd chanted: Martin Luther King, we took a holiday. In 1983, a bill was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan establishing Martin Luther King Jr. On January 25, 1981, Scott-Heron, Diana Ross and Jesse Jackson joined Wonder at a 1980 rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Not only was it an enormous commercial success, but it also helped draw attention to the campaign and put pressure on politicians to pass legislation establishing the holiday. The song was an immediate hit, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and staying there for three weeks. So, he wrote “Happy Birthday” as a way to raise awareness about the importance of establishing a national holiday to honor Dr. Wonder, who had been a strong supporter of the civil rights movement throughout his career, wanted to do something to help the campaign. Even though many states and cities had already established a holiday to honor King, the campaign for a national holiday was facing significant opposition.
and a campaign for the establishment of a national holiday in honor of the civil rights icon.Īt the time, there was a growing movement to have a federal holiday to commemorate the birthday of Dr.
In 1981, Stevie Wonder wrote the song “Happy Birthday” as a tribute to Dr.
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