3 Facts About Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday' and MLK Day
- Stevie Wonder wrote and released “Happy Birthday” in 1980 specifically to campaign for Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday to become a national holiday.
- The song was part of a broader public pressure campaign, as Wonder and others pushed Congress to recognize King’s legacy.
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared a federal holiday in 1983, with the first official observance in 1986.