Since his sensational debut in early '60s, Steve Winwood has made a number of dramatic returns. The Birmingham, England-born singer/songwriter/keyboardist started his musical career at the age of 15 as a lead vocal of the pioneering blue-eyed soul band The Spencer Davis Group. The band had such classic hits as 'Keep On Running', 'I'm A Man' and 'Gimme Some Lovin'. Often referred to as "the best white blues singer ever", Winwood's voice was so distinctive and soulful for his age, with Ray Charles, Little Richard, Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson among his earliest influences.

After the smash hit 'Incense', released under the name of Anglos, Winwood left the Spencer Davis Group and form Traffic to pursue his jazz and R&B-oriented career in 1967. The quartet, comprised of Winwood (vocal/keyboard), Dave Mason (guitar), Chris Wood (horn) and Jim Capaldi (drums), debuted that year and released excellent albums such as 'Mr. Fantasy' and 'Traffic' until they broke up in 1974. While leading the Traffic, Winwood was involved in a side project Blind Faith along with Eric Clapton and ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker. With the extreme pressure and Winwood's contractual obligation, the supergroup released only one album in 1969 and disbanded shortly after.

In mid-to-late '70s, Winwood mostly worked as a session musician on countless albums and all but retired from music business to spend his life in his Oxfordshire farm. It was 1977 that he returned with his self-titled solo debut. Released amid the punk revolution in UK, the sales of the album was disappointing, but the stage was set for his 1980's successful comeback 'Arc Of A Diver'. The album went platinum, followed by 1982 'Talking Back To The Night'.

His next return and biggest commercial success was 1986's 'Back In The High Life Again', which spawned his first US No.1 single 'Higher Love'. The 1988 follow-up 'Roll With It' also became a huge success, setting Winwood back in the mainstream.

Even though the hits dried up during the 1990s, 1990's 'Refugees Of The Heart' and 1997's 'Junction Seven' demonstrated Winwood still had the ability to pen sophisticated, soulful compositions. His latest return 'About Time' shows that the time has finally caught up with him. Steve Winwood now looks with much pride at what he has accomplished over the last 40 years.