Though primarily a guitarist, keyboard player, and vocalist prominent for his distinctive soulful high tenor voice, Winwood plays other instruments proficiently, including drums, mandolin, bass, and saxophone.

Winwood achieved fame during the 1960s and 1970s as an integral member of three major bands: the Spencer Davis Group (1964–1967), Traffic (1967–1969 and 1970–1974), and Blind Faith (1969).

[6][better source needed] At eight years of age, Winwood first performed with his father and elder brother Muff in the Ron Atkinson band.

[7] Muff Winwood later recalled that when Steve began playing regularly with him and his father in licensed pubs and clubs, the piano had to be turned with its back to the audience to try to hide him because he was so obviously underage.

King, Chuck Berry, and Bo Diddley on their United Kingdom tours,[citation needed] the custom at that time being for US singers to travel solo and be backed by pick-up bands.

At this time, Winwood was living on Atlantic Road in Great Barr, close to the Birmingham music halls where he played.

Davis had been impressed by the Winwood brothers after he saw them performing as the Muffy Wood Jazz Band at the Golden Eagle in Birmingham.

[11] Winwood's distinctive high tenor singing voice and vocal style drew comparisons to Ray Charles.

[4] Winwood co-wrote the band's breakthrough hits in America, "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man", both of which went Top 10 in the US and UK in late 1966 and early 1967.

Winwood met drummer Jim Capaldi, guitarist Dave Mason, and multi-instrumentalist Chris Wood when they jammed together at The Elbow Room, a club in Aston, Birmingham.

Over the band's history, Winwood performed the majority of their lead vocals, keyboard instruments, and guitars (the latter more so after Mason's departure in 1968).

[25] Traffic would continue for another five albums, Welcome to the Canteen (1971), The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971), Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory (1973), On the Road (1973) and When the Eagle Flies (1974).

Weariness with the grind of touring and recording prompted Winwood to break up Traffic in 1974 and retire to session work for several years.

[30] That same year, Winwood also played guitar on the Fania All Stars' Delicate and Jumpy record and performed as a guest with the band in their only UK appearance, a sold-out concert at the Lyceum Theatre, London.

The album went triple platinum in the US, with its first single "Higher Love" reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earning Winwood Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

However, at the peak of his commercial success, Winwood moved to Virgin Records and released the albums Roll with It (1988) and Refugees of the Heart (1990).

[42][better source needed] In 1998, Winwood joined Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval, Ed Calle, and other musicians to form the band "Latin Crossings" for a European tour, after which they split without making any recordings.

That same year, he appeared on Grammy Award winner Ashley Cleveland's album Men and Angels Say, a mix of rock, blues, and country arrangements of well-known hymns, including "I Need Thee Every Hour", which featured a vocal duet and organ performance.

On her 2006 record Back to Basics, Christina Aguilera featured Winwood (using the piano and organ instrumentation from the John Barleycorn Must Die track "Glad") on her song "Makes Me Wanna Pray".

[45] In May 2007, Winwood performed in support of the Countryside Alliance, an organisation opposed to the Hunting Act 2004, in a concert at Highclere Castle, joining fellow rock artists Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry, Steve Harley, and Kenney Jones.

[citation needed] On 19 February 2008, Winwood and Clapton released a collaborative EP through iTunes titled Dirty City.

The concert was held in honour of Ginger Baker, his former band member in Blind Faith, who had died the previous year.

[54] On 7 May 2023, Winwood performed as part of the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle, where he sang "Higher Love" backed by virtual choirs from the Commonwealth realms.

[citation needed] In 2011, he received the Ivor Novello Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors for Outstanding Song Collection.

[70][71][72] In 2011, one of Winwood's daughters, Mary Clare, married businessman Ben Elliot, later co-chairman of the Conservative Party between July 2019 and September 2022.

[74] Another daughter, Lilly, is a singer; she was featured with Winwood performing a duet of his song "Higher Love" in a Hershey commercial.