"Ebony and Ivory" is a song that was released in 1982 as a single by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

featuring Stevie Wonder. It was issued on 29 March that year as the lead single from McCartney's third solo album, ''

Tug of War Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

'' (1982). Written by McCartney, the song aligns the black and white keys of a piano keyboard with the theme of racial harmony. The single reached number one on both the UK and the US charts and was among the top-selling singles of 1982 in the US. During the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

era, the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...

banned the song after Wonder dedicated his 1984 Academy Award for Best Original Song to Nelson Mandela. McCartney and Wonder began recording "Ebony and Ivory" in Montserrat in early 1981. The single marked the first time that McCartney had released a duet with another major artist and anticipated his 1980s collaborations with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. While a major commercial hit, the song has received derision from music critics who view its message as overly simplistic and sentimental. The track also appears on McCartney's ''

All the Best! ''All the Best!'' is the second official compilation album of Paul McCartney's music, after 1978's ''Wings Greatest''. It was released in 1987 on Capitol Records and Parlophone Records. Background The album contains tracks from the beginning ...

'' compilation (1987) and on the two-disc version of Wonder's '' The Definitive Collection'' (2002). In 2013, '' Billboard'' ranked it as the 69th biggest hit of all-time on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charts.

Background

McCartney wrote "Ebony and Ivory" at his farm in Scotland. The song uses the

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

(black) and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

(white) keys on a

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

as a metaphor for integration and racial harmony. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...

say, "Black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!" The figure of speech is much older. It was popularised by

James Aggrey James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey (18 October 1875 – 30 July 1927) was an intellectual, missionary, and teacher. He was born in the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) and later emigrated to the United States, but returned to Africa for several years. He was the ...

in the 1920s, inspiring the title of the pan-African journal '' The Keys'', but was in use from at least the 1840s. While writing the song, McCartney envisaged singing it with a black male singer. He and Wonder recorded it together at

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

's AIR Studios in Montserrat during sessions lasting from 27 February to 2 March 1981. McCartney then carried out overdubs on the track at AIR in London. Due to conflicting work schedules, McCartney and Wonder filmed their parts for the song's music video separately (as explained by McCartney in his commentary for ''

The McCartney Years ''The McCartney Years'' is a three-DVD set featuring music videos, live performances and other rare footage from Paul McCartney's solo career and Wings. The set spans the years 1970 to 2005. It was released by Warner Music in the UK on 12 Novem ...

'' 3-DVD boxed set). A video for the solo version was also made, which showed McCartney playing piano with a bright spotlight, and black men in prison, including one of them being uplifted by the song, dancing and listening to it in prison as well as in the studio. This version was directed by Barry Myers on 11 February 1982. That same day, McCartney filmed a promotional interview for the ''Tug of War'' album. The B-side of the single, "Rainclouds", was written by McCartney and

Denny Laine Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Hines, 29 October 1944) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, known as a founder of two major rock bands: the Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964 to 1966, and Wings, with whom he played from 1 ...

, though on early pressings of the single the song was credited only to McCartney. According to authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter, "Rainclouds" is "perhaps most notorious" as the track that McCartney worked on during 9 December 1980, straight after hearing that

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

had been fatally shot in New York. When leaving AIR Studios in central London that evening, he said in response to a TV reporter's question about the murder: "drag, isn't it?" The footage was included in news broadcasts around the world and McCartney's apparent casualness, though masking his profound shock, earned condemnation from the press.

Release and chart performance

The "Ebony and Ivory" single was released on 29 March 1982 in both the UK and the United States. It marked the first time in McCartney's solo career that he had sung a duet with another major star. In this, McCartney and Wonder fitted a trend as duetting artists became commonplace throughout the 1980s, particularly in mainstream British pop. The single spent seven weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US and it was the fourth-biggest hit there of 1982. Its commercial success was aided by the music video, with MTV having been launched the year before. The song was also number one in the UK. In the US, the single's run atop the chart was the longest of any of McCartney's post- Beatles works, and the second longest career-wise (behind the Beatles' " Hey Jude"). For Wonder, it was his longest-running chart-topper and made him the first solo artist to achieve a number-one single in the US over three consecutive decades. It marked the first time that any single released by any member of the Beatles placed on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. It was McCartney's record 28th song to hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2008, "Ebony and Ivory" was ranked at number 59 on ''Billboard''s Hot 100 songs of all-time. It was ranked 69th on a similar list published by the magazine in 2013.

Critical reception and legacy

'' Record World'' said it has "a pretty pop melody and sing-along chorus

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

." Some critics have derided the song as "

saccharine Saccharin (''aka'' saccharine, Sodium sacchari) is an artificial sweetener with effectively no nutritional value. It is about 550 times as sweet as sucrose but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Saccharin i ...

". According to Madinger and Easter, the most common reaction 20 years later was that it marked "the beginning of the end of cCartney'sartistic credibility". They add that while the song appealed to listeners who would never usually have bought a McCartney record, it "wore out its welcome quickly" and came to be seen as him attempting to stay musically relevant in middle age, particularly as he soon went on to record duets with

. In 2007, BBC 6 Music listeners voted "Ebony and Ivory" the worst duet in history. Two years later, ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...

'' magazine named it as the tenth worst song of all time. Writing in 2010, biographer

Howard Sounes Howard Sounes (born 1965) is a British author, journalist and biographer. Biography Born in Welling, South East London, Sounes began his journalistic career as a staff reporter for the ''Sunday Mirror''. He broke major stories, including one ...

said that while many people consider the song to be "annoyingly simplistic", it contains "the ineluctable power of McCartney's best tunes" and was a "massive hit". The song and video were spoofed in a 1982 ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' sketch, with Eddie Murphy portraying Wonder and

Joe Piscopo Joseph Charles John Piscopo ( ; born June 17, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and conservative radio talk show host. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1980 to 1984, where he played a variety of recurring characters. His f ...

, as Frank Sinatra, assuming McCartney's role. In the sketch, Sinatra criticises the "ebony and ivory" metaphor for racial equality (which was deemed by many critics to be overly simplistic, to the point of being insulting) as being "too artsy for the public – capiche?" After a brief exchange, the duo perform the song with more direct, and offensive, lyrics ("You are black, and I am white / Life's an Eskimo Pie, let's take a bite!"). Part of a phrase from the song's lyrics provided the title for '' Keyboard, Oh Lord! Why Don't We?'', a 2005 album by the Norwegian

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep ...

band Thulsa Doom. The song and video were parodied in a commercial for the 2008 season of the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

show '' Psych''. The '' South Park'' season 25 episode " The Big Fix" features a parody of the song called "Black Puppy, White Puppy". Dan Caffrey of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' suggests that McCartney may have denied a request from producers

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was interes ...

for the song's inclusion in the episode, thus necessitating the parody. "Ebony and Ivory" was banned in South Africa by the

during the

era, making it the only song McCartney released in his solo career to receive such a ban. The official reason for the ban was because Wonder accepted his 1984 Academy Award for Best Original Song "in the name of Nelson Mandela".

Track listings

* 7" single (R 6054) # "Ebony and Ivory" – 3:41 # "Rainclouds" – 3:47 * 12" single (12R 6054) # "Ebony and Ivory" – 3:41 # "Rainclouds" – 3:47 # "Ebony and Ivory" (Solo Version) – 3:41

Personnel

"Ebony and Ivory" *

– vocals, bass guitar, guitar, piano, synthesizers,

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

, percussion, backing vocal * Stevie Wonder – vocals, electric piano, synthesizers, drums,

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American e ...

, percussion, backing vocal "Rainclouds" *

– vocals, Spanish guitar, bass drum * Linda McCartney,

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of 1 ...

– backing vocals *

Paddy Moloney Paddy Moloney ( ga, Pádraig Ó Maoldomhnaigh; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was part ...

–

Uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from thei ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Notes

{{authority control 1982 singles Paul McCartney songs Stevie Wonder songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Israel Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Spain Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs about pianos Songs about black people Songs about white people Songs against racism and xenophobia Male vocal duets Columbia Records singles Parlophone singles EMI Records singles Songs written by Paul McCartney Music published by MPL Music Publishing 1982 songs Censorship of music Censorship in South Africa