"Lately" is a song by American singer

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

recorded for his album '' Hotter than July'' (1980). The song reached number three in the United Kingdom, and was later covered by R&B group

Jodeci Jodeci ( ) is an American R&B quartet consisting of members DeVanté Swing, Mr. Dalvin, K-Ci, and JoJo. Formed in 1989 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jodeci's members began their musical careers as two duos of brothers and, after years of limi ...

and released as a promotional single for the live album ''Uptown MTV Unplugged'' in June 1993, which reached number one on the

R&B charts The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

and the top 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Critical reception

Jason Elias at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

retrospectively praised the song, believing that unlike some of Wonder's similar material, "Lately" in particular hit all the perfect emotional and musical notes. Of the song's emotional power itself Elias stated, "it's enough to make a listener fall prey to an old-fashioned cry."

Personnel

* Stevie Wonder – lead vocals, bass synthesizer, piano

Jodeci version

"Lately" was notably covered by R&B group

for the ''Uptown MTV Unplugged'' release in 1993. Executive producer Andre Harrell referred to it as their "End of the Road", analogous to the chart-topping single for Boyz II Men. The group's version of the song was released as a promotional single, claiming the number one spot on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

charts as the group's fourth R&B number one hit. It was also Jodeci's highest peaking pop hit, reaching number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in August 1993. It sold 900,000 copies and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. This version also appears on '' Back to the Future: The Very Best of Jodeci'', a greatest hits album from the group, released by

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in 2005. The group also recorded an alternate studio version of the song, produced by group leader

DeVante Swing Donald Earle DeGrate Jr. (born September 29, 1969), better known by his stage name DeVanté Swing, is an American record producer, singer, rapper and songwriter. He is the older brother of fellow Jodeci member Dalvin DeGrate. Career In his ea ...

. It is slightly longer than the Uptown MTV Unplugged version and features an additional outro. They performed this version on ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'', with Stevie Wonder making a guest appearance and performing the song with Jodeci.

Chart performance

Stevie Wonder

Jodeci version

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 1981 singles 1993 singles Stevie Wonder songs Jodeci songs Tamla Records singles Soul ballads Rhythm and blues ballads Songs written by Stevie Wonder 1980 songs 1980s ballads Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder

Critical reception

Personnel

Jodeci version

Chart performance

Stevie Wonder

Jodeci version

Year-end charts

Certifications

See also

References

External links