"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is a 1973 single released by

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 ...

. The song became Wonder's third number-one single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and his first number-one on the

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, ...

chart. It won Wonder a

Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

, and was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.Hogan, Ed. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (song review) ''AllMusic.com''. This song was the second single (following "

Superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs ...

") released from the 1972 album entitled '' Talking Book'', which stayed at number one on the R&B albums chart for three weeks. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranks the song at number 183 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' called it "a soft, haunting ballad with outstanding

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

runs and outstanding production work."

Background

The first two lines of the song are sung, not by Wonder, but by

Jim Gilstrap James Earl Gilstrap (born November 10, 1946)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American singer, considered one of the most prolific session musicians in the industry. He is best known fo ...

; Lani Groves sings the next two. Gilstrap and Groves, together with Gloria Barley, also provide backing vocals. The single version of the song differs from the album version with the addition of horns to the mix; this version is also included in the greatest hits compilation album '' Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I'' (1982).

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an onli ...

'' said that Wonder "changes the pace [from '

'] and delivers a stirring ballad performance that is also certain to go gold instantly."

Personnel

Source: '' Talking Book'', Tamla: T 319L, October 27, 1972 (album cover) *Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal,

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, drums *

– first lead vocal, background vocal *Lani Groves – second lead vocal, background vocal *Gloria Barley – background vocal *Scott Edwards – electric bass *Daniel Ben Zebulon –

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

*unknown — horns

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* Smith, Giles
"Lives of the great songs: Nobody does it better: You are the sunshine of my life: Every supper-club singer under the sun has had a go at Stevie Wonder's 1972 classic. And none has cracked it..."
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', July 31, 1993.
"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
at Songfacts. * 1972 songs 1973 singles Stevie Wonder songs Songs written by Stevie Wonder Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance Motown singles Tamla Records singles Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder {{1970s-single-stub