You Are the Sunshine of My Life

1973 single by Stevie Wonder
"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
Single by Stevie Wonder
from the album Talking Book
B-side"Tuesday Heartbreak"
ReleasedMarch 1973
Recorded1972
Genre
Length2:58
LabelTamla
Songwriter(s)Stevie Wonder
Producer(s)Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder singles chronology
"Superstition"
(1972) 		"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
(1973) 		"Higher Ground"
(1973)
Official audio
"You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" on YouTube

"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" is a 1973 single released by Stevie Wonder. The song became Wonder's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his first number-one on the Easy Listening chart.[3] It won Wonder a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.[4] This song was the second single (following "Superstition") released from the 1972 album entitled Talking Book, which stayed at number one on the R&B albums chart for three weeks.[4]

Rolling Stone ranks the song at number 183 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[5] Billboard called it "a soft, haunting ballad with outstanding electric piano runs and outstanding production work."[6]

Background

The first two lines of the song are sung, not by Wonder, but by Jim Gilstrap; Lani Groves sings the next two.[7] 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 said that Wonder "changes the pace [from 'Superstition'] and delivers a stirring ballad performance that is also certain to go gold instantly."[8] Record World said that the "tune that's been covered many times is done best by the originator."[9]

Personnel

Source: Talking Book, Tamla: T 319L, October 27, 1972 (album cover)

  • Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, background vocal, Fender Rhodes, drums
  • Jim Gilstrap – first lead vocal, background vocal
  • Lani Groves – second lead vocal, background vocal
  • Gloria Barley – background vocal
  • Scott Edwards – electric bass
  • Daniel Ben Zebulon – congas
  • unknown — horns

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1973) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] 10
Canada RPM Top Singles 5
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[11] 9
Germany 42
Ireland 23
New Zealand[12] 8
UK Singles Chart 7
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 1
U.S. Billboard R&B 3
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[13] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1973) Rank
Australia [10] 74
Canada [14] 64
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15] 19
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening[16] 9
U.S. Cash Box[17] 59

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

  • List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1973 (U.S.)
  • List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1973 (U.S.)

References

  1. ^ Billboard Staff (October 19, 2023). "The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved February 24, 2024. Is there a lovelier, more embracing description of timeless romance than Wonder's entrance in this 1973 soul-pop classic...
  2. ^ Stanley, Bob (2014). "Freddie's Dead: Electrified Soul". Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 227.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 262.
  4. ^ a b Hogan, Ed. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (song review), AllMusic.com.
  5. ^ "You Are the Sunshine of My Life ranked #183 on Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs List". Rolling Stone. 15 September 2021. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Radio Action & Pick Singles" (PDF). Billboard. March 10, 1973. p. 53. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  7. ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: Updated and Expanded 5th Edition. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 333.
  8. ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. March 10, 1973. p. 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  9. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. March 10, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  10. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". bac-lac.gc.ca. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  12. ^ "NZ Listener chart summary". Flavour of New Zealand. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  13. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 5/19/73". Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  14. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2014-04-08.
  15. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973". Musicoutfitters.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  16. ^ "Billboard Year-End Charts 1973" (PDF).
  17. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1973". Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  18. ^ "British single certifications – Stevie Wonder – You Are the Sunshine of My Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 18 February 2022.

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, July 31, 1993.
  • "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" at Songfacts.
  • Stevie Wonder - You Are the Sunshine of My Life on YouTube
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