You Are the Sunshine of My Life

"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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[2]

"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)

Rolling Stone ranked the song number 287 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[3] Billboard called it "a soft, haunting ballad with outstanding electric piano runs and outstanding production work."[4]

Background

The first two lines of the song are sung, not by Wonder, but by Jim Gilstrap; Lani Groves sings the next two.[5] 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).

Personnel

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

Chart performance

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. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 262.
  2. Hogan, Ed. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (song review), AllMusic.com.
  3. "287. Stevie Wonder, 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life'", 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, Rolling Stone, April 7, 2011.
  4. "Radio Action & Pick Singles" (PDF). Billboard. March 10, 1973. p. 53. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  5. Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: Updated and Expanded 5th Edition. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 333.
  6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  8. "NZ Listener chart summary". Flavour of New Zealand. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  9. "Cash Box Top 100 5/19/73". Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  10. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.100214&type=2&interval=24&PHPSESSID=dtlhqtcdftn9t40n27r4hds2h0
  11. "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  12. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1973". Retrieved June 25, 2016.


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