Jump to content
 







Main menu
    


Navigation  


●Main page
 ●Contents
 ●Current events
 ●Random article
 ●About Wikipedia
 ●Contact us
 ●Donate
  



Contribute  


●Help
 ●Learn to edit
 ●Community portal
 ●Recent changes
 ●Upload file
  







Search  

































●Create account

●Log in
 









●Create account
 ● Log in
  



Pages for logged out editors learn more  


●Contributions
 ●Talk
  


















Contents

   



(Top)
  


1 Background  




2 Reception  




3 Personnel  




4 Chart performance  


4.1  Weekly charts  




4.2  Year-end charts  






5 Certifications  




6 See also  




7 References  




8 External links  













You Are the Sunshine of My Life






●العربية
 ●Español
 ●Français
 ●한국어
 ●Italiano
 ●Nederlands
 ●日本語
 ●Norsk bokmål
 ●Русский
 ●Simple English
 ●Suomi
 ●Svenska
  
Edit links
  








●Article
 ●Talk
  
















●Read
 ●Edit
 ●View history
  







Tools
    


Actions  


●Read
 ●Edit
 ●View history
  



General  


●What links here
 ●Related changes
 ●Upload file
 ●Special pages
 ●Permanent link
 ●Page information
 ●Cite this page
 ●Get shortened URL
 ●Download QR code
 ●Wikidata item
  



Print/export  


●Download as PDF
 ●Printable version
  















Appearance
    

 





From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  

"You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
SinglebyStevie Wonder
from the album Talking Book
B-side"Tuesday Heartbreak"
ReleasedMarch 1973
Recorded1972
Genre
  • easy listening[2]
    • 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"onYouTube

    "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]

    In 2002, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[7]

    Background

    [edit]

    The first two lines of the song are sung, not by Wonder, but by Jim Gilstrap; Lani Groves sings the next two.[8] 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

    [edit]

    Cash Box said that Wonder "changes the pace [from 'Superstition'] and delivers a stirring ballad performance that is also certain to go gold instantly."[9] Record World said that the "tune that's been covered many times is done best by the originator."[10]

    Personnel

    [edit]

    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

    [edit]

    Certifications

    [edit]
    Region Certification Certified units/sales
    United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Silver 200,000‡

    ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

    See also

    [edit]

    References

    [edit]
    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...
  • ^ 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.
  • ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 262.
  • ^ a b Hogan, Ed. "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" (song review), AllMusic.com.
  • ^ "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.
  • ^ "Radio Action & Pick Singles" (PDF). Billboard. March 10, 1973. p. 53. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-09-23. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  • ^ https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#y
  • ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits: Updated and Expanded 5th Edition. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 333.
  • ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. March 10, 1973. p. 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  • ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. March 10, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
  • ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  • ^ 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.
  • ^ "NZ Listener chart summary". Flavour of New Zealand. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  • ^ "Cash Box Top 100 5/19/73". Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  • ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". www.collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2014-04-08.
  • ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1973/Top 100 Songs of 1973". Musicoutfitters.com. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
  • ^ "Billboard Year-End Charts 1973" (PDF).
  • ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1973". Archived from the original on December 16, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  • ^ "British single certifications – Stevie Wonder – You Are the Sunshine of My Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
    • [edit]


    Stub icon

    This 1970s single–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • t
  • e

    • Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=You_Are_the_Sunshine_of_My_Life&oldid=1223777604"
    Categories: 
    ●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 stubs
     Hidden categories: 
    ●Articles with short description
     ●Short description matches Wikidata
     ●Articles with hAudio microformats
     ●Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom
     ●Pages using certification Table Entry with streaming figures
     ●Pages using certification Table Entry with streaming footnote
     ●Articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers
     ●All stub articles
      


    ●This page was last edited on 14 May 2024, at 08:43 (UTC).
    ●Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.


    ●Privacy policy
    ●About Wikipedia
    ●Disclaimers
    ●Contact Wikipedia
    ●Code of Conduct
    ●Developers
    ●Statistics
    ●Cookie statement
    ●Mobile view


    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki