Songs in the Key of Life

In 1975, Stevie Wonder told Motown he was done. He was planning to move to Ghana to work with disabled children, had begun organizing a farewell concert, and was in serious discussions with other labels. Berry Gordy, terrified of losing the most important artist on his roster, came back with a contract so extraordinary it had never been offered to a single musician before: seven albums, seven years, $37 million. Wonder signed it, went back into the studio, and spent the next two years making Songs in the Key of Life, recording over 200 songs before settling on the 21 that made the final double album and bonus EP.

More than 130 musicians received credits on the record. Wonder played most of the keyboards, drums, and harmonica himself, but brought in George Benson, Herbie Hancock, and Minnie Riperton as collaborators, among many others. He worked nonstop across four studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Sausalito, and New York, pushing his collaborators relentlessly, sometimes recording around the clock for days at a stretch. "I Wish" was written at a Motown company picnic during the summer of 1976 and became the album's first single. "Isn't She Lovely," which Wonder refused to release as a single because he felt it was too personal, became one of the most recognizable songs of the decade anyway through sheer radio airplay.

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and stayed there for 14 consecutive weeks, longer than any other Motown album before or since. It won four Grammy Awards including Album of the Year. Rolling Stone has ranked it among the greatest albums ever made. There is no other double album in the history of popular music where every single track justifies its existence. This is Stevie Wonder at absolute peak creative power, and that is one of the most extraordinary things a human being has ever achieved in a recording studio.