Celebrating 53 Years Since Stevie Wonder's 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life' Topped Charts

Stevie Wonder has been an American music staple for over six decades, dating back to his time as a piano prodigy in the early 1960s. By 1973, Wonder was a full-blown star with multiple No. 1 hit songs to his name.

In February 1973, Wonder released "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" as the second single of his album Talking Book. Fifty-three years ago today, May 19, 1973, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, just like Talking Book's first single, "Superstition."

Wonder's legacy continued to build

"You Are the Sunshine of My Life" had a one-week stay at the top of the Hot 100 before being replaced by The Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein." It also went No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

It was Wonder's third song to top the Billboard rankings, and he'd add several more No. 1s in the coming years. Additionally, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" placed in the top 10 in Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Song has resonated for more than 50 years

In 2021, Rolling Stone listed "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" at No. 183 on its list of the "500 Best Songs of All Time."

Three years later, the magazine ranked Wonder's top 50 songs, putting "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" at No. 7. Writer Michaelangelo Matos called the track one of the "most beguiling records ever made."

"It features some of Stevie's loosest and most exuberant drumming, and Sly and the Family Stone's multi-vocal roundelay is echoed at the top, with the opening lines given to backup singers Jim Gilstrap and Lani Groves," Matos wrote. "But when Stevie comes in, he delivers what may be, line for line, his greatest vocal performance - every line perfectly measured, every nuance landing with ease and force."

Wonder at one point said that the melody of the song feels "happy, because when I wrote it I was in New York in late spring, early summer" and "good things were happening."

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 10:33 AM.