You are the sunshine of my lifeThat’s why I’ll always be around
Stevie Wonder… had such a long career before he was even 18. He wrote this for his wife Syreeta Wright whom Wonder married in 1970.
Wright was from Detroit, an aspiring ballet dancer who didn’t have the money to pursue her passion and who ended up working as a receptionist at Motown in 1965. Eventually, Wright started singing on demos for Motown singers, and the label released a single of hers in 1968 under the name Rita Wright. When Diana Ross left the Supremes, Berry Gordy thought about installing Wright as her replacement but it didn’t happen.
in 1968 Syreeta Wright met Stevie Wonder. In 1969, they started dating, and they also started working together. In 1970, they got married, when Wright was 24 and Wonder was 20. By that time, they were already writing partners. Together, Wright and Wonder helped write the Spinners’ “It’s A Shame” and Wonder’s own “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours”
In 1972 they broke up. Wonder also produced the album Syreeta…Wright’s first album. He also recorded this song that year. It was no doubt who it was about. It was on the great album Talking Book. Just as he was singing this beautiful song they were breaking up. She would go on to record more music and one song with Billy Preston. She passed away in 2004 at the age of 58.
Some sources list the couple’s divorce as happening in 1972, but Wright, who died in 2004, claimed they were married until 1975. The marriage was difficult and exacerbated by their working relationship, which Wright found stifling. “I was always living in his shadow.”
He recorded this at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. It was recorded off the cuff and his band fell right in. The album Talking Book peaked at #3 on the Billboard Album Charts, #12 in Canada,#16 in the UK in 1972.
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #5 in Canada, #8 in New Zealand, and #7 in the UK. The first single off the album was Superstition…how is this for a follow-up!
This song won Wonder the 1973 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
You are the sunshine of my lifeThat’s why I’ll always be aroundYou are the apple of my eyeForever you’ll stay in my heart
I feel like this is the beginningThough I’ve loved you for a million yearsAnd if I thought our love was endingI’d find myself drowning in my own tears, whoa, oh, oh
You are the sunshine of my life, yeahThat’s why I’ll always stay around, mmm, mmm, yeah, yeahYou are the apple of my eyeForever you’ll stay in my heart
You must have known that I was lonelyBecause you came to my rescueAnd I know that this must be heavenHow could so much love be inside of you?Whoa, whoa
You are the sunshine of my life, yeahThat’s why I’ll always stay around, mmm (baby)You are the apple of my eyeForever you’ll stay in my heart, yeah
You are the sunshine of my life, babyThat’s why I’ll always stay around
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