Stevie Wonder celebrates 50 years of his magnum opus, Songs in the Key of Life

The “genius” tag gets slapped on musicians pretty liberally, but Stevland Hardaway Morris—better known as Stevie Wonder—more than deserves it. The Michigan-born singer-songwriter and producer was recognized as a child prodigy; in 1961, at age 11, he became the youngest artist to sign to Motown, and by the end of the decade he released a whopping ten studio albums on the label’s Tamla imprint. Then came his untouchable 70s run: Talking Book, Music of My Mind, and Innervisions remain heady documents of a maestro at the top of his sonic, lyrical, and conceptual game. I will extend such exalted praise to Wonder’s landmark 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life, to declare it among the definitive artworks of the 20th century and one of the top 20 albums of all time.

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