Songs in the Key of Life

CTL-E-5259 · Work · album · 1976

VERIFIED evidence grade of this record

Songs in the Key of Life is the 1976 double album by Stevie Wonder, released by Motown's Tamla label on September 28, 1976, with a four-song bonus EP, A Something's Extra. Written, arranged, produced and largely performed by Wonder at the summit of his classic period, it carries “Sir Duke,” his tribute to the jazz masters; “I Wish”; “Isn't She Lovely”; and “As.” The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year — Wonder's third such award — at the 1977 Grammy ceremony. It was certified Diamond by the RIAA, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002, and added to the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry in 2005. Rolling Stone ranked it fourth on its 2020 revision of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Notes

Staged 2026-10-15 under CTL-GOV-006 (Next Slate C); Gate A clear; Gate B met (2 independent sources). CTL treatment: scored 90 in CTL's critical review coverage (article ctl-article-08; quoted in the 2026-10-15 corpus gap scan), consistent with the re-score recorded for Stevie Wonder CTL-E-4394; named in 16 distinct CTL corpus files (18 mentions) per the gap scan. Statistics carried: Billboard 200 debut at No. 1 (Wikipedia/Goldmine); Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums (2020 revision) No. 4 (Wikipedia); RIAA Diamond certification (Wikipedia dates the certification to 2005). Photo slot: CLEARED CANDIDATE (artist portrait; album cover art NOT proposed) — see packet §Photo Slots.

Relationships

• Stevie Wonder — authored by
  Stevie Wonder (CTL-E-4394) wrote, arranged, produced and largely performed the album (Tamla, September 28, 1976); it won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

Sources

• Wikipedia, “Songs in the Key of Life” — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_in_the_Key_of_Life (primary source)
• Goldmine, “Stevie Wonder announces ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ 50th Anniversary Tour” (Sept. 2026; corroborating release format, Album of the Year Grammy, Diamond certification and Registry induction) — https://www.goldminemag.com/artist-news/stevie-wonder-announces-songs-in-the-key-of-life-50th-anniversary-tour/

Record CTL-E-5259 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: VERIFIED · 2 sources (1 primary) · 1 mapped relationship · CTL research: PPL-001.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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