Elton John - Stevie Wonder - Split

(Credits: Far Out / Alamy / UCLA Library Special Collections)

Sun 3 August 2025 13:00, UK

Even legends have haters. The Beatles, for example, as brilliant as they may be, have attracted a small community of listeners who can’t stand the obvious genius being put forward to them. But as I count the sticks fans use to beat icons with, there’s one name missing from the lineup: Stevie Wonder.

Try as I may, I don’t think I could find anybody willing to dispute his genius. Controversial takes about not liking him are replaced with “I don’t listen to him much, but I know he’s brilliant”. He did it all; played every instrument, felt every groove, wrote every melody, released stellar singles and well-crafted albums. 

In the 1970s, when the art of the album was being celebrated and artists were patiently labouring over lengthy bodies of work for hungry music fans, there’s a case to be made that Wonder released the finest of them all. At least, that’s what Elton John thinks.

Explaining, “Wherever I go in the world, I always bring a copy of Songs in the Key of Life. It’s the best album ever made, and I’m always left in awe when I listen to it. He’s so multitalented that it’s hard to pinpoint what makes him the greatest ever.”

Released in 1976, it came swiftly off the back of a string of Elton’s own releases that could have easily staked a similar claim. Because let’s face it, Elton was similarly brilliant. Dancing on the ivory keys of his piano, he shared a similar penchant for melodies that allowed him to traverse similar soundscapes. Be it the jazz-infused ‘Sir Duke’ and ‘Bennie And The Jets’, or the poppier ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ and ‘I’m Still Standing’, the pair used their melody as a vehicle to explore a multitude of melodic worlds.

So, record collectors around the globe would be more than willing to slide some of Elton’s best work alongside Stevie’s. Songs in the Key of Life is a sprawling double album that hits almost every musical note with perfection, while Elton’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was a masterclass in stories told over musical diversity.

But being the Stevie Wonder superfan he is, Elton is keen to remove any comparisons between the pair. In fact, he’s adamant: “Stevie Wonder can eat me for breakfast as far as musicianship goes, but that doesn’t make me angry or jealous or uptight. I’d give anything to have his talent.”

The final sentence of Elton’s admission tells you everything you have to know about Stevie’s brilliance. Because many people, myself included, would give anything to have a morsel of Elton’s talent. For him to share that same feeling shows the unimaginably high level at which Stevie’s artistry was operating.

It’s just one year until Songs In The Key Of Life turns 50. It has spent half a century populating our airwaves and remains a blueprint for songwriting, arrangement, and expression to this day. And I would be willing to bet that in another 50 years, it will remain unthreatened as one of the greatest albums of all time.

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