Stevie Wonder to Play All of ‘Songs In the Key of Life’ on 50th Anniversary Tour

Stevie Wonder will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his classic album Songs In the Key of Life with a world tour this fall.

Wonder will perform the album in its entirety at each show — an ambitious endeavor for a double LP with 17 tracks and a nearly 90-minute runtime. (It’s unclear if Wonder will also play the four additional songs from the A Something’s Extra EP released with the original album.) 

The tour will start with a U.K. and European run that kicks off Oct. 13 in Birmingham, England and wraps Nov. 11 in Glasgow, Scotland. A short U.S. tour will follow, starting Nov. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City and ending Dec. 19 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. In between, Wonder will play shows in Chicago, Washington D.C., and Detroit.  

Tickets for most of the U.S. gigs on the Songs in the Key of Life Tour will go on sale Sept. 10 at 10 a.m.; only tickets for the Detroit shows will go on sale Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. local time. Full information is available on Wonder’s website. 

Released Sept. 28, 1976, Songs in the Key of Life capped off an already remarkable run of albums that included other classics like 1972’s Talking Book and 1973’s Innervisions. Though one of the biggest stars on the planet at the time, before Wonder made Songs in the Key of Life, he was close to quitting the music industry and dedicating himself to humanitarian efforts in Africa. He changed his plans after inking a new contract with Motown that was both financially lucrative and gave him complete creative control. 

In a Classic Albums documentary about Songs in the Key of Life, Wonder said, “I challenged myself [to write] as many different things as I could, to cover as many topics as I could, in dealing with the title and representing what it was about. The title would give me a challenge, but equally as important as a challenge it would give me an opportunity to express my feelings as a songwriter and as an artist.”
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Songs in the Key of Life was a commercial and critical smash upon release, reaching Number One on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, earning Diamond certification from the RIAA, and winning Album of the Year at the Grammys. It spawned two Number One hits, “I Wish” and “Sir Duke,” and contained plenty more enduring Wonder songs like like “Isn’t She Lovely,” “Pastime Paradise,” “Black Man,” and “Knocks Me Off My Feet.” Over the years, Songs in the Key of Life has remained one of the most revered albums in Wonder’s catalog and pop history, landing at Number Four on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Songs In the Key of Life Tour Dates

Oct. 13 – Birmingham, England @ Utilita Arena
Oct. 15 – Paris @ Accor Arena
Oct. 18 – Copenhagen @ Royal Arena
Oct. 20 – Oslo @ Unity Arena
Oct. 22 – Stockholm @ 3Arena
Oct. 24 – Hannover, Germany @ ZAG-Arena
Oct. 26 – Cologne, Germany @ Lanxess Arena
Oct. 28 – Amsterdam @ Ziggo Dome
Nov. 1 – Dublin @ 3Arena
Nov. 3 – London @ The O2
Nov. 8 – Manchester @ Co-op Live
Nov. 11 – Glasgow @ OVO Hydro
Nov. 19 – New York City @ Madison Square Garden
Nov. 21 – Chicago @ United Center
Nov. 23 – Washington, D.C. @ Capital One Arena
Dec. 8 – Detroit @ Fox Theatre
Dec. 9 – Detroit @ Fox Theatre
Dec. 19 – Los Angeles @ Intuit Dome