Solo Artist
Most frequent collaborator: Hank Cosby · 93 tracks
Holds writing credit on 178 of 278 tracks
Yes, especially from the 1970s on. Overall he wrote around 64% of the songs in this catalogue, but that number hides the story: his early Motown records were written by staff writers, while from 1972's Music of My Mind onward he wrote and produced almost everything himself. Classics like 'Superstition,' 'Sir Duke,' and 'Higher Ground' are entirely his.
Across all 278 tracks: how many Stevie Wonder wrote alone, how many they co-wrote, and how many were written by others. The bracket marks every track they hold any writing credit on.
Share of all 278 tracks where they are personally credited, by role.
Stevie Wonder's writing credit per album, in release order. Hover any bar for the album.
Where Stevie Wonder sits on the scale from a pure performer (0%, sings songs written by others) to a complete author (100%, writes everything). The bright marker is their catalogue authorship score, plotted against other artists on the site.
Reference artists spread across the scale, closest by genre and era.
None of the signature songs above fall in this category.
This page covers Stevie Wonder's complete studio discography, 13 early Motown albums (1962-1971) and 11 albums from Music of My Mind (1972) through A Time to Love (2005).
Tamla/Motown
Tamla/Motown
Tamla/Motown
Tamla/Motown
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Tamla
Motown
Motown
Motown
No albums from this decade.
Bubble size = tracks worked on together. HC Hank Cosby · CP Clarence Paul · HC Henry Cosby · SM Sylvia Moy · RM Robert Margouleff · MC Malcolm Cecil
Data Insight
Stevie Wonder plays most instruments, writes virtually all his own lyrics and music, and self-produces, a complete artist who controls every element of his recordings. His 'classic period' albums (Talking Book through Songs in the Key of Life) are nearly entirely self-authored, with only occasional co-writes credited to collaborators like Syreeta Wright or Gary Byrd, making him one of the most statistically complete artists in this database.
Quick Facts
Creative Fingerprint
A prodigy who became an author: Stevie Wonder sang Motown staff songs as a child, then from 1972 on wrote and produced his own material almost entirely alone, making his classic-period albums some of the purest self-authored work in soul.
The Story
Stevie Wonder signed with Motown's Tamla label at age 11 and became one of the best-selling musicians of all time, blind since shortly after birth and gifted with an extraordinary ear for melody, rhythm, and arrangement. Beginning with Talking Book in 1972, he negotiated complete creative control over his recordings and embarked on a decade-long run of artistically defining albums, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale, Songs in the Key of Life, that are widely regarded as among the greatest in popular music history. Over more than six decades and 23+ studio albums, he has written, produced, and performed virtually all of his own material, playing keyboards, harmonica, drums, bass, and dozens of other instruments himself.