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{{Short description|1981 single by Stevie Wonder}}

factoids
name	Lately| cover = StevieWonderLatelySingle.jpg| alt =| type = single| artist = Stevie Wonder| album = Hotter than July| B-side = If It's Magic Hotter than July| length 4:05| label = Tamla| writer = Stevie Wonder| producer = Stevie Wonder| prev_title = I Ain't Gonna Stand for It| prev_year = 1980 "Lately" is a song by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder, recorded for his nineteenth studio album, Hotter than July (1980). The song was released in 1981 by Tamla, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart and number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was later covered by American R&B group Jodeci and released as a promotional single for the live album Uptown MTV Unplugged in June 1993, which reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart and the top-5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Critical reception Record World called it a "touching ballad [that] is perhaps his most beautiful, revealing work yet."MAGAZINE, Record World, March 28, 1981, 2023-02-19, Hits of the Week, 1,weblink Jason Elias at AllMusic retrospectively praised the song, believing that unlike some of Wonder's similar material, "Lately" in particular hit all the perfect emotional and musical notes. Of the song's emotional power itself Elias stated, "it's enough to make a listener fall prey to an old-fashioned cry."WEB, Elias, Jason, {{Allmusic, song, t3534424, yes, |title="Lately" Song review at Allmusic|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=2010-04-17}} Charts{|class"wikitable sortable" !Chart (1981)!Peakposition
UK Singles Chart (Official Charts Company>OCC)HTTP://WWW.OFFICIALCHARTS.COM/ARTIST/_/STEVIE%20WONDER/ >TITLE=STEVIE WONDER | FULL OFFICIAL CHART HISTORY | OFFICIAL CHARTS COMPANY	DATE=2016-07-19, 2016-10-19,	3
Billboard Hot 100>Billboard Hot 100JOEL WHITBURN'S TOP POP SINGLES, 14TH EDITION: 1955-2012 >LAST=WHITBURN	AUTHORLINK=JOEL WHITBURN	PUBLISHER=RECORD RESEARCH, 925,	64
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs>R&B Singles (''Billboard (magazine)	'')TOP R&B/HIP-HOP SINGLES: 1942-2004	FIRST=JOEL	YEAR=2004	PAGE=636,	29

Personnel

• Stevie Wonder – lead vocals, bass synthesizer, piano

Jodeci version

!Chart (1993){{Better source needed|reason=AllMusic no longer has chart info|date=August 2021}}!Peakposition

factoids
name	Lately| cover =| alt =| type = single| artist = Jodeci| album = Uptown MTV Unplugged Jodeci| length (MTV Unplugged version) {{duration|6:24}} (studio version)	Uptown Records>Uptown/MCA| writer = Stevie Wonder DeVante Swing| producer = DeVante Swing| prev_title = Let's Go Through the Motions| prev_year = 1993	Cry for You (Jodeci song)>Cry For You| next_year = 1993	{{YouTube	"Lately"}}}}}}"Lately" was notably covered by American R&B group Jodeci for the Uptown MTV Unplugged release in 1993. Executive producer Andre Harrell referred to it as their "End of the Road", analogous to the chart-topping single for Boyz II Men.Vanity Fair 56 (1993), 240. The group's version of the song was released as a promotional single, claiming the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart as the group's fourth number one R&B hit. It was also Jodeci's highest peaking pop hit, reaching numbers four and seven on the Billboard Hot 100WEB, {{AllMusic, artist, p26053, yes, |title=allmusic ((( Jodeci > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=2010-04-17}} and Cash Box Top 100 in August 1993. It sold 900,000 copies and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.MAGAZINE,weblink Best-Selling Records of 1993, Billboard (magazine), Billboard, BPI Communications, January 15, 1994, May 4, 2015, 73, 0006-2510, 106, 3, CERTIFICATION, United States, Jodeci, Lately, This version also appears on (Back to the Future: The Very Best of Jodeci), a greatest hits album from the group, released by Universal Records in 2005.The group also recorded an alternate studio version of the song, produced by group leader DeVante Swing.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} It is slightly longer than the Uptown MTV Unplugged version and features an additional outro. They performed this version on The Arsenio Hall Show, with Stevie Wonder making a guest appearance and performing the song with Jodeci.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Charts {{col-begin|width=74%}}{{col-2}} Weekly charts{|class"wikitable sortable"
Billboard Hot 100>Billboard Hot 100	4
Hot Dance Singles Sales>Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard)	12
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs>Hot R&B Singles (Billboard)	1
Rhythmic Airplay Chart>Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)	1
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)>Top 40 Mainstream (Billboard)	17
Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles>Cash Box Top 100HTTPS://WWW.WORLDRADIOHISTORY.COM/ARCHIVE-ALL-MUSIC/CASH-BOX/90S/1993/CB-1993-08-14.PDF>TITLE=TOP 100 POP SINGLES	CASHBOX (MAGAZINE)>CASH BOX	ISSUE=49	PAGE=10, 2024-04-20,	7

{{col-2}}">

Year-end charts{| class"wikitable sortable"

!Chart (1993)!PositionBillboard Hot 100HTTP://LONGBOREDSURFER.COM/CHARTS.PHP?YEAR=1993 ACCESS-DATE=2010-08-27 ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20061110095203/HTTP://LONGBOREDSURFER.COM/CHARTS.PHP?YEAR=1993, 2006-11-10, 15{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Stevie Wonder|title=Lately|award=Silver|relyear=1981|certyear=1981|id=3747-3788-1|access-date=February 18, 2022}}{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

See also

• List of number-one R&B singles of 1993 (U.S.)

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

• {{Allmusic|class=song|id=t3534424|label="Lately" Review}}

{{Stevie Wonder}}{{Jodeci}}{{authority control}}