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Stevie Wonder marks 50 years of Songs in the Key of Life with four unheard songs

On the album’s 50th anniversary, Stevie Wonder released an EP of four songs recorded during the original sessions and left off the 1976 record, ahead of a tour that starts in October.

· from 3 sites

What happened

Stevie Wonder put out “Songs in the Key of Life – The EP” on September 28, 2026, fifty years to the day after the double album itself was released, Stereogum and Consequence reported. Stereogum described it as a surprise release, issued through Motown and Universal without advance notice.

The four tracks are “It’s Easier”, “My Life Story of Love”, “I Can See the Sun in Late December” and “I’m Into Livin’”. All come from the sessions for the original album and had never been released before, according to Clash and Consequence.

Where the songs came from

Wonder chose the songs himself and produced them, and they were mixed for release by John Fischbach and Gary O Adante, who engineered the original sessions, the three outlets reported. Stereogum said the recordings feature the band he worked with at the time, Wonderlove.

In a statement quoted by Clash and Consequence, Wonder said the songs never made the album but were part of what he was feeling and discovering while he made it. Clash added a detail from the sessions: they ended at 4:54 in the morning with the bassist Nathan Watts calling out the time, a moment the anniversary release now marks.

Why the album still matters

Songs in the Key of Life won the Grammy for album of the year, has been certified diamond and was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry, Clash noted. Stereogum called it the last burst of one of the great creative runs in popular music, and pointed out that it first came out as a double album with an extra seven-inch single.

What comes next

The EP comes ahead of an anniversary tour. Clash reported that it opens in the UK and Europe on October 13, and Consequence said it continues with six US concerts in November and December, in cities including New York, Chicago, Washington, Detroit and Los Angeles.

Key points

  • Songs in the Key of Life – The EP came out on September 28, the album’s 50th anniversary.
  • Its four previously unreleased songs were recorded during the original 1976 sessions and picked by Wonder himself.
  • The original engineers, John Fischbach and Gary O Adante, mixed them for release.
  • A 50th anniversary tour starts in the UK and Europe on October 13, with six US dates to follow.

Sources

rss.mobi wrote this story from what these sites reported; each report belongs to its publisher. Found a mistake? Write to rss-mobi@vvm.space.