Stevie Wonder - "Isn't She Lovely" (1976)

"Isn't She Lovely?" is a song by Stevie Wonder, from his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. In it he celebrates the birth of his daughter, Aisha. There are three verses, each ending with the phrase "isn't she lovely, made from love" (or "so very lovely..."). The song opens with the audio of a baby being born, and a lengthy outro featuring samples of Aisha playing with Wonder.


The song, musically constructed over a standardized circle-of-fifths, is considered an example of the fusion of fundamental jazz and pop elements. Although the song was very popular and has received much radio airplay, it did not chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 because Stevie Wonder would not allow it to be released as a 45 RPM single even though requested to do so by Motown.


Numerous other artists have performed "Isn't She Lovely". A cover version by vocalist David Parton was a UK top ten hit in 1977. The song was also covered by the punk rock band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their album Take a Break. It was covered by the a cappella group The Idea of North on their album Evidence. Saxophonist Sonny Rollins included a cover of this song on his 1977 album Easy Living, rendered on soprano sax.[1] Jazz fusion artist Lee Ritenour also covered the song in his 1977 album, Captain Fingers. Frank Sinatra recorded the song in 1979. Urban jazz saxophonist Najee covered the song from his Stevie Wonder tribute album "Songs from the Key of Life."[2] Blues musician Keb' Mo' has also covered the song on his 2001 album Big Wide Grin. Another saxophonist, David Sanborn covered the song from his 2003 album "Time Again." Clay Aiken performs a cover on Scrubs at the end of the Season 4, Episode 17 episode My Life In Four Cameras . An instrumental version of the song was played after Michelle Obama's speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.[citation needed]
In 2011 the song was covered on the television series Glee by Artie with Sam, Finn, Puck and Mike backing him up in the episode Prom Queen.The song is directed towards Brittany in Home Economics class as an apology and a prom proposal.