# Lately (Stevie Wonder song)

"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 3 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

Hanif Abdurraqib of Pitchfork described the song as "a classic Wonder ballad, the artist and piano and a palpable sense of longing (forgettable to me, but only because of Wonder’s singular ability to pull this type of song off in various ways throughout his career)."
Record World called it a "touching ballad [that] is perhaps his most beautiful, revealing work yet."
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."

## Charts

| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
| Australia (Kent Music Report) | 17 |
| Ireland (IRMA) | 6 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100) | 36 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) | 15 |
| UK Singles (OCC) | 3 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 64 |
| US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) | 33 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) | 29 |
| West Germany (GfK) | 64 |
| Chart (2013) | Peak position |
| South Korea International (Circle) | 55 |

## Certifications

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Silver | 250,000$^^$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||

## Personnel

* Stevie Wonder – lead vocals, bass synthesizer, piano

## Jodeci version

"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. 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 100 and Cash Box Top 100 in August 1993. It sold 900,000 copies and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. 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. It is slightly longer than the Uptown MTV Unplugged version and features an additional outro.

### Charts
#### Weekly charts

| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
| Australia (ARIA) | 161 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) | 50 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |
| US Hot Dance Singles Sales (Billboard) | 12 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) | 1 |
| US Pop Airplay (Billboard) | 17 |
| US Rhythmic (Billboard) | 1 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | 7 |

#### Year-end charts

| Chart (1993) | Position |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 15 |