"Wonderful Tonight" is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

written by

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album ''

Slowhand ''Slowhand'' is the fifth full-length studio album by Eric Clapton. Released on 25 November 1977 by RSO Records, and titled after Clapton's nickname, it is one of his most commercially and critically successful studio albums. ''Slowhand'' produ ...

''. Clapton wrote the song about

Pattie Boyd Patricia Anne Boyd (born 17 March 1944) is an English model and photographer. She was one of the leading international models during the 1960s and, with Jean Shrimpton, epitomised the British female look of the era. Boyd married George Harri ...

. "the hard-rock pioneer and guitar god also become a soft-rock star in the mid-1970s. He celebrated his sobriety with (... ) the Top 5 hit "Lay Down Sally" and hit No. 16 with the ballad "Wonderful Tonight," both off his 1977 Slowhand album" The female vocal harmonies on the song are provided by

Marcella Detroit Marcella Levy (born June 21, 1952), known professionally as Marcy Levy and (later in her career) Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut al ...

(then Marcy Levy) and

Yvonne Elliman Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast of the stage musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved ...

Background

On 7 September 1976, Clapton wrote "Wonderful Tonight" for Boyd while waiting for her to get ready to attend

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

and

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

's annual

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

party. The song is mentioned in her autobiographical book ''

Wonderful Today ''Wonderful Today'', subtitled ''The Autobiography'', is the 2007 autobiography by English former fashion model and photographer Pattie Boyd, written with journalist and broadcaster Penny Junor. It was published by Headline Review in Britain, on ...

''.

Critical reception

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

'' described "Wonderful Tonight" as "perhaps Clapton's prettiest and mellowest love ballad in some time." ''Billboard'' particularly praised Clapton's guitar playing during the interludes. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "Eric’s singing is superbly understated; the guitar work is simple and evocative" and praised "the gentle beat and organ accompaniment."

Personnel

– lead vocals, guitar *

Jamie Oldaker James Oldaker (September 5, 1951 – July 16, 2020) was an American rock music, blues rock and country music drummer and percussionist. Biography James Oldaker was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. One of the first bands that he was a member of was ...

– drums, percussion *

Carl Radle Carl Dean Radle (June 18, 1942 – May 30, 1980) was an American bassist who toured and recorded with many of the most influential recording artists of the late 1960s and 1970s. He was posthumously inducted to the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame i ...

– bass guitar * Dick Sims –

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

* George Terry – guitar *

– harmony and backing vocals *

Marcy Levy Marcella Levy (born June 21, 1952), known professionally as Marcy Levy and (later in her career) Marcella Detroit, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-wrote the 1977 Eric Clapton hit "Lay Down Sally" and released her debut a ...

–

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

and backing vocals

Performance

In 1988, Clapton appeared in the

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London, and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. Marking the forthcoming 70th birthday (18 July 1988) of the ...

concert as a guest guitarist for

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...

. The group became his backing musicians for a surprise performance of "Wonderful Tonight" during their set.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

Damage version

British R&B group

Damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...

covered "Wonderful Tonight" and released it as the fifth single from their debut studio album, ''

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama * ''Forever'' (1992 film), an American ...

'' (1997), in April 1997. The single peaked at number three on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming the band's highest-charting single. The song is prominently performed by Richards, with little vocal input from any other members of the band. The music video features the band performing the song in a recording studio with cut scenes of a girl preparing to go on a night out. The B-side, "I'm Ready", launched the career of

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single "Re-Rewind (The Crowd Say Bo Selecta), Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger (UK band), Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ' ...

, being the first song he had ever written to be released by himself or another artist.

Track listings

* UK CD1 # "Wonderful Tonight" # "I'm Ready" # "Wonderful Tonight" (Ethnic Boyz Mix) * UK CD2 # "Wonderful Tonight" (acoustic mix) # "

Just My Imagination "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" is a song by American soul group The Temptations, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Released on the Gordy (Motown) label, and produced by Norman Whitfield, it features on the group's 1 ...

" # "

Love II Love "Love II Love" is a song by British boy band Damage, released as the second single from their 1997 debut album, ''Forever''. It is widely regarded as the band's breakthrough single, having peaked at 12 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 82 in the U ...

" (acoustic mix) * UK cassette single # "Wonderful Tonight" # "I'm Ready"

Charts

Weekly charts Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

David Kersh version

"Wonderful Tonight" was covered by country singer

David Kersh Charles David Kersh (born December 9, 1970 in Humble, Texas) is an American former country music singer who made his debut in 1996. His first album, ''Goodnight Sweetheart'', was released that year, producing four singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

in 1998. His version went to number 29 on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart.

Charts

Butch Baker version

* The song was

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Butch Baker Butch Baker (born October 22, 1958) is an American country music artist. He recorded for Mercury Records in the late 1980s, releasing multiple singles between 1984 and 1990, as well as the album ''We Will''. His highest-peaking single, "That's ...

, whose rendition reached number 66 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

chart in 1989.

Michael Bublé version

"Wonderful Tonight" was covered by singer

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

in 2007 on his album Call Me Irresponsible. That album reached number one on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

charts on 26 May 2007."Buble Sidesteps Bone Thugs To Claim No. 1"
/ref>

References

External links

Allmusic review
{{Authority control 1970s ballads 1977 singles 1997 singles 1998 singles Afroman songs Butch Baker songs Curb Records singles Damage (British band) songs David Kersh songs Eric Clapton songs Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles British soft rock songs Rock ballads RSO Records singles Big Life Records singles Song recordings produced by Glyn Johns Songs written by Eric Clapton 1977 songs Songs about nights