"Love's in Need of Love Today" is a song written by American singer, songwriter and musician

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

. A soulful R&B

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, it is the opening track from his 1976 album, ''

Songs in the Key of Life ''Songs in the Key of Life'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder. A double album, it was released on September 28, 1976, by Tamla Records, a division of Motown. It was recorded primarily at ...

''.

Composition

Wonder conceived the title phrase of "Love's in Need of Love Today" before the rest of the lyrics. In 2015, he said the following of the song's meaning and its personal significance to him:

The concept I had in mind was that for love to be effective, it has to be fed. Love by itself is hollow. ..When I was finished ecording the song I listened to the playback and realized the song was perfect to open the album [''
Songs in the Key of Life ''Songs in the Key of Life'' is the eighteenth studio album by American singer, songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder. A double album, it was released on September 28, 1976, by Tamla Records, a division of Motown. It was recorded primarily at ...
''], to set the entire tone. ..It's still emotional for me. When I performed it in New York recently, I broke down. I've seen people come and go, and live and die, cry and laugh. It all came rushing back.

Wonder began writing "Love's in Need of Love Today" in late 1974, while at a hotel in New York, when his then-partner Yolanda Simmons was pregnant with their daughter Aisha. He recorded a demo of the song in the key of D in his hotel room on a

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

, using a portable

Nakamichi was a Japanese consumer electronics brand founded in Japan which gained a name from the 1970s onwards for audio cassette decks. Nakamichi is now a subsidiary of Chinese holding company Nimble Holdings. Nakamichi manufactured electronic devic ...

cassette recorder. The first lines of the song ("Good morn' or evening friends / Here's your friendly announcer / I have serious news to pass on to everybody") were influenced by church radio programs, 1950s

gospel quartet The term Gospel quartet refers to several different traditions of harmony singing. Its origins are varied, including 4-part hymn singing, shape note singing, barbershop quartets, jubilee songs, spirituals, and other Gospel songs. Gospel quartets ...

s, and singer-songwriter

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

. Author Zeth Lundy described the song's lyrics as being "from the perspective of a DJ or preacher or barker or simply God-possessed vessel— hey are the album'srallying cry, quieting the crowd and disseminating information. It's a self-conscious 'announcement' track in the vein of ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (often referred to simply as ''Sgt. Pepper'') is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept ...

'' or ''

The Village Green Preservation Society "The Village Green Preservation is a song by the English rock band the Kinks from their 1968 album ''The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society''. Written and sung by the band's principal songwriter Ray Davies, the song is a nostal ...

''s title track; the narrator directly addresses the listener and details his concerns about the ongoing battle between love and hate, a topic the album goes on to tote throughout its 105 minutes."

Recording

In 1975, Wonder brought the demo recording of the song to Crystal Sound studio in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

, where he further developed its lyrics and chords. Unlike the demo recording, Wonder decided to play the song in the key of E-flat, which he felt better suited his voice and overall "felt better, spiritually". He also developed the song's

choral A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

introduction, which is performed by Wonder using

overdubbing Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio Music track, tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto o ...

. Wonder provided the song's vocals and played most of the instruments present on the recording: the

Clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

bass synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, and drums. He also added elements of strings using a

Yamaha GX-1 The Yamaha GX-1, first released as Electone GX-707, is an analog polyphony (instrument), polyphonic synthesizer developed by Yamaha Corporation, Yamaha as a test bed for later consumer synths and Electone series organs for stage and home use. The ...

, drawing inspiration from the string sounds found in the music of

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

. Musician

Eddie "Bongo" Brown Edward James "Bongo" Brown (September 13, 1932 – December 28, 1984) was an American percussionist known for his work with The Funk Brothers, Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 to 1972. ...

contributed

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

to the track.

Live performances

In 1985, Wonder performed "Love's in Need of Love Today" as a duet with English singer-songwriter

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

at the

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...

for the television special ''Motown Returns to the Apollo''. In 2001, Wonder performed the song with the

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

group

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as D ...

during '' America: A Tribute to Heroes'', a

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate h ...

held in the aftermath of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The performance won a

Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

at the

45th Annual Grammy Awards The 45th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2003, at Madison Square Garden in New York City honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002. Musicians' accomplishment ...

. From 2014 to 2015, Wonder performed "Love's in Need of Love Today" live during his

Songs in the Key of Life Tour The Songs in the Key of Life Tour was a concert tour by American recording artist Stevie Wonder. The set list for the tour showcases performances of Wonder performing every song from his eighteenth studio album, ''Songs in the Key of Life'', whic ...

. Wonder performed the "Love's in Need of Love Today" on January 30, 2025 at

Intuit Dome Intuit Dome is an indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States. The arena is located south of the other major Inglewood sports venues, SoFi Stadium and the Kia Forum. It is the home venue of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Bask ...

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

for

FireAid FireAid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative that took place in Inglewood, California, United States, on January 30, 2025. The event, organized by the Annenberg Foundation, raised funds to help those affected by ...

to help with relief efforts for the

January 2025 Southern California wildfires From January 7 to 31, 2025, a series of 14 destructive wildfires affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego County in California, United States. The fires were exacerbated by drought conditions, low humidity, a buildup of ve ...

Cover versions

In 1987, George Michael released a live cover performance of "Love's in Need of Love Today", recorded at

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...

, as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of his single "

Father Figure A father figure is usually an older man, normally one with power, authority, or strength, with whom one can identify on a deeply psychology, psychological level and who generates emotions generally felt towards one's father. Despite the literal t ...

". Michael went on to perform the song live during his 1988–1989 world concert tour

the Faith Tour The Faith Tour was the first solo concert tour by English singer-songwriter George Michael, launched in support of his multi-million selling debut solo album ''Faith''. The tour spanned nine months between February and October 1988 with three fi ...

. In 1993, Michael performed the song at the Concert of Hope, held on

World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immu ...

at Wembley Arena, dedicating the song to those in the audience who had lost someone to

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

opened her South Africa

concerts A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

with the song in 1994, which aired on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

live November 12. The opening concert was eventually released for its 30th anniversary in theaters and on CD/vinyl. In 2020, during the NBA All-Star weekend, American rapper and singer

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe ...

performed a cover of the song at the

United Center The United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on the night before the

2020 NBA All-Star Game The 2020 NBA All-Star Game was an Exhibition game, exhibition basketball game that was played on February 16, 2020, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2019–20 NBA season, 2019–20 season. It was the 69th edition of the NBA All- ...

Personnel

–

References

{{Stevie Wonder 1970s ballads 1976 songs Songs written by Stevie Wonder Song recordings produced by Stevie Wonder Soul ballads Stevie Wonder songs