"Wonderful Tonight" is a ballad written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album Slowhand which is his most popular album. Clapton wrote the song on his 1974 Martin D-28 guitar about Pattie Boyd.[2] The female vocal harmonies on the song are provided by Marcella Detroit (then Marcy Levy) and Yvonne Elliman. The song is his most popular download on Spotify with more than 480,000,000 streams.[3]
On 7 September 1976, Clapton wrote "Wonderful Tonight" for Boyd while waiting for her to get ready to attend Paul and Linda McCartney's annual Buddy Holly party. The song is mentioned in her autobiographical book Wonderful Today.
Billboard described "Wonderful Tonight" as "perhaps Clapton's prettiest and mellowest love ballad in some time."[4]Billboard particularly praised Clapton's guitar playing during the interludes.[4]Cash Box said that "Eric’s singing is superbly understated; the guitar work is simple and evocative" and praised "the gentle beat and organ accompaniment."[5]Record World called it a "light, pretty ballad from [the album] that should also move quickly up the charts" and praised Clapton's singing."[6] The song peaked at #16 on Billboard's Hot 100 on July 15, 1978, spending seven weeks in the Top 40.
In 1988, Clapton appeared in the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert as a guest guitarist for Dire Straits. The group became his backing musicians for a surprise performance of "Wonderful Tonight" during their set.
British R&B group Damage covered "Wonderful Tonight" and released it as the fifth single from their debut studio album, Forever (1997), in April 1997. The single peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's highest-charting single. The song is prominently performed by Coreé 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, being the first song he had ever written to be released by himself or another artist.
^Chris Smith (2006). Greenwood Press (ed.). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History: From arenas to the underground, 1974–1980. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-313-33611-9. "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"
^"Hits of the Week"(PDF). Record World. 6 May 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
^"1050 CHUM – CHUM Charts". Archived from the original on 22 February 2006. Retrieved 24 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). CHUM. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
^Gustave, Heidé. Le Singles Argent de la SNEP (1978) (in French) (43 ed.). Paris: Decovert. 'Wonderful Tonight' spent 17 weeks on the national french singles chart and peaked at number three. It was requested to be certified silver. The certification was awarded on the last week, 'Wonderful Tonight' charted in France.
^Wonderful Tonight (UK CD2 liner notes). Damage. Big Life Records. 1997. BLRDB134.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^Wonderful Tonight (UK cassette single sleeve). Damage. Big Life Records. 1997. BLRC134.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)