Why 'Ebony & Ivory' Was Named the 'Worst Duet' Decades Later
Why 'Ebony & Ivory' Was Named the 'Worst Duet' Decades Later
Jacqueline Burt CoteSat, April 25, 2026 at 4:43 AM UTC
0
Not all #1 songs end up staying popular over the years, no matter how much people love them when they first come out...but sometimes, it seems like listeners can be a little too harsh in their retrospective judgments.
One might argue that to be the case with "Ebony & Ivory," the classic duet by Paul McCartneyand Stevie Wonder. Released as a single from McCartney's third solo album, Tug of War, in 1982, the song went to #1 on the U.K. singles chart on April 25 of that year, going on to achieve the same feat in the U.S. the next month, on May 15 (where it stayed for seven weeks). Not only was "Ebony & Ivory" one of the bestselling singles of the year, it was a Grammy nominee for record and song of the year, per Billboard.
So why was it voted "worst duet in history" by BBC 6 Music listeners decades later?
In the years since "Ebony & Ivory" was released, the song's idealistic approach towards racial harmony has been viewed as "corny" or "trite" by some. To be fair, plenty of people felt that way back then, too; SNL did a famous parody the same year the track hit #1 featuring Eddie Murphy as Wonder and Joe Piscopo as Frank Sinatra singing their own version of the lyrics: “I am dark / and you are light / You are blind as a bat / And I have sight."
'Ebony & Ivory' was the longest-running # 1 hit ever by an ex-Beatle
Sappy or not, "Ebony & Ivory" was a major success. How many other songs can say they're the longest running #1 hit by a former Beatle?
Advertisement
“I had a song called ‘Ebony and Ivory’ that I’d written, and I wanted to sing it with a black guy. And my first thought was Stevie," McCartney said in a 1982 interview with Bryant Gumbel, per the Hollywood Reporter.
As for Wonder, he told Dick Clark on The National Music Survey that he “listened to the song, and I liked it very much...I felt it was positive for everybody."
"I won’t say it demanded of people to reflect upon it, but it politely asks the people to reflect upon life in using the terms of music...melting pot of many different people," Wonder continued, as quoted by Fred Bronson in The Billboard Book of Number One Hits.
At the end of the day, it's kinda tough to hate on Stevie and Paul.
Related: Beloved '60s Rock Classic Is Suddenly Climbing the Charts 57 Years Later
This story was originally published by Parade on Apr 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
