Editing Sir Duke (section)

== Background ==
Wonder wrote the song as a tribute to [[Duke Ellington]], the [[jazz]] composer, bandleader, and [[pianist]] who had influenced him as a musician.<ref>{{cite news|title=Top Single Picks|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=2020-07-12|page=68|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1977/Billboard%201977-04-02.pdf|date=April 2, 1977|archive-date=2020-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712210128/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1977/Billboard%201977-04-02.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Wonder had already experienced the death of two of his idols ([[Dinah Washington]] and [[Wes Montgomery]]) after attempting to collaborate with them.

After Ellington died in 1974, Wonder wanted to write a song acknowledging musicians he felt were important. He later said, "I knew the title from the beginning but wanted it to be about the musicians who did something for me. So soon they are forgotten. I wanted to show my appreciation."

Wonder pays tribute to "some of music's pioneers" in the song: "There's [[Count Basie|Basie]], [[Glenn Miller|Miller]], [[Louis Armstrong|Satchmo]], and the king of all, [[Duke Ellington|Sir Duke]] / And with a voice like [[Ella Fitzgerald|Ella]]'s ringing out / There's no way the band can lose".

Wonder recorded other tributes to people he admired, including the 1980 songs "[[Master Blaster (Jammin')|Master Blaster]]", dedicated to [[Bob Marley]], and "[[Happy Birthday (Stevie Wonder song)|Happy Birthday]]", which pleaded for what would eventually become the [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]] holiday in the United States.