On May 15, 1982, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder began a seven-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their duet, “Ebony and Ivory.” At the time, the song was celebrated as a heartfelt plea for racial harmony, connecting with audiences around the world and becoming one of the biggest hits of the year.
Written by McCartney for his 1982 album Tug of War, the track used the black and white keys of a piano as a metaphor for people of different races living together in harmony. The inspiration reportedly came after McCartney watched comedian Spike Milligan perform with separated piano keys on television, highlighting how incomplete the instrument sounded without both colors working together. McCartney later expanded the idea into a full song after an argument with his wife, Linda, joking, “Why can’t we get it together? Our piano can!”
The duet marked a major career milestone for both artists. It became McCartney’s longest-running No. 1 hit of his solo career and gave Wonder his first chart-topping single in the UK. The collaboration was seen as a powerful meeting of two musical icons during the early 1980s.
However, while “Ebony and Ivory” dominated radio airwaves in its day, its legacy became far more divisive in later years. Critics and listeners eventually began to view the song as overly simplistic and sentimental. In 2007, a BBC 6 Music poll voted it the worst duet ever recorded, and in 2009, readers of Blender Magazine placed it among the worst songs of all time.
Despite the backlash, “Ebony and Ivory” remains an important snapshot of its era — a song created with a sincere message that achieved enormous commercial success, even if public opinion later turned against it.