Stevie Wonder

Even the greatest artists have difficulty staying at their creative peak, as Stevie Wonder's career demonstrates. During roughly a five-year period bookended by 1972's underrated Music of My Mind, released just prior to the stage when the hits rained down in torrents, and 1976's masterful Songs in the Key of Life, Wonder seemingly could do no wrong. His recordings were sales smashes, and he earned praise from his industry peers, who awarded him shelf upon shelf of Grammys, and critics typically resistant to lauding mainstreamers. Wonder made plenty of enjoyable tuneage prior to this glorious run and some good-to-decent stuff afterward that was often overshadowed by dreck. ("I Just Called to Say I Love You," anyone?) Still, his legend is founded on that half-decade-long phase when his passion burned brightest, generating enough heat to sustain him, and his fans, for the rest of his life.