Stevie Wonder's single "Sir Duke" is a tribute not just to his idol Duke Ellington, but also to many jazz artists who influenced his musical education, made clear by the lyric: "There's [Count] Basie, [Glenn] Miller, Satchmo [Louis Armstrong], and the king of all, Sir Duke / And with a voice like Ella [Fitzgerald]'s ringing out / There's no way the band can lose." The song is littered with elements of jazz, from big band to Motown, from the blues scale to chromaticism, and from doo-wop to shout chorus.

Shortly after the song's release in 1977, it became a number one hit according to the US Billboard Hot 100 chart as well as the RPM Canada Top Singles chart.

—The GCNA