1985 single by Stevie Wonder
"Part-Time Lover " is a song by American R&B singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder , released as the first single from his twentieth studio album, In Square Circle Billboard Hot 100R&B , dance , and adult contemporary charts, becoming Wonder's final number one hit to date. The song's simultaneous chart successes made Wonder the first artist to score a number-one hit on four different Billboard charts. The song was also released as a special 12" version. Lyrically, it tells the story of a man who is cheating on his wife with a mistress, only to find out in the end that his wife is cheating on him as well.
"Part-Time Lover" also reached number three on the UK Singles Chart thanks in large part to a performance by Wonder on Top of the Pops
The song featured R&B singer Luther Vandross singing the ad-libs and backing vocals, in addition to Syreeta Wright and Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire . Wonder earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1986, for the song. Wonder is noted in the liner notes of the four-CD set Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection Volume 2 1972-1992 as describing the music for the song as an ode to "You Can't Hurry Love " and "My World Is Empty Without You ", both by the Supremes , former Motown labelmates of Wonder.
Chart (1985)
Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[ 22]
29
Canada[ 23]
9
New Zealand[ 24]
34
UK[ 25]
37
US Billboard Hot 100[ 26]
22
Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, synthesizers, drums
Luther Vandross – lead vocal, background vocalSyreeta Wright , Philip Bailey (Earth Wind & Fire ), Keith John, Melody McCully, Billy Durham, Peter Byrne (Naked Eyes ), Renee Hardaway, Darryl Phinnessee - background vocal[ 30]
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 ISBN 0-646-11917-6 ^ "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40 .
^ "part time lover - stevie wonder" . VRT (in Dutch). Top30-2.radio2.be. Archived from the original on 9 April 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2013 .^ "Top Singles - Volume 42, No. 22, September 10, 1985" . Library and Archives Canada . Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2013 .^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada" . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1985-11-09. Retrieved 2019-08-08 .^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Stevie Wonder". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 284. Retrieved 14 July 2022 . ^ "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" (in French). Le classement de singles . Retrieved 21 July 2013.
^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Part Time Lover" . Irish Singles Chart .
^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Stevie Wonder" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 .
^ "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" (in Dutch). Single Top 100 .
^ "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" . Top 40 Singles . Retrieved 21 July 2013.
^ "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" . VG-lista .
^ "TOP 20 TMP Portugal - number one in the 80's airplay charts" . Archived from the original on 2016-08-30. Retrieved 2019-08-09 .^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989" . Retrieved 5 September 2018 .^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 1985). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2 ^ "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" . Singles Top 100 .
^ "Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" . Swiss Singles Chart .
^ "Official Charts Company -" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved 2014-03-28 .^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (1940-10-14). "Stevie Wonder | Awards" . AllMusic . Retrieved 2014-03-28 .^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" (in German) . GfK Entertainment charts .
^ "OLiS – oficjalna lista airplay" (Select week 02.08.2025–08.08.2025.) (in Polish). OLiS . Retrieved August 11, 2025 .^ "Kent Music Report No 599 – 30 December 1985 > National Top 100 Singles for 1985" . Kent Music Report . Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via Imgur .^ "RPM's Top 100 Singles of 1985" . RPM . Retrieved 30 July 2017 .^ "End of Year Charts 1985" . Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved July 16, 2017 .^ "Top 100 Singles". Music Week ^ Musicoutfitters.com ^ "French single certifications – Stevie Wonder – Part-Time Lover" (in French). InfoDisc.Select STEVIE WONDER and click OK. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Stevie Wonder – Part Time Lover" . Radioscope. Retrieved April 25, 2025 .Type Part Time Lover in the "Search:" field. ^ "British single certifications – Stevie Wonder – Part-Time Lover" . British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved February 18, 2022 .^ "In Square Circle on" . Discogs.com . 1985. Retrieved 2011-12-22 .^ "Bobby Valentin: Hot Latin Songs" . Billboard . Prometheus Global Media . September 27, 1986.
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