"Wonderful Tonight" is a song written by Eric Clapton. It was included on Clapton's 1977 album Slowhand. Clapton wrote the song about Pattie Boyd, and it is mentioned in her autobiographical book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me. The song was a modest hit upon its release, charting at #16 Pop and #39 Adult Contemporary in the US and #30 in the UK.
On September 7, 1976, Clapton wrote "Wonderful Tonight" for Boyd while waiting for her to get ready to attend Paul and Linda McCartney's annual Buddy Holly party. Of "Wonderful Tonight," Boyd would say: "For years it tore at me. To have inspired Eric, and George before him, to write such music was so flattering. 'Wonderful Tonight' was the most poignant reminder of all that was good in our relationship, and when things went wrong it was torture to hear it."
In 1988, Clapton appeared in the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert as a guest guitarist for Dire Straits. The group became his backing musicians for a surprise performance of "Wonderful Tonight" during their set.
The song appeared on an episode of Miami Vice titled "One Eyed Jack." It was the fifth episode of the first season that aired on November 2, 1984.
The song appeared in a 2005 SBC Communications commercial.
In the season six finale of the American TV series Friends, after Chandler proposes to Monica, this song is used as the background music.
Clapton and Steve Winwood performed an acoustic version of the song during their 2011 tour in Japan.
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Famous quotes containing the words wonderful and/or tonight:
“I dont think there is anything on earth more wonderful than those wistful incomplete friendships one makes now and then in an hour’s talk. You never see the people again, but the lingering sense of their presence in the world is like the glow of an unseen city at night—makes you feel the teemingness of it all.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“Don’t you know there are 200 temperance women in this county who control 200 votes. Why does a woman work for temperance? Because she’s tired of liftin’ that besotted mate of hers off the floor every Saturday night and puttin’ him on the sofa so he won’t catch cold. Tonight we’re for temperance. Help yourself to them cloves and chew them, chew them hard. We’re goin’ to that festival tonight smelling like a hot mince pie.”
—Laurence Stallings (1894–1968)