Gonna Take a Miracle is the fifth music album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro. Nyro was backed up on the album by the vocal trio Labelle.
Gonna Take a Miracle was released on the Columbia Records label in November 1971, a year after its predecessor, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. The album is Nyro's only all-covers album, and she interprets mainly '50s and '60s soul and R&B standards, using Labelle as a traditional back-up vocal group.
Nyro had originally hatched the idea to do a covers album during 1970, and on her tour to support the Christmas and the Beads of Sweat album she introduced several of the songs that would later appear on Gonna Take a Miracle, including "Spanish Harlem" and "Dancing in the Street."
Gonna Take a Miracle remains a critics' favourite Laura Nyro record for its laidback atmosphere and impressive soul grooves and musicianship, as well as classic "Philadelphia soul" production from Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. It was Nyro's last commercially successful album, peaking at #46 on the Billboard 200, then known as the Pop Albums chart, as well as an impressive #41 on the Black Albums chart.
It was Nyro's last album for more than four years as she turned her back on the music industry to get married and live a rural life away from the spotlight. Nyro's work with Patti LaBelle on the album formed a lifelong friendship.
In 2005, Word magazine voted Gonna Take a Miracle among the 60 Best Underrated Albums of all time.