About Spirit In the Sky

"Spirit in the Sky" is a song written and originally recorded by Norman Greenbaum and released in late 1969. The single became a gold record, selling two million copies from 1969 to 1970, and reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 where it lasted for 15 weeks in the Top 100, and #1 on WCFL on March 16, 1970 and on WLS on March 23, 1970, just before Easter. Billboard ranked the record the #22 song of 1970. It also climbed to #1 on the UK, Australian and Canadian charts in 1970. Rolling Stone ranked "Spirit in the Sky" #333 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song was featured on the 1969 album of the same name. Cover versions by Doctor and the Medics and Gareth Gates have also made the #1 spot in the UK.

The song is also known for being one of the greatest and best selling one-hit wonders of all time. "Spirit in the Sky" makes several religious references to Jesus, although Greenbaum himself is Jewish. In a 2006 interview with The New York Times, Greenbaum told a reporter he was inspired to write the song after watching Porter Wagoner singing a gospel song on TV. Greenbaum said: "I thought, 'Yeah, I could do that,' knowing nothing about gospel music, so I sat down and wrote my own gospel song. It came easy. I wrote the words in 15 minutes.