Heaven (Bryan Adams song)

Writing and recording

Adams had played over 100 dates with Journey during 1983, serving as the opening act on their Frontiers Tour. During that time, he and Jim Vallance co-wrote "Heaven", which was inspired by Journey's hit "Faithfully". It was recorded at the Power Station in New York City on June 6 and 7, 1983. Halfway through the recording session, drummer Mickey Curry – who had warned Adams about his limited availability that day – announced that he had to leave since he had committed in advance to a Hall & Oates session. Since the recording session for "Heaven" was running behind schedule, Adams called Journey drummer Steve Smith, who happened to be in New York City at the time and he filled Curry's drumming position. The song first appeared on the soundtrack to the 1983 film, A Night in Heaven, although it was not released as a single at that time.

Adams was unconvinced that "Heaven" was suitable for his next studio album, Reckless, a feeling that was echoed by producer Jimmy Iovine, who was working with Adams at the time. Iovine thought the song was too 'light' for the album and recommended that Adams not include it. But at the last moment, Adams changed his mind.

Reception

In 1984, "Heaven" won the Procan Award (Performing Rights Organization of Canada) for Canadian radio airplay, in 1985, it won the BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.) Citation of Achievement for U.S. radio airplay and ten years later, it won a Socan Classics Award for more than 100,000 Canadian radio performances. In 2015, Matt Bomer released a cover version for Magic Mike XXL.

Track listings

1. "Heaven"
2. "Heaven" (live)

1. "Heaven"
2. "Heaven" (live)/"Kids Wanna Rock" (live)

1. "Heaven"
2. "Diana"

1. "Heaven"/"Diana"
2. "Heaven" (live)/"Fits Ya Good"

Live tracks recorded at the Hollywood Palladium on February 1, 1985.

Chart performance

"Heaven" first appeared on the A Night in Heaven soundtrack album in 1983 and received substantial airplay on album-oriented rock radio stations, reaching the number nine on Billboard's Top Tracks chart in February 1984. It was released as the third single from the album Reckless in April 1985 and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the highest-charting single from "Reckless". The song also re-entered the Top Rock Tracks chart at that time, peaking at number 27. "Heaven" also peaked at number 12 on the Adult Contemporary chart during its second run, becoming Adams' second single to reach that chart after "Straight from the Heart" in 1983, and his biggest AC hit until 1991.

In Canada, "Heaven" reached number 11 on the RPM Singles Chart.

The song was released in Australia, Europe and New Zealand in 1985. "Heaven" peaked at number 38 in the UK. In several mainland European countries, "Heaven" was the first hit for Adam's. "Heaven" reached the top 10 in Sweden and Norway and then the top 20 in Austria, Ireland, Switzerland and Sweden, it was a moderate top hundred success in Germany where it peaked at number 62. In Australia, it peaked at number 12.

Music video

There were two videos, one shot at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and was directed by Steve Barron. That video includes appearances by Lysette Anthony and Garwin Sanford. The second video was shot in London, England, and features Adams singing the song in a live concert setting; behind him, stacked video monitors show his band playing along. Video monitors also occupy each seat of the otherwise empty theater. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography.

Personnel

DJ Sammy version

In 2001, Spanish DJ Sammy and German DJ Yanou released a dance cover of "Heaven", with vocals by Dutch singer Do. It was released on 21 November 2001, as the second single from DJ Sammy's second studio album Heaven (2002).

Chart performance

The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100. It re-entered the chart on the week of 17 November 2007. On 28 October 2009, over seven years after its release, the song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000. It has also been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 600,000.

Music video

The music video was directed by Oliver Bradford. It features Yanou, DJ Sammy and Do viewed briefly from a television. The video features two Asian girls, androgynous people and a black man. It featured a family of four. There is a second version, with extended scenes of a stationary Do singing.

Live performances

Do performed the song with Westlife live in 2002 in the UK, and also with Westlife at the TMF Awards in 2003. Do also performed the song several times together with Bryan Adams, in the Netherlands and Germany.

Usage in other media

The song was sampled by Nina Sky in their 2009 hit "Beautiful People". It also appeared on a Malcolm in the Middle episode, playing in the background when Hal is using the kitchen as his own salon. Additionally, it was featured in the Dance Dance Revolution series of video games.

Candlelight Mix

Because of the dance version's popularity, a stripped-down, ballad-like "Candlelight Mix" version was made and sung by Do, and received airplay on adult contemporary radio stations as well as contemporary hit radio stations.

9/11 remix

An unauthorized remix of the "Candlelight Mix" was made by KISS FM in Bakersfield, California to commemorate the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks. This remix features a five-year-old, kindergarten-aged girl talking about her father who presumably died in the attacks, with the original chorus intermittently playing. Although the monologue is based on a real event, the little girl's vocal was actually the daughter of a former KISS FM program director and she did not know anything about the terrorist attacks at the time. The director wrote and read simple sentences for her and had her repeat them for him, with a little emotional prompting; the director later edited his voice out of the track. This was one of the most requested songs in the station's history, and had all of the local market talking. It even crossed over to Clear Channel's other stations for a wider audience.

9/11 remix 2011

In 2011, another unauthorized remix of the "Candlelight Mix" was made by KLUC FM in Las Vegas to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the attacks. This remix followed the same theme as the original 9/11 remix. The song features three actresses, representing the first, fifth and tenth anniversaries of the attacks (ages 5, 9, and 14), with the original chorus intermittently playing. It was widely distributed to other stations owned by the CBS radio network.