Norman Greenbaum-Spirit In The Sky (1969)

In 1969, a song became a worldwide mega-hit and ultimately entered the annals of rock music, to the point that it is still used today in countless compilations, TV series, films, and commercials, in addition to being constantly covered by many other artists. This song is "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum, which, with its lilting rhythm and proto-glam-fuzz rock guitar riffs, achieved a staggering two million copies sold between 1969 and 1970. Greenbaum, a practicing Jew, was inspired to write his version by a gospel song by Porter Waggoner, although Greenbaum's version was intended to be more about an old west gunslinger who wanted to die with his boots on, rather than the original reference to having "a friend in Jesus". The song belonged to his first album, also titled "Spirit in the Sky", which, however, did not achieve the same commercial success, despite containing an interesting selection of folk-rock and psychedelic songs such as "Mercy", "Canned Ham", "Skyline", and "The Power". After releasing two more albums, "Back Home Again" (1970) and "Petulama" (1972), Greenbaum retired from music during the 1970s, although he performed occasional concerts in the following years. "Spirit in the Sky" has been used in the video game "Rock Band 2" and in the soundtracks of films such as "Forrest Gump", "Evan Almighty", "Saving Grace", "Ocean's Eleven", "Contact", "Apollo 13", "Remember the Titans", "Oliver Stone's World", "Wayne's World 2", "The Longest Yard", "The Challenge", and many others. While on television it has been used in series such as “Big Love”, “House”, “Law & Order”, “Third Watch”, and “My Name Is Earl”, as well as dozens of commercials for “Gatorade”, “Nike”, and “American Express”. “Spirit of the Sky” will continue to be heard and approved by supervisors of Hollywood soundtracks and TV series and commercials around the world until the end of time, making it one of the 100 most well-known songs worldwide.