"Heaven Knows" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

the Pretty Reckless The Pretty Reckless is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2009. The band consists of Taylor Momsen (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Ben Phillips (lead guitar, backing vocals), Mark Damon (bass), and Jamie Perkins (drums). The band ...

from their second studio album, ''

Going to Hell ''Going to Hell'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Pretty Reckless. It was released on March 12, 2014, by Razor & Tie. The album debuted at number five on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 35,000 copies sold in its first week, becom ...

'' (2014). It was written by

Taylor Momsen Taylor Michel Momsen (born July 26, 1993) is an American musician, singer, model, and former actress. Prior to her retirement from acting, she portrayed the character of Cindy Lou Who in the film ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' (2000) and Jen ...

and Ben Phillips, while

Kato Khandwala Suketo Khandwala, known professionally as Kato Khandwala, was an American record producer, songwriter, mixer, and engineer. He worked with many different artists such as Blondie, Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Pop Evil and The Pretty Reckless. ...

handled the production. Released on November 19, 2013, as the album's second single, "Heaven Knows" is the band's first single to top a ''Billboard'' chart (

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

) and their second single to top UK Rock Singles Chart, following their debut single "

Make Me Wanna Die "Make Me Wanna Die" is a song by American rock band the Pretty Reckless from their eponymous debut extended play (2010) and their debut studio album, '' Light Me Up'' (2010). The song was written by Taylor Momsen, Ben Phillips, and Kato Khandwa ...

" (2010). The song later entered the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart, peaking at number 20.

Background

Following the end of their worldwide tour The Medicine Tour in 2012, the band began working on their second studio album. They were recording at Water Music Recording Studios in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

, when the studio was destroyed by

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

in October 2012. They lost a lot of equipment and recordings of songs meant for the album and had to do a lot of re-recording.

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

released " Kill Me" to digital retailers on December 2, 2012; it would serve as the album's lead single. However, a conflict with the record company caused the Pretty Reckless to end their deal with Interscope, and on September 24, 2013, it was announced the band had signed on with the label

Razor & Tie Razor & Tie was an American entertainment company that consisted of a record label and a music publishing company. It was established in 1990 by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld. Based in New York City (with additional offices in Los Angeles an ...

. "Heaven Knows" premiered on November 19, 2013, on

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

's Octane, and on the same day, it was released digitally as the album's second single.

Critical reception

Chris Payne of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' praised "Heaven Knows" and described it as "

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

's '

We Will Rock You "We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded by British rock band Queen for their 1977 album ''News of the World''. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it number 330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and it placed at numbe ...

' with

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

vocals". Chucky Eddy of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' also praised the song, calling it a "full-on glam tompabout troubled teens".

Commercial performance

"Heaven Knows" became the Pretty Reckless' first single to top a ''Billboard'' chart. It was their first entry on the

Mainstream Rock Songs Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart and spent three consecutive weeks at number one, becoming the most successful song of 2014 on the chart. It was the second song by a female-fronted band to top the Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 24 years. After the song's success on US

mainstream rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent the middle ground between classic rock and active rock ...

radio stations, it was finally serviced to

modern rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

radio where it also became the band's first entry on the

chart, peaking at number 20. The song failed to enter the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, instead reaching number 14 on the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart. The song was also the band's first entry on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

, peaking at number 48. The single debuted at number 151 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for the week ending March 1, 2014. It entered the top 100 at number 95 in its third week on the chart, and in its fifth week, it peaked at number 61 with 3,737 copies sold. "Heaven Knows" also became the band's second number-one song on the

UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart The UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart and UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart are record charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to determine the 40 most popular singles and albums in the rock and heavy metal genres. The ...

. "Heaven Knows" became the band's first song to chart in New Zealand and France, reaching numbers 38 and 158, respectively.

Music video

The music video for "Heaven Knows", co-directed by lead vocalist

and Jon J, was shot on location in Miami, Florida. Momsen said of the video, "How do you sum up a song that is metaphorically speaking about everyone's life from any general perspective on video? You understate it. We decided to film variations of all of the issues we as a people are facing, whether personal, political or social. We took a lot of shots, each representing some social constant or emotional struggle. Some overt, some subtle, but it's all in there. Everything is thrown at you from the day you're born. Your only chance is to think for yourself... which is not as simple as it sounds." The video premiered on

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, di ...

on February 13, 2014. It features a half-naked Momsen in black eye shadow, surrounded by burning books and heavily tattooed teenagers in a dark high school.

In popular culture

The song was featured on the soundtrack to the 2017 film ''

American Satan ''American Satan'' is a 2017 American supernatural musical thriller film directed by Ash Avildsen, who also wrote the screenplay with Marty Beckerman. It was released in theaters on Friday October 13, 2017 and stars Andy Biersack, Ben Bruce, ...

'', and was also featured in one of the trailers for the second season of ''

Jessica Jones Jessica Campbell Jones Cage is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appeared in ''Alias'' #1 (November 2001) ...

''.

Track listing

*Digital download #"Heaven Knows" – 3:44

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2013 singles 2013 songs Cooking Vinyl singles The Pretty Reckless songs Razor & Tie singles Songs written by Taylor Momsen