"Heaven Must Have Sent You" is a song written by

Brian Holland Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous h ...

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He co-wrote and produced 14 US ''Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Doz ...

, and

Eddie Holland Edward Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Although he was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hit singles such as "Jamie", he ...

when at Motown, and first recorded by

The Elgins The Elgins were an American vocal group on the Motown label, active from the late 1950s to 1967. Their most successful record was " Heaven Must Have Sent You", written and produced by the Holland–Dozier–Holland team, which was a hit in the U ...

in 1966. It was also a 1979 disco hit single by

Bonnie Pointer Patricia Eva "Bonnie" Pointer (July 11, 1950– June 8, 2020) was an American singer, best known for having been a member of the vocal group, the Pointer Sisters. Pointer scored several moderate solo hits after leaving the Pointers in 1977, incl ...

The Elgins

The version by the Elgins, released on the Motown subsidiary V.I.P. Records label in 1966, reached No. 9 on the '' Billboard''

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

and No. 50 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Popular on the Northern soul scene in the UK, it was reissued in by Tamla Motown in 1971, and reached No. 3 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 ...

. The Elgins' backing vocals were augmented by

The Andantes The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Ma ...

Charts

Certifications

Bonnie Pointer

"Heaven Must Have Sent You" was one of two remakes of Motown hits recorded by

for her 1978 self-titled solo debut album which was released by Motown: Pointer would state: ""I wanted to cut that tune and the other old Motown tune: ' When I'm Gone', simply because I've always dug them." Pointer has stated that she suggested to

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

that he have her remake "Heaven Must Have Sent You" as a disco track after Pointer had heard the

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the releas ...

hit " Y.M.C.A." and realized that "Heaven Must Have Sent You" would work well with an arrangement similar to that of "Y.M.C.A". Set to a 12/8 shuffle beat, Pointer's disco version of "Heaven Must Have Sent You" features

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

s in the background throughout the track: the ringing of rhythmic

tubular bell Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

s is heard during the into, giving way to a funky

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

heard as a refrain throughout the song. The bass guitar part can be heard three times between the verses, and the bells are heard again in the instrumental interlude played mid-song. During the track's outro, Pointer sings "It's heaven, it's heaven, I'll love you more and more each day..." in a lower register with a raspy tone, reminiscent of Louis Armstrong. Pointer had spontaneously "channeled" Armstrong while recording her vocal for the album version of "Heaven Must Have Sent You" and the result was considered sufficiently catchy to be brought forward to the disco version of the song. Issued with an edit of the original album version as B-side, the disco version of Pointer's "Heaven Must Have Sent You" became a hit over the summer and early fall of 1979 peaking at No. 11 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 10 on ''Cash Box'' that October. She also scored a minor hit on the Adult Contemporary chart at No. 43. It was also a hit in other countries such as Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and specially in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, where it topped the charts in 1979. The special four-on-the-floor re-recorded Motown Disco 12" Single mix of "Heaven Must Have Sent You" includes a much longer instrumental interlude with extra

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

and string solos towards the middle of the song. It was Side 1, while the album version was Side 2.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1966 songs 1966 singles 1971 singles 1979 singles Bonnie Pointer songs The Elgins songs Disco songs Funk songs Songs written by Holland–Dozier–Holland Motown singles Northern soul songs Song recordings produced by Lamont Dozier Song recordings produced by Brian Holland Song recordings produced by Berry Gordy Song recordings produced by Jeffrey Bowen