"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film '' Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid''. Released as a single two months after the film's premiere, it became a worldwide hit, reaching the Top 10 in several countries. The song became one of Dylan's most popular and most covered post-1960s compositions, spawning covers from

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

, Randy Crawford and more. Described by Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin as "an exercise in splendid simplicity", the song features two short verses, the lyrics of which comment directly on the scene in the film for which it was written: the death of a frontier lawman ( Slim Pickens) who refers to his wife ( Katy Jurado) as "Mama". It was ranked number 190 in 2004 by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, in their

500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

, and number 192 in 2010.

Musicians

*Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar * Roger McGuinn: guitar * Jim Keltner: drums *Terry Paul: bass *Carl Fortina: harmonium *

Carol Hunter Carol Hunter (April 19, 1946 – July 26, 2018) was an American guitarist and vocalist notable for her work with Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, Janis Ian and others. Hunter was also one of the first prominent female instrumentalists in ro ...

: backing vocals *

Donna Weiss Donna Terry Weiss is an American singer and songwriter. She won a Grammy Award in 1982 for co-writing "Bette Davis Eyes" (1974) with Jackie DeShannon. Songwriter/composer credits * "Bette Davis Eyes" (1974) with Jackie DeShannon - In 1982, Weis ...

: backing vocals * Brenda Patterson: backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other Bob Dylan versions

According to his website, Dylan has performed the song in concert 460 times between its live debut in 1974 and its last outing in 2003. Some of these versions have appeared on Dylan's live and ''Bootleg Series'' albums including: * '' Before the Flood'' * ''

Bob Dylan at Budokan ''Bob Dylan at Budokan'' is a live album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released August 1978 on Columbia Records in Japan only, followed by a worldwide release in April 1979. It was recorded during his 1978 world tour and is composed mos ...

'' * '' Dylan & the Dead'' * ''

The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration ''The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration'' is a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan's 30 years as a recording artist. Recorded on October 16, 1992, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of the concert, ...

'' * '' MTV Unplugged'' * '' Thirty-Nine Years of Great Concert Performances'' * ''

The Rolling Thunder Revue ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

Eric Clapton and Arthur Louis versions

In January 1975

played on

Arthur Louis Arthur Louis (21 June 1945 – 24 December 2014) was a British rock, blues and reggae crossover (music), cross-over musician. His surname is pronounced as ''luːɪs (Lewis)'' and he held British nationality. He released three solo albums and wa ...

's recording of " Knockin' on Heaven's Door" which was arranged in a cross-over reggae style. After the recording sessions with Louis, Clapton recorded his own version of the song which was released as a single in August 1975 two weeks after Louis's version. Clapton's version made it to No. 38 on the UK charts, but the single was less successful in the U.S where it failed to chart on the ''

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 ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

(although it reached on No. 109 on ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

's'' Looking Ahead chart). Clapton's 1996 boxed set '' Crossroads 2: Live in the Seventies'' features a performance of the song recorded in London in April 1977. There were also performances of the song included on the '' Journeyman'' (1990) and the '' One More Car, One More Rider'' (2003) world tours. Several Clapton compilation albums also feature the song.

Guns N' Roses versions

In 1987, American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

started performing the song. A live version of the song was released on the

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

of " Welcome to the Jungle" the same year. They recorded and released a studio version in 1990 for the soundtrack of the film ''

Days of Thunder ''Days of Thunder'' is a 1990 American sports action drama film released by Paramount Pictures, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Tony Scott. The cast includes Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid, C ...

'' that reached No. 18 on the US ''Billboard''

Album Rock Tracks 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 No. 56 on Canada's ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles chart. This studio recording was slightly modified for the band's 1991 album ''

Use Your Illusion II ''Use Your Illusion II'' is the fourth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album was released on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart ''Use Your Illusion I''. Both albums were released in conjunction with ...

'', discarding the responses in the second verse. Released as the second single from the album, it reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and the New Zealand Singles Chart. Elsewhere, the single topped the charts of Portugal, Belgium, and the Netherlands; it was the best-selling song of 1992 in the latter country. In Ireland, where the song also reached No. 1, it became Guns N' Roses' third (and to date last) number-one single as well as their ninth consecutive top-five hit. Their performance of the song at the

Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992, at Wembley Stadium in London, United Kingdom for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis, d ...

in 1992 was used as the B-side for the single release and was also included on their '' Live Era: '87–'93'' album, released in 1999. Another version was released on the video ''

Use Your Illusion World Tour - 1992 in Tokyo II Use may refer to: * Use (law), an obligation on a person to whom property has been conveyed * Use (liturgy), a special form of Roman Catholic ritual adopted for use in a particular diocese * Use–mention distinction, the distinction between using ...

''. The music video for this version of the song was directed by Andy Morahan.

Personnel

Guns N' Roses *

W. Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its inc ...

– lead vocals *

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

– lead guitar * Izzy Stradlin – rhythm guitar * Duff McKagan – bass * Matt Sorum – drums * Dizzy Reed – piano Guest musicians * The Waters – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Dunblane tribute

In 1996 and with the consent of Dylan, Scottish musician Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" in memory of the schoolchildren and teacher killed in the Dunblane school massacre. This has been, according to some sources, one of the few times Dylan has officially authorized anybody to add or change the lyrics to one of his songs. This version of the song, featuring children from the village singing the chorus with the guitarist and producer of Dylan's album '' Infidels'' (1983), Mark Knopfler, was released on December 9, 1996, in the United Kingdom and reached No. 1 on the UK and Scottish Singles Charts, as well as No. 6 in Iceland and Ireland. The proceeds went to charities for children. The song was featured on the compilation album ''

Hits 97 ''Hits 97'' is a compilation album released in 1996. As a part of the Hits compilation series, it contains UK hit singles from mid-to-late 1996. The album had a rivalry with '' Now 35'' released later in the month - due to the longstanding rivalr ...

'', where all royalties from the song were given to three charities.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other notable versions

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" has been covered by over 150 artists. In addition to the versions already mentioned above, other notable covers include those by Neil Young, Lana Del Rey,

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

, Patti Smith,

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

Antony and the Johnsons Antony and the Johnsons is an American music group presenting the work of Anohni and her collaborators. Career British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Anohni's music through his Durtro label ...

, Warren Zevon,

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a ...

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

, Tanya Donelly,

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...

, Wyclef Jean, Television, Nina Hagen, Mudcrutch and

Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

Sampled version

Gabrielle's single "

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a video ...

" (2000) sampled from this song. Dylan liked "Rise" so much that he allowed Gabrielle to use the sample for free, while receiving a co-writer credit for providing the song's chord progression and vocal sample.

Soundtrack inclusions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knockin' On Heaven's Door 1973 songs 1973 singles 1970s ballads 1992 singles 1996 singles Avril Lavigne songs Bertelsmann Music Group singles Bob Dylan songs Columbia Records singles Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Eric Clapton songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Film theme songs Geffen Records singles Grateful Dead songs Guns N' Roses songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Number-one singles in Portugal Number-one singles in Scotland RCA Records singles Rock ballads Roger Waters songs Songs about death Songs written by Bob Dylan Songs written for films UK Singles Chart number-one singles Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Warren Zevon songs