Bryan Adams' 'Heaven' Hits No. 1 on Billboard Charts 41 Years Ago Today
Canadian rock star Bryan Adams broke through in America with his 1983 album Cuts Like a Knife, which included "Straight From the Heart," Adams' first single to crack the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
In November 1984, Adams released Reckless, his fourth studio album, which immediately produced a pair of hits--"Run to You" and "Somebody." The album's third single, "Heaven," was released in April 1985 and quickly shot up the charts.
On June 22, 1985, 41 years ago today, "Heaven" reached No. 1 on the Hot 100. It would remain there for two weeks before being bumped off by Phil Collins' "Sussudio."
"Heaven" was Adams' first No. 1--but not his last
"Run to You" topped out at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Adams' top performing song prior to "Heaven." He would add another top five hit off Reckless with "Summer of '69."
Adams would go on to reach No. 1 three more times in the 1990s: "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (1991), "All for Love" with Rod Stewart and Sting (1993) and "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" (1995).
Meanwhile, "Heaven" would see a rise in popularity in 2001, when it was turned into a hit dance remix by DJ Sammy and Yanou.
A power ballad classic
In 2011, All Music Guide's Stewart Mason issued praise for "Heaven," calling it the quintessential power ballad.
"When the phrase "power ballad" is introduced into the future multimedia versions of the Oxford English Dictionary, the compilers can simply include a link to an mp3 of Bryan Adams' 1985 smash, "Heaven," Mason wrote. "A song that made a generation of high-school girls weepy, "Heaven" is the ne plus ultra of the form, the power ballad that transcends the inherent cheesiness of the style to become a genuinely effective single.
"Not that it isn't still kinda cheesy -- it is a power ballad, after all -- but Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance crafted a solid melody and gave it an appropriately bombastic arrangement that never descends into Jim Steinman-level schlock, over which Adams delivers his most effective vocal performance ever, controlling the rough edges of his familiar sandpaper voice and avoiding the tendency to bellow that so many similar singers -- Styx's detestable Dennis DeYoung, for example, or REO Speedwagon's equally gauche Kevin Cronin -- would find so irresistible."
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 2:23 PM.