Wednesday, May 20, 2026

“Spirit in the Sky” Singer Norman Greenbaum Makes a Cameo in First Ever Video for Famous One-Off Hit

Share

Want to feel old? Fifty five years after his famous one off hit “Spirit in the Sky,” Norman Greenbaum makes a cameo in the first ever video for the song.

Oy vey. He finally looks like a Spirit in the Sky. (He’s 82.)

The video stars Connor Sherry and Abby Ryder Fortson.

Craft Recordings has issued a new vinyl (I may have the original). They’re streaming the song in Dolby Atmos.

The album produced no other hits in 1970, and Norman hever had another one.

Norman grew up Orthodox Jewish but was inspired by a Christian Tv show to write the song. He must have made a fortune from licensing fees over the last five decades. God bless.

This is a strange concept. It should have been a young boy with a yarmulke on his head wandering into a Baptist church and leading the choir. But no one asked me.

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read more

In Other News