Album
Heathen
Heathen is David Bowie's twenty-third studio album, released in June 2002 on Columbia and the first to appear on his own ISO label. It reunited him with producer Tony Visconti for the first time on a full album since 1980. Sessions ran in New York from August 2001 to January 2002, with Dave Grohl and Pete Townshend among the guests. Covers of songs by Pixies, Neil Young and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy sit alongside "Afraid" and "Slip Away", both of which grew out of the shelved Toy project.
The sound is art rock with a 1970s flavour, carrying lyrics about dread, ageing and hopes for his newborn daughter. Some listeners heard "Sunday" and "Slow Burn" as answers to the September 11 attacks, though Bowie denied it. After a decade of experiments, it was welcomed as a return to form and his best since Scary Monsters. It reached number five in the UK and number 14 in the US, his best American showing since 1984.
Heathen: tracklist, credits and charts
12 tracks · 51:42Tracklist
- 1SundayDavid Bowie4:46
- 2CactusBlack Francis2:55
- 3Slip AwayDavid Bowie6:05
- 4Slow BurnDavid Bowie4:41
- 5AfraidDavid Bowie3:28
- 6I’ve Been Waiting for YouNeil Young3:00
- 7I Would Be Your SlaveDavid Bowie5:14
- 8I Took a Trip on a Gemini SpaceshipNorman Carl Odam4:06
- 95:15 the Angels Have GoneDavid Bowie5:02
- 10Everyone Says ‘Hi’David Bowie3:58
- 11A Better FutureDavid Bowie4:11
- 12Heathen (The Rays)David Bowie4:16
- Produced by
- David Bowie, Tony Visconti, Gary Miller, Brian Rawling, Mark Plati
- Recorded at
- Allaire Studios (Shokan, New York), Looking Glass Studios (New York City), Pete Townshend’s Home Studio, SubUrban Studios (London)
- Recorded
- August 2001 – January 2002
- Engineered by
- Tony Visconti, Mark Plati
- Labels
- Columbia, ISO
- Length
- 51:42
Line-up
- David Bowie · drum machine, synthesizer, mellotron, guitar, saxophone, chamberlin, background vocals, lead vocals, drums (drum set), theremin, piano, baritone saxophone, 12 string guitar, analog synthesizer, Dubreq Stylophone, keyboard, acoustic guitar
- Matt Chamberlin · drums (drum set)
- David Torn · sampler, guitar
- Tony Visconti · bass, background vocals
- Sterling Campbell · drums (drum set) · guest
- Matt Chamberlain · drums (drum set) · guest
- Gerry Leonard · guitar · guest
- Tony Levin · bass · guest
- Mark Plati · keyboard, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals · guest
- Jordan Rudess · keyboard, piano · guest
- Steve Elson · baritone saxophone · guest
- Stan Harrison · alto saxophone · guest
- Lenny Pickett · tenor saxophone · guest
- Kristeen Young · piano, vocals · guest
- Pete Townshend · acoustic guitar, guitar · guest
- Dave Grohl · guitar · guest
- Gregor Kitzis · violin · guest
- Martha Mooke · viola · guest
- 大倉恵 · violin · guest
- Mary Wooten · cello · guest
- Carlos Alomar · guitar · guest
- Sola Akingbola · percussion · guest
- Dave Clayton · keyboard · guest
- Gary Miller · guitar · guest
- John Read · bass · guest
- Philip Sheppard · cello · guest
Singles
- “Slow Burn” · 3 June 2002
- “Everyone Says 'Hi” · 16 September 2002
- “I've Been Waiting for You” · September 2002 (Canada only)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2002 | 5 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2002 | 14 |
| Danish Albums · 2002 | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2002 | 2 |
| Europe (European Top 100 Albums) · 2002 | 3 |
| French Albums · 2002 | 3 |
| Austrian Albums · 2002 | 4 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2002 | 4 |
| German Albums · 2002 | 4 |
| Iceland Albums (Tónlist) · 2002 | 4 |
All 25 charts
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2002 | 6 |
| Irish Albums · 2002 | 6 |
| Italian Albums · 2002 | 6 |
| Swedish Albums · 2002 | 6 |
| Scottish Albums · 2002 | 7 |
| Swiss Albums · 2002 | 7 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2002 | 9 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2002 | 9 |
| Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) · 2002 | 9 |
| Finnish Albums · 2002 | 11 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2002 | 18 |
| Dutch Albums · 2002 | 19 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2002 | 22 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2002 | 26 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) · 2002 | 27 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| France · 2002 | Gold |
| Spain · 2016 | Gold |
| United Kingdom | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
75.6
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.4k
ListenBrainz listeners
87k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
4.0k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 10 June
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More from David Bowie
Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
David Bowie
1969
The World of David Bowie
1970
The Man Who Sold the World
1970
Hunky Dory
1971
Do Anything You Say
1972
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1972
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
1973
Images 1966–1967
1973
Aladdin Sane
1973
Pin Ups
1973
Diamond Dogs
1974
David Live
1974
Young Americans
1975
Station to Station
1976
ChangesOneBowie
1976
Low
1977
“Heroes”
1977
David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
1978
Stage
1978
Lodger
1979
David Bowie
1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
1980
The Best of Bowie
1980
Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
1981
ChangesTwoBowie
1981
In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal
1982
Rare
1982
Supergroups
1983
Serious Moonlight
1983
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1983
Let’s Dance
1983
Golden Years
1983
Fame and Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits)
1984
Love You Till Tuesday
1984
Tonight
1984
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film
1986
Never Let Me Down
1987
Glass Spider
1988
Sound + Vision
1989
Changesbowie
1990
Early On (1964–1966)
1991
Black Tie White Noise
1993
The Singles Collection
1993
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993
Live Santa Monica ’72
1994
RarestOneBowie
1995
1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle
1995
Earthling
1997
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
1998
‘hours…’
1999
Liveandwell.com
2000
Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68–72
2000
All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977–1999)
2001
Best of Bowie
2002
Reality
2003
Club Bowie: Rare and Unreleased 12″ Mixes
2003
Live EP (live at Fashion Rocks)
2005
The Collection
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Bowie 1965!
2006
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987
2007
Outside / Earthling / Hours / Heathen / Reality
2007
iSELECT
2008
VH1 Storytellers
2009
Space Oddity
2009
A Reality Tour
2010
The Next Day
2013
Pin-Ups Radio Show
2013
The Next Day Extra EP
2013
Nothing has changed.
2014
Five Years 1969–1973
2015
★
2016
Who Can I Be Now? 1974–1976
2016
Lazarus
2016
Legacy
2016
No Plan
2017
Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
2017
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
2017
A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
2017
Welcome to the Blackout (live London ’78)
2018
Loving the Alien (1983–1988)
2018
Glastonbury 2000
2018
Conversation Piece
2019
Is It Any Wonder?
2020
ChangesNowBowie
2020
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
2020
The Width of a Circle
2021
Toy
2021
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
2021
Brilliant Adventure EP
2022
Toy E.P.
2022
Fun Mix
2022
Moonage Daydream: A Film by Brett Morgen
2022
Divine Symmetry
2022
Rock ’n’ Roll Star!
2024
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2025
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 2002-06-10 vs 2002-06-05 (musicbrainz), 2002-06-11 (wikidata)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 5 June 2002 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 10 June 2002 | |
| Wikidata | 11 June 2002 | |
| US release | 11 June 2002 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 11 June 2002 | earliest UK or European date |
23 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | Rhino | 5054197573927 | other |
| — | XW | ISO Records | other | |
| — | US | Columbia | other | |
| 2002 | — | Columbia | 4893391085826 | other |
| 2002 | AU | Columbia | 9399700102475 | other |
| 2002 | ZA | Columbia | 6007689573607 | other |
| 2002 | US | Columbia | 886972379722 | other |
| 2002 | US | ISO Records | 696998663015 | other |
| 2002 | NZ | Columbia | 9399700101102 | other |
| 2002 | MX | — | other | |
| 2002 | CA | Columbia | 696998663022 | other |
| 2002 | XE | Columbia | 5099750822210 | other |
| 5 June 2002 | JP | Sony Music Japan International Inc. | 4547366005332 | original |
| 5 June 2002 | JP | Sony Music Japan International Inc. | 4547366005349 | original |
| 10 June 2002 | DE | Columbia | 5099750822296 | other |
| 11 June 2002 | US | Columbia | 696998663022 | other |
| 11 June 2002 | GB | — | 5099750822227 | other |
| 12 November 2002 | US | Columbia | 696998665620 | other |
| 10 December 2002 | US | Columbia | 696998663060 | other |
| 6 June 2007 | JP | Sony Records International | 4582192934623 | other |
| 27 March 2013 | JP | Sony Records International | 4547366192971 | other |
| 2015 | US | Friday Music | 829421866305 | other |
| 2017 | XE | Columbia | 889853802319 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · native: native 1800x1800
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1800×1800 | native: native 1800x1800 |
| coverartarchive | 1400×1400 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |