"Too Much Heaven" is a song by the Bee Gees. The band created the song to help raise money for the "Music for UNICEF" fund. They performed it at the Music for UNICEF Concert on January 9, 1979. Later, the song was added to the group's 13th original album, Spirits Having Flown. The song reached number one in both the United States and Canada. In the United States, it was the first single from the album to take the number one spot from another song. "Too Much Heaven" replaced "Le Freak" at the top of the charts for two weeks before "Le Freak" returned to number one. The song also reached the top three in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it became the fourth of six songs in a row to reach number one, matching the record set by Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and the Beatles for the most consecutive number one songs. The six Bee Gees songs are "How Deep Is Your Love," "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever," "Too Much Heaven," "Tragedy," and "Love You Inside Out." These songs were released between 1977, 1978, and 1979. Robin Gibb said in an interview with Billboard in 2001 that this track was one of his favorite songs by the Bee Gees.

Background and recording

Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, and Maurice Gibb wrote the song "Tragedy" during a short break from working on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie. That same evening, they also wrote "Shadow Dancing" for Andy Gibb. Later, the song was credited to all four Gibb brothers.

The recording of this track took the longest time compared to other songs on the album Spirits Having Flown. It includes nine layers of three-part harmony, which creates 27 voices. The high falsetto voices are the most noticeable in the final version. The vocal parts are divided as follows:

• Barry sings falsetto lead three times
• Falsetto high harmony three times
• Falsetto low harmony three times
• Barry sings natural voice lead three times
• High harmony three times
• Low harmony three times
• Barry, Robin, and Maurice sing lead together three times
• High harmony three times
• Low harmony three times

The song is known for its use of falsetto style. It is also one of two songs on the album that includes the Chicago horn section (Lee Loughnane, James Pankow, and Walter Parazaider). The other song with the Chicago members is "Stop (Think Again)." This was in exchange for the Gibb brothers appearing on the Chicago song "Little Miss Lovin'." On the demo version of the song, Barry begins with a count-in. The demo includes some backing vocals but does not have the full orchestral sound of the final version.

Release

"Too Much Heaven" was released nine months after "Night Fever." The single "Too Much Heaven" came out in late fall of 1978 and slowly climbed up the music charts. In the first week of 1979, before the Music for UNICEF Concert, the single reached the top of the charts in both the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom, the single reached number three late in 1978. In the summer of 1978, the Gibb brothers shared news about their next project during a press conference at the United Nations in New York City. All the money earned from publishing rights for their next single would go to UNICEF to celebrate the International Year of the Child, which was set for 1979. The song earned over $7 million in publishing royalties.

The Bee Gees were later invited to the White House, where President Jimmy Carter thanked them for their donation. At the event, the brothers gave Carter one of their black satin tour jackets. Later, the brothers performed the song using only Barry's guitar and keyboards, with all three singing in their usual way. This version was part of a group of songs they performed during their 1989 One For All tour and is also included on the Tales from the Brothers Gibb box set with the original version.

"Too Much Heaven" also reached number 2 on the Cash Box charts for six weeks from December 30, 1978, to February 3, 1979, behind Chic's "Le Freak."

Reception

Cash Box described the song as "gentle and silky with the famous falsettos rising upwards." Record World referred to it as a "flowing ballad, with [the Bee Gees'] trademark falsettos and a light touch."

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys spoke positively of the song, stating, "I was really loved and impressed with the harmonies they achieved on that record. I'm very very proud of those guys; they're exceptionally good at harmony. They’re a very heavy duty harmony group."

Nana version

In 1997, Nana performed a cover of the song for his album Father. This version includes more rap sections than the original while keeping most of the original lyrics. Nana wrote and performed the rap parts, and Van der Toorn sang the original lyrics and chorus. In German-speaking countries, this cover became a top ten hit. In Germany, the version received a Gold award.

The music video shows scenes in the sky and in a house. It focuses on a large family living together in a home. At the same time, Nana sings the song in the sky and sings to the extended family. During the video, the parents argue but eventually reconcile.

• Too Much Heaven – 3:56
• One Second (Nana feat. Alex Prince) – 5:40
• Lonely – 6:09

Other cover versions

• In 1979, the Cantonese singer Alan Tam covered and released the song as "Sing A Good Song." That same year, the Malaysian band Alleycats released a Malay version of the song titled Kembalilah Kepadaku (meaning "Come Back to Me").
• The hip hop boy band US5 released a cover of "Too Much Heaven" in 2007 as a duet with Robin Gibb. This was their first single featuring a new member named Vincent.
• The Norwegian pop duo M2M used the chorus from "Too Much Heaven" in their own song "Our Song," which appears on their debut album Shades of Purple.
• British soul singer Beverley Knight released a cover version of "Too Much Heaven" in 2009 on her album 100%. Robin Gibb requested that backing vocals be included, as they had previously performed the song together live.
• Paul McCartney recorded the song in December 2004 in Sussex as a tribute to Maurice Gibb, but the recording was never released.
• The American gospel group Winans Phase 2 released a cover of "Too Much Heaven" on their 2000 album We Got Next.
• In 1999, the South Korean singer 조관우 (Joe Kwan Woo) covered the song on his album Special 99 Edition.
• American R&B singer-songwriter Criss Starr released a cover version of "Too Much Heaven" on his Yours 4Ever CD in 2013.
• British comedian Tim Vine sometimes performs a humorous version of the song to close his shows.
• Barry Gibb re-recorded the song with Alison Krauss as part of his 2021 album Greenfields.