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"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
Single by Bob Dylan from the album Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
B-side	"Turkey Chase"
Released	1973
Genre	Rock
Length	2:35
Producer	Gerald McCartan(Arlington Heights, Illinois)
Bob Dylan singles chronology
"George Jackson" "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (1973) "A Fool Such as I"

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song written by Bob Dylan from Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, the soundtrack of the 1973 film of the same name. The song consists of four chords in the key of G major: G, D, Am7, and C. The basic pattern throughout the song is G-D-Am7-Am7 and then G-D-C-C, and this is repeated. In 2004, it was voted number 190 by representatives of the music industry and press in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" issue.

Although it was originally recorded as a slow acoustic folk song, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" has been covered in many tempos and styles, by many artists, most famously Guns N' Roses (which reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart), and also by The Grateful Dead, Bryan Ferry, Mark Knopfler, Wyclef Jean, Roger Waters, Eric Clapton, The Sisters of Mercy, Warren Zevon, Seether, Cold Chisel, U2, Television, Guided By Voices, Avril Lavigne, Daniel Lioneye, Antony and the Johnsons, Bon Jovi, The Lost Dogs, Randy Crawford, Beau Jocques, Chaozz, Zé Ramalho (Brazil) and Rick Devin. Australian heavy metal band Heaven covered the song in 1985 and also used the title as the name of their third album.

In 1976 British punk Rock band, Siouxsie and the Banshees, performed the song at the 100 Club Punk Festival.

In 1987 the American rock band Guns N' Roses started including the song in their live sets and have always played the song ever since. It's most famous version is the one sung in the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert.

In 1989 it was covered on the album Cherry Knowle by British punk band Leatherface, although it was just listed as "Heaven".

In 1991 the American rock Band Guns N' Roses released the song in their Use Your Illusion II album. It reached #2 in the UK singles chart.

In 1992 the Japanese rock band B'z performed a cover of the song at one of the shows during their LIVE-GYM '92 IN THE LIFE concert tour in Japan. The song was never released officially, but a recording from someone in the audience exist on Japanese file sharing networks.

In 1993 it was performed by the Red Army Chorus and Ensemble with the Leningrad Cowboys in the Total Balalaika show and subsequent video.

In 1998, South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo and U.S. country diva Dolly Parton teamed up to record the song.

In 2003, Avril Lavigne released a live version on her DVD My World, and, in 2004, released a studio version on her single Nobody's Home. She also recently performed this song at the Roxy Thater. It was performed and arranged differently to her original cover.

The song was used to somewhat of a humorous effect in the 2005 film, Be Cool and thus it is featured on the movie's soundtrack. It was most recently featured on the reality show Rock Star: Supernova, performed by Toby Rand. The song was part of the soundtrack for the film Lethal Weapon 2 and was also sung by Korean artist Youme for the movie Windstruck The song was also played on Supernatural. It was played at the end of the HBO series Big Love episode Kingdom Come.

With the consent of Bob Dylan, Dunblane musician Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for Knockin' on Heaven's Door in memory of the Dunblane schoolchildren and teacher killed in the Dunblane massacre.^[1] The recording of the revised version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims singing chorus and Mark Knopfler on guitar, was released on December 9, 1996 in the UK, and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.

Although not a cover, Gabrielle's 2000 UK number one single Rise samples extensively from the track, so much so in fact that the first 30 seconds of the original and of 'Rise' are completely identical.

• A list of cover versions
• Lyrics