Personal Jesus

"Personal Jesus"
Single by Depeche Mode
from the album Violator
B-side"Dangerous"
Released29 August 1989 (1989-08-29)[1]
Studio
Genre
Length
  • 4:56 (album version)
  • 3:43 (7-inch version)
  • 5:48 (12-inch version)
LabelMute
Songwriter(s)Martin L. Gore
Producer(s)
Depeche Mode singles chronology
"Everything Counts" (live)
(1989)
"Personal Jesus"
(1989)
"Enjoy the Silence"
(1990)
Music video
"Personal Jesus" on YouTube

"Personal Jesus" is a song by the English electronic music band Depeche Mode. It was released as the lead single from their seventh studio album, Violator (1990), in 1989. It reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The single was their first to enter the US top 40 since 1984's "People Are People" and was their first gold-certified single in the US.[7] In Germany, "Personal Jesus" is one of the band's longest-charting songs, staying on the West German Singles Chart for 23 weeks.

In 2004, "Personal Jesus" was ranked No. 368 in Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time",[8] and in September 2006 it was voted as one of the "100 Greatest Songs Ever" in Q magazine. "Personal Jesus" was rereleased as a single on 30 May 2011 for the Depeche Mode remix album Remixes 2: 81–11, with the leading remix by the production team Stargate. The song has been covered by numerous artists, including Johnny Cash, Marilyn Manson, Def Leppard, and Iggy Pop.

  1. ^ "Personal Jesus". archives.depechemode.com. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  2. ^ Cranna, Ian (April 1990). "Insidious". Q. p. 77.
  3. ^ Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. p. 286. ISBN 978-1-8435-3105-0. Given that, by now. Depeche Mode had become a stadium phenomenon in the States. Violator seemed an oddly introspective way to sell six million units (the synth-rock single "Personal Jesus" was the exception to the rule).
  4. ^ Michaud, Sébastien (2001). Depeche Mode: Éthique synthétique (in French). Camion Blanc. p. 244. ISBN 978-2-9101-9626-4.
  5. ^ Lamb, Bill (31 July 2017). "Top 20 Best Alternative Rock Songs of All Time". LiveAbout. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  6. ^ DiGravina, Tim. "Depeche Mode - Barrel of a Gun". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  7. ^ Giles, Jeff (12–26 July 1990). "Depeche Mode Interview". Rolling Stone. No. 582–583. pp. 60–65.
  8. ^ "The RS 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (1-500)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006.