Norman Greenbaum came from a middle class Jewish family in suburban Boston, and after attending Hebrew school as a young boy, he set his sights on becoming a respected music teacher during his first two years at Boston University. Well, life is not always as well planned as our parents would like.
Norman began to perform in small coffee houses in the Boston areas. While becoming a local name, he decided to drop out of school and move to Los Angeles in 1965. Norman happened to watch country singers Dolly Parton and husband Porter Wagoner on TV one night, and was touched by the religious song they sang. Inspired by this quiet moment Norman took the next 15 minutes and wrote his only hit song “Spirit in the Sky.”
Here’s the rub. Norman is very Jewish. Yes, the song appears to be steeped in Christianity, but the meaning is described by Norman as spiritual, not associated with any particular religion.
In sad news, Norman was involved in a fatal car accident in March of 2015 in Santa Rosa CA, when the car he was a passenger in, was struck by a motorcycle, killing that driver and critically injuring Norman.