Written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley, the song was released as the lead single from the album on September 14, 1987, and it reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on December 5, 1987, becoming Carlisle's only US chart-topper.

The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1988, but lost out to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)".

This version appeared on her album Wilder Shores (2017), which combines acoustic tracks with world beats and traditional Sikh chants.

A review in Pan-European magazine Music & Media described "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" as being "a truly uplifting song, sporting an enjoyable and irresistible chorus".

[7] Jerry Smith of British magazine Music Week deemed the song a "glossy, and ultimately very commercial, number", and a potential hit.

The promotional music video for the song was directed by actress Diane Keaton and includes an appearance by Carlisle's husband Morgan Mason.