"Fire Woman" is a song by British rock band

the Cult The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...

, written by singer

Ian Astbury Ian Robert Astbury (born 14 May 1962) is an English singer, best known as the lead vocalist, frontman and a founding member of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury fronted the short-lived band Holy Barbarians ( ...

and guitarist

Billy Duffy William Henry Duffy (born 12 May 1961) is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist in the band the Cult. Early life Duffy was born and grew up in Manchester, England. He has Irish and Jewish heritage and ancestry. He began playin ...

. It was the first single released from their fourth studio album, ''

Sonic Temple ''Sonic Temple'' is the fourth studio album by British Rock music, rock band The Cult, released on 10 April 1989. Produced by Bob Rock, the album features some of the band's most popular songs, including "Fire Woman" and "Edie (Ciao Baby)". De ...

'', and was subsequently featured on all of the Cult's compilation/greatest hits albums, as well as being a steady fixture of the band's live performances. "Fire Woman peaked at 2 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart and No. 46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also reached No. 1 on New Zealand's

Recorded Music NZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

(then RIANZ) chart and No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart. Two remixed versions of the song were released as B-sides or promos—the "LA Rock Mix" and the "NYC Rock Mix". Astbury claims the eponymous "fire woman" is a universal symbol, along the lines of a primary element.

Track listings

UK 7-inch single :A Side: "Fire Woman" :B Side: "Automatic Blues" UK 12-inch single :A Side: "Fire Woman", "Automatic Blues" :B Side: "Messing Up the Blues" :A Side: "Fire Woman (LA Rock Mix)" :B Side: "Fire Woman (NYC Rock Mix)"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

Crush 40, best known for their contributions to

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series, featured a cover of "Fire Woman" as the ninth track on their 2009

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

''The Best of Crush 40 - Super Sonic Songs'' and as the tenth track on their first

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

, ''Live!''.

In popular culture

* The song was used during the closing credits of every Australian broadcast of the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

season since 2007. * The song was used in the 2013 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' episode "

Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" is the tenth episode of the Doctor Who (series 7), seventh series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on 27 April 2013 on BBC One and was written by Steph ...

". * The song, along with its video, was featured in the first episode of the second season of ''

Beavis and Butt-Head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...

''. * The song was used in the closing credits of the '' Severance'' season 2 episode " Sweet Vitriol".

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles 1989 songs Beggars Banquet Records singles The Cult songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Song recordings produced by Bob Rock Songs written by Billy Duffy Songs written by Ian Astbury