# Cosmic Thing
**Cosmic Thing** is the fifth studio album by the American new wave band the B-52's, released on June 27, 1989 by [Reprise Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/reprise-records). It was the band's first album since the 1985 death of founding guitarist Ricky Wilson, and it became the biggest commercial success of their career, reaching number 3 on the [Billboard](https://www.edgepedia.org/billboard-magazine) album chart, selling more than four million copies in the United States, and producing the band's first Top 10 hits, "Love Shack" and "Roam".[1](https://media.rhino.com/press-release/b-52s-cosmic-thing-30th-anniversary-edition-available-june-28-rhino)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | June 27, 1989, Reprise Records; fifth studio album; 10 songs, 47:03[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-thing-mw0000199654) • [3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/cosmic-thing/983850956) |
| Producers | Don Was and Nile Rodgers, splitting production between separate sets of sessions[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-thing-mw0000199654) • [4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-b-52s-mn0000043489) |
| Recording | Dreamland Recording Studios, West Hurley, NY, and Skyline Studios, New York, NY, from late 1988 to early 1989[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-thing-mw0000199654) • [5](https://www.patreon.com/behindthegrooves/posts/on-this-day-in-b-27953868) |
| US performance | #3 on the Billboard album chart; more than four million copies sold in the US; quadruple platinum[1](https://media.rhino.com/press-release/b-52s-cosmic-thing-30th-anniversary-edition-available-june-28-rhino) • [6](https://www.rhino.com/article/happy-anniversary-the-b-52s-cosmic-thing) |
| Singles | "Love Shack" and "Roam" each peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100; the album gave the band its first three top-40 singles, "Love Shack", "Roam", and "Deadbeat Club"[7](https://www.theringer.com/2019/06/27/music/b-52s-cosmic-thing-love-shack-30th-anniversary) • [6](https://www.rhino.com/article/happy-anniversary-the-b-52s-cosmic-thing) |
| UK performance | Peak position 8 on the Official Albums Chart, first charting 29 July 1989[8](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/b-52s-cosmic-thing/) |
| Reissue | 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition, a two-CD set with remastered album, B-sides, remixes, and an unreleased 1990 Cosmic Tour concert, released June 28, 2019[1](https://media.rhino.com/press-release/b-52s-cosmic-thing-30th-anniversary-edition-available-june-28-rhino) |
## Background
The B-52's formed in [Athens, Georgia](https://www.edgepedia.org/athens-georgia), in the late 1970s, with [Kate Pierson](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-pierson) on keyboards and vocals, [Cindy Wilson](https://www.edgepedia.org/cindy-wilson) on percussion and vocals, Fred Schneider as vocalist, Ricky Wilson on guitar, and Keith Strickland initially on drums.[7](https://www.theringer.com/2019/06/27/music/b-52s-cosmic-thing-love-shack-30th-anniversary) Ricky Wilson, the band's primary songwriter and guitarist, died in 1985 of AIDS-related cancer, and the band took a yearslong hiatus that appeared to be permanent.[7](https://www.theringer.com/2019/06/27/music/b-52s-cosmic-thing-love-shack-30th-anniversary) Their previous album, *Bouncing Off the Satellites* (1986), had been completed in the wake of his death, and many observers expected the band to end there.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-thing-mw0000199654)
In 1988 the surviving members began writing new material and returned to the studio.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-b-52s-mn0000043489) Strickland, who had been the drummer, moved to guitar in his late bandmate's place and took over songwriting; Kate Pierson described the writing sessions as healing and said the material "just kind of came flowing out during the jam".[6](https://www.rhino.com/article/happy-anniversary-the-b-52s-cosmic-thing) Cindy Wilson later told Billboard, "It really is amazing that Cosmic Thing is such a happy album, because it came from grief and sadness."[7](https://www.theringer.com/2019/06/27/music/b-52s-cosmic-thing-love-shack-30th-anniversary)
## Production and sound
Production was split between [Don Was](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-was), then fresh from producing [Bonnie Raitt](https://www.edgepedia.org/bonnie-raitt)'s comeback album *Nick of Time*, and [Nile Rodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/nile-rodgers), the Chic guitarist and producer.[5](https://www.patreon.com/behindthegrooves/posts/on-this-day-in-b-27953868) AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the result as the band's familiar pattern "refurbished and contemporized", with shiny new surfaces and deep, funky grooves.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-thing-mw0000199654)
Don Was later recalled that the sessions were fast, with everyone playing and singing live in the room at once, and that "Love Shack was recorded in one take"; Sarah Lee played bass on the album.[9](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/bassists/don-was-rolling-stones-bob-dylan-black-crowes)
## Songs and singles
The album's ten tracks include the title song, "Dry County", "Deadbeat Club", "Love Shack", "Junebug", "Roam", "Bushfire", "Channel Z", "Topaz", and "Follow Your Bliss".[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/cosmic-thing/983850956) "Love Shack", credited to all four band members, became the band's signature song, peaking at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and selling over a million copies; its video won Best Group Video at the [MTV Video Music Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/mtv-video-music-awards).[10](https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-love-shack-the-b-52s/) • [11](https://www.knowyourinstrument.com/b52s-cosmic-thing-comeback/) "Roam" was the fourth single, following "(Shake That) Cosmic Thing", "Channel Z", and "Love Shack", and also reached number 3 on the Hot 100.[12](https://rock.fandom.com/wiki/Roam) "Deadbeat Club", a reflective song about the band's early days in Athens, gave the band its third top-40 single, and "(Shake That) Cosmic Thing" and "Channel Z" charted on Billboard's Modern Rock chart.[6](https://www.rhino.com/article/happy-anniversary-the-b-52s-cosmic-thing)
## Reception and commercial performance
The album reached number 3 on the Billboard album chart and sold more than four million copies in the United States, going quadruple platinum; it also hit the Top 5 of the Billboard 200, the UK Top 10, and topped charts in Australia and New Zealand.[1](https://media.rhino.com/press-release/b-52s-cosmic-thing-30th-anniversary-edition-available-june-28-rhino) • [11](https://www.knowyourinstrument.com/b52s-cosmic-thing-comeback/) On the UK Official Albums Chart it peaked at number 8.[8](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/b-52s-cosmic-thing/) AllMusic's review called it a first-class return to form with the band's best set of songs since at least *Wild Planet*, and noted that the album would have been considered a triumphant return even without its commercial success.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-thing-mw0000199654) A contemporary Los Angeles Times review by Kristine McKenna gave it three stars and highlighted how "wonderfully Southern" the record is, with its talk of dry counties, June bugs, and front-porch swings.[13](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-13-ca-744-story.html)
The success made the band a mainstream act for the first time; a 1998 Billboard retrospective noted that *Cosmic Thing* "established the group as a top 40 act for the first time".[14](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1998/BB-1998-06-13.pdf) Cindy Wilson left the band after the Cosmic Thing tour, and the 1992 follow-up *Good Stuff* was recorded as a trio.[15](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Technology/Music-Technology-1992-08-S-OCR.pdf)
## Legacy
In 2019 Rhino released *Cosmic Thing: 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition*, a two-CD set with a newly remastered album, five remastered B-sides and remixes, and an unreleased live album from the band's August 1990 Cosmic Tour show at The Pavillion in [The Woodlands, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-woodlands-texas).[1](https://media.rhino.com/press-release/b-52s-cosmic-thing-30th-anniversary-edition-available-june-28-rhino) Retrospective writers have continued to frame the album as a comeback built on grief: The Ringer's Rob Harvilla wrote that the record's exuberance carries the sadness beneath it, and that "Love Shack" in particular remains an all-ages party anthem three decades on.[7](https://www.theringer.com/2019/06/27/music/b-52s-cosmic-thing-love-shack-30th-anniversary)
## References
1. [The B-52's Cosmic Thing 30th Anniversary Edition Available June 28 From Rhino, Rhino Media](https://media.rhino.com/press-release/b-52s-cosmic-thing-30th-anniversary-edition-available-june-28-rhino)
2. [The B-52s: Cosmic Thing Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-thing-mw0000199654)
3. [Cosmic Thing - Album by The B-52's, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/cosmic-thing/983850956)
4. [The B-52s Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-b-52s-mn0000043489)
5. [On this day in music history: June 27, 1989 - "Cosmic Thing", Behind The Grooves](https://www.patreon.com/behindthegrooves/posts/on-this-day-in-b-27953868)
6. [Happy Anniversary: The B-52's, Cosmic Thing, Rhino](https://www.rhino.com/article/happy-anniversary-the-b-52s-cosmic-thing)
7. [The B-52s' Technicolor Dream Lives on in "Love Shack", The Ringer](https://www.theringer.com/2019/06/27/music/b-52s-cosmic-thing-love-shack-30th-anniversary)
8. [COSMIC THING - B-52S, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/b-52s-cosmic-thing/)
9. [The making of Don Was, Guitar World](https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/bassists/don-was-rolling-stones-bob-dylan-black-crowes)
10. [Behind the Song: "Love Shack," the B-52s, American Songwriter](https://americansongwriter.com/behind-the-song-love-shack-the-b-52s/)
11. [How The B-52s Turned Tragedy Into 'Love Shack': Inside the Cosmic Thing Comeback, Know Your Instrument](https://www.knowyourinstrument.com/b52s-cosmic-thing-comeback/)
12. [Roam, Rock Music Wiki](https://rock.fandom.com/wiki/Roam)
13. [THE B-52'S "Cosmic Thing." Warner Bros. ***, Los Angeles Times (August 13, 1989)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-13-ca-744-story.html)
14. [The B-52's Bounce Back, Billboard (June 13, 1998), WorldRadioHistory archive](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1998/BB-1998-06-13.pdf)
15. [Music Technology, August 1992, WorldRadioHistory archive](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Technology/Music-Technology-1992-08-S-OCR.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › New wave and post-punk albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license