Heaven's Gate and Lil Uzi Vert: What to Know About UFO Religion That Inspired 'Eternal Atake' and Its Sequel

In the mid-1970s, two Earth-bound souls who would come to be known as Do and Ti embarked on a journey toward what they hoped would be the ultimate form of transcendence. Half a century later, that journey is again serving as a key point of inspiration in the work of Lil Uzi Vert, whose 2020 album Eternal Atake is soon getting a sequel.

The original cover art for Eternal Atake, released mere days before the world went into pandemic lockdown, saw Uzi repurposing a version of a keyhole logo associated with Heaven’s Gate, a UFO religion often disparagingly referred to as a cult. The overarching story at the core of the album’s sequencing, namely Uzi's space travels, also seemed to mirror certain aspects of the beliefs of the group once led by the late Marshall Applewhite, a.k.a. Do, and Bonnie Nettles, a.k.a. Ti.

As far back as 2018 in the run-up to EA's release, numerous headlines posited that Heaven’s Gate, in its current form, was not exactly thrilled by Uzi’s choice of imagery. With a sequel on the horizon, we’re taking a look back at not only the group’s central message but also its sustaining impact on pop culture at large. We even hear from the current operator of the official Heaven’s Gate website, a welcome banner for which still reads, “As was promised, the keys to Heaven’s Gate are here again in Ti and Do (the UFO Two) as they were in Jesus and his father 2000 years ago.”

Keep reading for more.

What is Heaven’s Gate?

While the group’s beginnings are often disparately linked to both the New Age movement and Christianity, Heaven’s Gate was then, and remains, a truly unique presence among religions. Founders Do and Ti, sometimes referred to jointly as the UFO Two, are reported to have first met a hospital in Texas in the early 1970s.

By the late 1990s, when scholars and journalists were deep into the process of studying the group’s history following the suicide deaths of 39 members, the “blend” of ideas driving their ideology had also been linked to what a sociologist described at the time as “esoteric interpretations of the Book of Revelation.” Estimates place the total membership as being in the hundreds in the 1970s before dropping to less than 100 by the 1980s, and fewer still before the 1997 deaths.

What do they believe?

In texts attributed to Do, it’s asserted that he was among those who originally came from “the King of Heaven.” Thus, he and others were bound to return. Key to Heaven’s Gate in terms of how the group has been represented in American pop culture are the elements more strictly concerned with matters of extraterrestrial life. Namely, it was believed that a spacecraft would be the manner of travel when leaving Earth on this return mission, though this facet was later expanded to treat the body itself as a vessel or “vehicle.”

This expansion was preceded by Ti's death from cancer in 1985.

“Ti stayed with me, setting an example and preparing me for this present responsibility until 1985, and then separated from her borrowed human container and returned to the Next Level,” a text attributed to Do reads.

In another text, this time attributed to a “a student,” an overview of the group’s mission is provided alongside an excerpt from the Extraterrestrials Return With Final Warning book. According to the student, “clear signals” started to be noticed in the early 1990s suggesting that the group’s “classroom time” was intended to soon draw to a close. This became more apparent, the student added, with the public’s reaction to a 1995 statement shared by the group.

“The response was extremely animated and somewhat mixed. However, the loudest voices were those expressing ridicule, hostility, or both - so quick to judge that which they could not comprehend,” the text reads. “This was the signal to us to begin our preparations to return ‘home.’ The weeds have taken over the garden and truly disturbed its usefulness beyond repair - it is time for the civilization to be recycled.”

What happened in 1997?

“We’ve been away, and now we’re going back.”

These words from Do are featured prominently in the opening moments of the Max docuseries Heaven’s Gate: The Cult of Cults, released back in December 2020. This concept, of having been “away” and in need of orchestrating a large-scale return mission, formed the underlying ethos of the group’s Away Team. On March 22, 1997, a statement was shared by the group in which it was said that Away Team members had returned to a “level above human” after leaving bodies they said were merely borrowed, not permanent.

“By the time you receive this, we'll be gone, several dozen of us,” the message, intended as an “exit press release,” states.

By March 26, law enforcement in San Diego County had discovered dozens of bodies inside a Rancho Santa Fe mansion following what was initially said to be an anonymous welfare check request. Per the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, deputies found 39 Heaven’s Gate members dead inside the home, with their investigation later finding that all 39 had taken part in what they described as “a mass suicide that took place over the course of several days.”

Investigators later said that members died after ingesting phenobarbital and vodka. Members also reportedly placed plastic bags over their heads.

What does Nike have to do with this?

All 39 members on the Away Team wore matching outfits, including black-and-white Nike Decades. According to a 2015 email response from an individual behind the Heaven's Gate site, the shoes were chosen, at least in part, due to the group having been able to secure a “good deal on them.”

Is Heaven’s Gate still active?

No, at least not according to two individuals who describe themselves as former members who control the intellectual property of the group. When reached via email by Complex, the two, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed to answer a few questions in light of Uzi’s Eternal Atake 2 announcement. See a lightly edited version of the resulting exchange below.

TWC: What is your role in relation to Heaven’s Gate?

HG: We joined the Group at the very beginning in 1975 and have either been in the Group or associated with them for 49 years. We provide information on request and protect it from infringement (like Lil Uzi Vert tried to do in 2020).

Is Heaven’s Gate active in any way in 2024?

No. Heaven’s Gate came to an end in 1997. There is no Group and there are no members.

How many surviving members are there?

We really don’t know. Most members have died natural deaths and the few remaining lead private lives and wish to keep it that way.

What were your thoughts when you first started seeing the Heaven’s Gate inspiration in Lil Uzi Vert’s work, namely their Eternal Atake album imagery?

It was a distortion and misuse of our IP. We took action and forced him to make changes in the product.

There were reports several years back that someone connected to Heaven’s Gate was considering legal action. Is there truth to that?

Yes, we hired a music entertainment lawyer and he took care of working with his people to back away from using our logos, trademarks, copyrights, and imagery in what he finally produced. He still stepped over the line in one circumstance but we got him to give up thinking he could use our IP to push his idea of him being a divine ‘leader’ and motivating his ‘followers’ to leave the planet. We will see if he takes it too far this time.

With Uzi set to release a sequel to Eternal Atake, what are your feelings on the Heaven’s Gate inspiration now?

Same as last time. Stay away from our Intellectual Property. Give the Group some respect. And don’t try to offer to buy us off, like last time. We do not want your money, no matter how much it is.

Have you listened to Uzi’s music? If so, what are your thoughts?

No, we have not listened to Vert’s music. Living in this world is hard enough as it is, and we do not need the brain damage involved in listening to his works.

What would you like people to know who may be learning about the Heaven's Gate story for the first time?

The true information about Heaven’s Gate is at one sole location (www.heavensgate.com). It has access to the video tapes, the writings, and the book from the Group. It also has the information that the Group deemed necessary to be left to the world at this time, and nothing else, as they instructed.