Dead Man Walking is the first opera by Jake Heggie, with a libretto (based on the book of the same name by Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ) by Terrence McNally; it premiered on October 7, 2000 at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Opera.

Critical reaction to the opera was generally favorable; in particular, critics praised the sharp, finely delineated performances by the principals and the simple yet effective production. "It was a triumph beyond what even its most optimistic boosters could have predicted" wrote the San Francisco Chronicle's critic. "The reason for the work's appeal lies in its almost perfect fusion of ideas and emotions," wrote The Australian in 2007.

Many also found that McNally's libretto to be among the most finely crafted in recent memory: "…the splendid libretto —by turns plainspoken and eloquent, with wonderful splashes of wry humor to lighten the tone when it most needs it— creates the structural backbone of this wrenching drama". Although not all of it has been set to music, McNally gave the libretto to Heggie with the express instructions to use whatever portions of it he felt necessary, and to discard the rest.

The opera has since been performed numerous times across the United States and had its Australian premiere in 2002, with Teddy Tahu Rhodes as Joseph De Rocher. In 2007, it played in Sydney for a limited season produced by Nicole Alexander Productions at the State Theatre. It was nominated for six Helpmann Awards and won two (Best Set Design and Best Male in an Operatic Performance). The Canadian premiere was in January 2006 in Calgary, Alberta, with Daniel Okulitch in the role of Joseph De Rocher. The European premiere was in May 2006 in the Semperoper in Dresden, Germany. The same production had its opening night on September 26, 2007, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. The opera also played at the Malmö Opera och Musikteater in Malmö, Sweden.