Don't Stop Believing

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“Don't Stop Believing”

"Don't Stop Believin'" single

Single by Journey
from the album Escape

Released

1981

Format

7" vinyl

Recorded

1981

Genre

Rock

Length

4:11

Label

Columbia

Writer(s)

Jonathan Cain, Steve Perry, Neal Schon

Journey singles chronology

"Who's Crying Now"
(1981)

"Don't Stop Believing"
(1981)

"Open Arms"
(1982)

"Don't Stop Believing" is a song by the American rock band Journey. The song debuted on their 1981 album Escape. Today, it is considered the band's signature song.

The song is well-known for its lyrics and its distinctive detuned piano introduction, described by All Music Guide as "one of the best opening keyboard riffs in rock."^[1] Many compilation albums carrying the track (including some budget Journey "best of" releases) and several reissues of Escape list the track as "Don't Stop Believin'" although the original title includes the "g".

[edit] Popularity

The song reached #8 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also peaked at #62 on the UK singles chart. The song also has appeared in a number of film and television series, including The Sopranos, The Wedding Singer, Family Guy, Monster, Shrek The Halls, The Comebacks, South Park, and Scrubs.

In recent years, the song has received a major resurgence in popularity. The first evidence of this came during the 2005 World Series, when the Chicago White Sox adopted it as their unofficial second anthem (along with "Let's Go, Go-Go White Sox"). In 2005, the song made appearances on both Family Guy (in the episode "Don't Make Me Over") and Laguna Beach in the same week. It surprisingly jumped to #8 on the iTunes charts after the unexpected exposure.

Possibly due to the Detroit mention in the song, all professional teams in the Detroit area play it extensively at their stadiums since the first release in 1981; similar to the White Sox mention above, it was played during every game of the 2006 World Series at Comerica Park, and is also heard during Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Lions, and Detroit Pistons games.

In 2007 the song also gained additional press for its use in the final scene of HBO's The Sopranos from the series finale "Made in America". Steve Perry was initially hesitant in allowing the song to be used in The Sopranos but later agreed.^[2] The Sopranos ending was later parodied by Family Guy, The Daily Show, ESPN, Celebrity Apprentice, the opening sequence of the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards and a campaign video for Hillary Clinton.^[3]^[4] Due to all this over-whelming popularity, the song was reborn, leading the track to #1 on the iTunes charts 26 years after its release. The song also again charted on the Irish singles chart, peaking at number 4.^[5]