Believe (Cher song)

"Believe"
Single by Cher
from the album Believe
B-side "Believe (Xenomania Mix)"
Released October 19, 1998
Format
Recorded August 1998; Dreamhouse Studios (London, United Kingdom)
Genre
Length 3:59
Label
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
Cher singles chronology
"Paradise Is Here"
(1996)		 "Believe"
(1998)		 "Strong Enough"
(1999)

"Believe" is a song recorded by American singer-actress Cher. It is the title track from her twenty-second studio album of the same name (1998), and was released as the lead single from the album on October 19, 1998 by Warner Bros. Records. It was written by Brian Higgins, Stuart McLennen, Paul Barry, Steven Torch, Matthew Gray, and Timothy Powell and produced by Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling. A considerable departure from Cher's work at the time, "Believe" abandoned the singer's then pop-rock-based repertoire in favor being more club-friendly, in order to engage a younger audience.

"Believe" is an upbeat dance-pop, Eurodance and house song. The song is the first commercial recording to feature the audio processor software Auto-Tune, which is used to produce the prominent altered effect on Cher's vocals. This technique would eventually become known as the "Cher effect". Lyrically, the song is about the personal empowerment and self-sufficiency after a painful break-up. Critically, "Believe" has been met with appreciation ever since its release; reviewers have praised its production, catchiness and club-friendly nature, and listed it as one of the singer's career highlights. The song was also nominated for two Grammy Awards; for Record of the Year and Best Dance Recording, winning the last one.

Commercially, the song attained immense global success, reaching number one in almost every country it charted, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It earned Cher a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest female solo artist to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also became the highest-selling single by a solo female artist in the United Kingdom. "Believe" remains one of the best-selling singles of all time, with sales of over 12 million copies worldwide.

The music video for "Believe", directed by Nigel Dick, showed Cher in a nightclub performing the song in two different sequences: one in which she is seen performing the song on stage and the other as a supernatural being locked in a cage. Cher has performed the song in a number of live appearances, including in three of her concert tours, most recently the Dressed to Kill Tour in 2014. It has been covered by a number of artists, and has been featured in several elements of popular culture. Scholars and academics noted the way in which Cher was able to re-invent herself and remain fresh and contemporary amidst the more teen pop-based music of the period. They also credited "Believe" as the song which restored the singer's popularity and cemented her position as a pop culture icon.

Background and composition

As released, the single incorporates the work of six different songwriters, two producers and executive producer Rob Dickins, the erstwhile chairman of Warner Bros, but according to Mark Taylor the creation of "Believe" was a "strange one." Originally written by Brian Higgins, Matthew Gray, Stuart McLennen and Timothy Powell and circulated on Warner as a demo for months, nobody wanted it. Mark Taylor said that "everyone loved the chorus but not the rest of the song; As we were already writing other songs for Cher, Rob asked us if we could sort it out. Two of our writers, Steve Torch and Paul Barry, got involved and eventually came up with a complete song that Rob and Cher were happy with."[1] Once the demo version was agreed, Mark and Brian took over for the actual production, working at Dreamhouse; Mark said "We knew the rough direction to take, because Rob had said he wanted to make a Cher dance record. The hard part was trying to make one that wouldn't alienate Cher's existing fans."[1]

The entire track was assembled with Cubase VST on an iMac G3 computer, with other synthesizers, including a Clavia Nord Rack and an Oberheim Matrix 1000, while Cher's vocals were recorded on three TASCAM DA88 digital audio recorders with a Neumann U67 vacuum tube-amplified microphone.[1] The song was recorded approximately in ten days in Surrey, United Kingdom. Cher's voice is altered by a pitch correction speed that is "set too fast for the audio that it is processing."[1] Producer Mark Taylor added the effect to Cher's vocal simply as a kind of mischievous experiment. In interviews at the time, he claimed to be testing out his recently purchased DigiTech Talker.[1] It later emerged that the effect was not created by a vocoder, but by using extreme (and then-unheard-of) settings on Antares Auto-Tune.[1] Taylor said about the effect that "this was the most nerve-wracking part of the project, because I wasn't sure what Cher would say when she heard what I'd done to her voice", but that when she heard it she said, "It sounds great."[1] When her record company requested that the effect be removed, she responded, "Over my dead body!"[2] After the massive success of the song, use of Auto-Tune became very popular and many other artists imitated this technique, and it would eventually become known as the "Cher effect".[3]"Believe" is a dance-pop song.[4] The song samples a drum-machine pattern off Daft Punk's 1998 single Revolution 909.[5]
"Believe"
A 30-second sample of "Believe". It is noted for its use of a sound effect on the vocals (using the then newly invented Auto-Tune software), which is today referred to as the "Cher effect".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Critical reception

Billboard gave the song a positive review, saying that the song is "the best darn thing that Cher has recorded in years".[6] AllMusic editor Michael Gallucci gave a lukewarm review, writing that the Believe album is an "endless, and personality-free, thump session".[7] Joe Viglione called the song "pop masterpiece, one of the few songs to be able to break through the impenetrable wall of late 1990's fragmented radio to permeate the consciousness of the world at large."[8]

Entertainment Weekly called this song "poptronica glaze, the soon-to-be club fave..." and called Cher's voice "unmistakable."[9] Robert Christgau highlighted "Believe" as the best song on the album.[10] Damon Albarn, frontman of the bands Blur and Gorillaz, called the song "brilliant".[11] It was voted as the world's eighth favourite song in a poll released by BBC.[12][1][13]

Chart performance

Cher performing "Believe" on the WKTU's "Miracle on 34th Street" show in New York City on December 11, 1998.

The song, recorded and released in 1998, peaked at number one in 23 countries worldwide.[14] On January 12, 1999, it reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number one on the chart on March 13, making Cher the oldest female artist (at the age of 52)[15] to perform this feat. Cher also set the record for a solo artist with the longest span of time between number one hits: her previous number one hit, "Dark Lady", had been in 1974. She also set a mark for longest gap between her first No. 1 song ("I Got You Babe") released in 1965 with her then-husband, the late Sonny Bono. It beat the record held by former Beatles lead guitarist, George Harrison (who first hit the top of the charts in 1964 with "I Want To Hold Your Hand" then took approximately 24 years before hitting No. 1 with "Got My Mind Set On You"). "Believe" also was ranked as the number-one song of 1999 by "Billboard" on both the "Billboard" Hot 100 and Hot Dance Club Play charts, and became the biggest single in her entire career.

In the United Kingdom, "Believe" spent seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart,[16] becoming Britain's biggest-selling single of 1998. As of June 2013 "Believe" is still the best selling single by a female artist of all time there.[17] According to Official Charts Company, the song has sold 1,790,000 copies in the UK as of March 2014.[18] On August the 1st 2014 "Believe" has become the first female solo single to be certified Triple-Platinum in the United Kingdom for selling 1,800,000 copies.

The success of the song not only expanded through each country's singles chart, but also most countries' dance charts. In the United States "Believe" spent 23 weeks on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, five of those weeks at #1, and 22 weeks on the European Hot Dance Charts. "Believe" also set a record in 1999 after spending 21 weeks in the top spot of the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales chart, it was still in the top ten even one year after its entry on the chart.[19] On 13 October 2008, the song was voted #10 on Australian VH1's Top 10 Number One Pop Songs countdown. "Believe" was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Dance Recording at 42nd Grammy Awards, the latter of which it won.

Music video

Cher performing "Believe" on the Dressed to Kill Tour in 2014.

The official music video for "Believe", directed by Nigel Dick, features Cher in a nightclub in a double role as singer on stage, and wears a glowy headdress and as supernatural being in a cage (with auto-tuned voice), surrounded by many people to whom she is giving advice. The video includes a woman who is in club and looking for her ex-boyfriend and broken hearted and feels that she cannot go on when she sees her ex-boyfriend with a new a girlfriend. The version on The Very Best of Cher: The Video Hits Collection is slightly different from the previous version (the version that is also included on the Mallay Believe Bonus VCD) with additional scenes towards the end that were not in the original video. There are also two 'rough' versions of the video as the song was released in The UK and Europe before a video was completed. The first is a compilation of scenes from the videos of Cher's previous singles "One by One" and "Walking in Memphis" and the second includes a brief scene of the Believe video where Cher sings the chorus while the rest of the video is composed of scenes from "One by One".

Three official remix videos exist for this song. Two of the remix videos were created by Dan-O-Rama in 1999. Both follow different concepts from the original unmixed video. Instead of showing the significance of the lyrics the videos mostly show Cher with different colored backgrounds and people dancing. The two remixes used for these videos were the Almighty Definitive Mix and the Club 69 Phunk Club Mix. The third video entitled Wayne G. Remix was released by Warner Bros. and the concept is similar to the Club 69 Phunk Club Mix video.

Live performances

Cher performed the song during the Do You Believe? Tour, The Farewell Tour, Cher at the Colosseum and the Dressed to Kill Tour. While she would lip-sync the entire song on various television programs, she would only lip-sync the synthesized verses when performing on her Believe and Farewell tours, the Colosseum shows and on the 2002 edition of VH1 Divas Live. Since 1999, the song has been the encore to all of Cher's concerts until her 2014 Dressed to Kill Tour, where the encore is the adult contemporary ballad "I Hope You Find It", a second single from her 25th studio album Closer to the Truth.[20]

In popular culture

It was featured in an episode of BBC's Top Gear where James May had to chauffeur a Cher impersonator.It was parodied in the season 3 South Park episode, Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub. It was featured in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Living Conditions when Buffy's roommate plays it on repeat while ironing her jeans.

Track listings and formats

US CD single[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:59
  2. "Believe" (Xenomania Mix) – 4:20

US/Canadian maxi single[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:59
  2. "Believe" (Phat 'N' Phunky Club Mix) – 7:42
  3. "Believe" (Club 69 Phunk Club Mix) – 8:44
  4. "Believe" (Almighty Definitive Mix) – 7:36
  5. "Believe" (Xenomania Mad Tim and the Mekon Club Mix) – 9:15
  6. "Believe" (Club 69 Future Anthem Mix) – 9:20
  7. "Believe" (Grips Heartbroken Mix) – 9:12
  8. "Believe" (Club 69 Future Anthem Dub) – 7:33
  9. "Believe" (Club 69 Phunk Dub) – 7:04
  10. "Believe" (Phat 'N' Phunky 'After Luv' Dub) – 6:22

Australian CD single[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:59
  2. "Believe" (Almighty Definitive Mix) – 7:36
  3. "Believe" (Xenomania Mix) – 4:20

European/UK CD single version 1[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 4:01
  2. "Believe" (Almighty Definitive Mix) – 7:38
  3. "Believe" (Xenomania Mix) – 4:20

European/UK CD single version 2[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:58
  2. "Believe" (Grips Heartbroken Mix) – 9:12
  3. "Believe" (Club 69 Future Mix) – 6:50

German/European CD single[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:59
  2. "Believe" (Grip's Heartbroken Mix) – 9:12

Japanese CD single[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:59
  2. "Believe" (Almighty Definitive Mix) – 7:36
  3. "Believe" (Grip's Heartbroken Mix) – 9:12

Mexican CD single[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:59
  2. "Believe" (Almighty Definitive Mix) – 7:36
  3. "Believe" (Xenomania Mix) – 4:20

US/UK cassette single[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:59
  2. "Believe" (Xenomania Mix) – 4:20

US 7" vinyl[21]

  1. "Believe" (album version) – 3:59
  2. "Believe" (Xenomania Mix) – 4:20

UK 12" vinyl[21]

  1. "Believe" (Almighty Definitive Mix) – 7:36
  2. "Believe" (Grip's Heartbroken Mix) – 9:12
  3. "Believe" (Club 69 Future Anthem Mix) – 6:50
  4. "Believe" (Club 69 Future Anthem Dub) – 7:33

Credits and personnel
  • Timothy Powell - songwriter
  • Gypsyland – background vocals, guitar
  • Robin Smith – arranger
  • Adam Phillips – additional guitars
  • Ryan Art – designer
  • Michael Lavine – cover art photographer
  • Rob Dickins – executive producer

Credits adapted from Believe album liner notes.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1998–2000) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[22] 1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[23] 2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[24] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[25] 1
Canada (RPM)[26] 1
Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart[27] 1
Denmark (Tracklisten)[28] 1
European Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[29] 1
France (SNEP)[30] 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[31] 6
Germany (Media Control Charts)[32] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[33] 1
Italy (FIMI)[34] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[35] 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[36] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[37] 1
Scotland (Official Charts Company) [38] 1
Poland (Polish Singles Chart) [39] 2
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[40] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[43] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[44] 1
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) [45] 3
US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[46] 5
US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[47] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[48] 2
US Radio Songs (Billboard) [49] 2
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[50] 91
UK Dance (Official Charts Company)[51] 18
US Dance/Electronic Digital Songs (Billboard) [52] 31

Year-end charts

Chart (1998) Position
Australian Singles Chart[53] 43
Austrian Singles Chart[54] 16
Belgium Singles Chart (Flanders)[55] 4
Belgium Singles Chart (Wallonia)[56] 19
Dutch Top 40[57] 82
French Singles Chart[58] 24
German Singles Chart[59] 14
Swedish Singles Chart[60] 6
Swiss Singles Chart[61] 18
UK Singles Chart[62] 1
Chart (1999) Position
Australian Singles Chart[63] 6
Austrian Singles Chart[64] 21
Belgium Singles Chart (Flanders)[65] 48
Belgium Singles Chart (Wallonia)[66] 25
Canadian Singles Chart[67] 13
Dutch Top 40[68] 9
Dutch Mega Single Top 100[69] 7
European Singles Chart[70] 4
French Singles Chart[71] 13
German Singles Chart[72] 38
Italian Singles Chart[73] 2
Swedish Singles Chart[74] 52
Swiss Singles Chart[75] 8
UK Singles Chart[62] 48
US Billboard Hot 100[76] 1
US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard) [77] 1
Worldwide [78] 1

Decade-end charts

Chart (1990–1999) Position
German Singles Chart[79] 38
UK Singles Chart[80] 5
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[81] 31

All-time charts

Country Position
UK Singles Chart[82] 16[A]
  • A ^ This is the biggest selling single by a female artist ever in UK Chart history.

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[83] 3× Platinum 210,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[84] Platinum 50,000x
Belgium (BEA)[85] 3× Platinum 150,000*
France (SNEP)[86] Diamond 764,000[87]
Germany (BVMI)[88] 5× Gold 1,250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[89] Platinum 75,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[90] Gold 7,500*
Norway (IFPI Norway)[91] 2× Platinum 20,000*
Sweden (GLF)[92] 3× Platinum 90,000x
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[93] Platinum 50,000x
United Kingdom (BPI)[94] 3× Platinum 1,790,000 double-dagger[95]
United States (RIAA)[96] Platinum 1,800,000[97]
Digital
United States (RIAA)[96] 375,000[98]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

double-dagger Sales shown exclude streaming. (Since July 2014 BPI certifications for singles include on-demand audio streaming.) [99]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Sue Sillitoe (February 1999). "Recording Cher's 'Believe'". Sound on Sound. soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2010-10-13. (updated with Historical Footnote)
  2. ↑ Neil Strauss (March 11, 1999). "Cher Resurrected, Again, by a Hit; The Long, Hard but Serendipitous Road to 'Believe'". The New York Times (nytimes.com). Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  3. ↑ Frere-Jones, Sasha (June 9, 2008). "The Gerbil's Revenge". The New Yorker (Condé Nast). Retrieved May 30, 2012. In the manual accompanying Auto-Tune’s fifth-release version, the zero speed setting is described as 'the Cher Effect.'
  4. ↑ Lamb, Bill. "Top 10 Pop Songs of 1999". About.com.
  5. ↑ http://www.whosampled.com/sample/25837/Cher-Believe-Daft-Punk-Revolution-909/
  6. ↑ Single reviews. Billboard
  7. ↑ Review by AllMusic Retrieved October 15, 2013
  8. ↑ Song review by AllMusic Retrieved October 15, 2013
  9. ↑ "Believe Review | Music Reviews and News". EW.com. 1998-11-13. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  10. ↑ Robert Christgau album reviews Retrieved October 15, 2013
  11. ↑ The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  12. ↑ "About Cher". Retrieved 2013-01-27.
  13. ↑ "The Worlds Top Ten | BBC World Service". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-07-02.
  14. ↑ ""Believe" #1 in 23 countries". Cherconvention.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  15. ↑ "Record-Breakers and Trivia". everyHit.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  16. ↑ "List of UK Number 1's 1990's". Everyhit.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  17. ↑ "Record-Breakers and Trivia - everyHit.com". everyhit.com. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  18. ↑ "The Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles Of All Time By Female Artists revealed!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  19. ↑ ""Believe" Dance Singles Sales record". Cherconvention.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  20. ↑ Christina Fuoco-Karasinski (March 23, 2014). "Cher Delivers Classic Hits, Outrageous Costumes, at Dazzling 'Dressed to Kill' Tour Opener". Billboard. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 21.6 21.7 21.8 21.9 21.10 "Believe Single".
  22. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Cher – Believe". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  23. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Cher – Believe" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Cher – Believe" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  25. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Cher – Believe" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  26. ↑ "collectionscanada.gc.ca". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  27. ↑ RPM Official charts Canada
  28. ↑ Billboard. January 16, 1999. p. 45. Accessed from July 18, 2013.
  29. ↑ Billboard. January 30, 1999. p. 51. Accessed from July 18, 2013.
  30. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Cher – Believe" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  31. ↑ "Cher: Believe" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  32. ↑ "Chartverfulgong > Cher > Believe – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  33. ↑ Billboard. December 19, 1998. p. 55. Accessed from July 18, 2013.
  34. ↑ Billboard. January 30, 1999. p. 50. Accessed from July 18, 2013.
  35. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Cher search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  36. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Cher – Believe". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  37. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Cher – Believe". VG-lista. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  38. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-singles-chart/19981025/41
  39. ↑ http://lp3.polskieradio.pl/notowania/?rok=1998&numer=880
  40. ↑ Billboard. January 23, 1999. p. 51. Accessed from July 18, 2013.
  41. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Cher – Believe". Singles Top 60. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  42. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Cher – Believe". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  43. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1998-10-31" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  44. ↑ "Cher Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot 100 for Cher. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  45. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/299062/cher/chart?f=341
  46. ↑ "Cher Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Cher. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  47. ↑ "Cher Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for Cher. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  48. ↑ "Cher Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Pop Songs for Cher. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  49. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/artist/299062/Cher/chart?f=350
  50. ↑ http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/scottish-singles-chart/20131020/41
  51. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2013-10-26" UK Dance Chart.
  52. ↑ "Cher - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  53. ↑ Australian Recording Industry Association (1998). "ARIA charts — End of year charts". aria.com.au. Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  54. ↑ 1998 Austrian Singles Chart . Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  55. ↑ 1998 Belgium Ultratop . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  56. ↑ 1998 Belgium Ultratop . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  57. ↑ 1998 Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  58. ↑ 1998 French Singles Chart . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  59. ↑ 1998 German Singles Chart . Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  60. ↑ 1998 Swedish Singles Chart . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  61. ↑ 1998 Swiss Singles Chart . Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 Official UK singles chart (1998). "UK charts; End of year charts". Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  63. ↑ Australian Recording Industry Association (1999). "ARIA charts — End of year charts". aria.com.au. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  64. ↑ 1999 Austrian Singles Chart . Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  65. ↑ 1999 Belgium Ultratop . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  66. ↑ 1999 Belgium Ultratop . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  67. ↑ 1999 Canadian Singles Chart . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  68. ↑ 1999 Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  69. ↑ JAAROVERZICHTEN - SINGLE 1999 (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  70. ↑ Europe's Top Singles of 1999 . Retrieved August 04, 2013.
  71. ↑ 1999 French Singles Chart . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  72. ↑ 1999 German Singles Chart . Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  73. ↑ 1999 Italian Singles Chart . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  74. ↑ 1999 Swedish Singles Chart . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  75. ↑ 1999 Swiss Singles Chart . Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  76. ↑ Billboard Magazine (1999). 1999 in Music. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  77. ↑ Rock On The Net (1999). "Billboard: 1999 Year-End Chart-Toppers". Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  78. ↑ Billboard Magazine (1999). 1999 in Music. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  79. ↑ 1990s German Singles Chart . Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  80. ↑ 1990s UK Singles Chart . Retrieved August 01, 2013.
  81. ↑ Geoff Mayfield (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved October 15, 2010.
  82. ↑ "The Million Sellers – the UK’s biggest ever selling singles revealed!". OCC. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  83. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  84. ↑ "Austrian single certifications – Cher – Believe" (in German). IFPI Austria. Enter Cher in the field Interpret. Enter Believe in the field Titel. Select single in the field Format. Click Suchen
  85. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 1999". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch.
  86. ↑ "French single certifications – Cher – Believe" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  87. ↑ "Les Singles Diamant :" (in French). Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  88. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Cher; 'Believe')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  89. ↑ "Dutch single certifications – Cher – Believe" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers.
  90. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Cher – Believe". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand.
  91. ↑ "Norwegian single certifications – Cher – Believe" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway.
  92. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1999" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden.
  93. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Cher; 'Believe')". Hung Medien.
  94. ↑ "British single certifications – Cher – Believe". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Believe in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  95. ↑ "Official Top 40 Biggest Selling Singles of All Time By Female Artists". Official Charts Company.
  96. ↑ 96.0 96.1 "American single certifications – Cher – Believe". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  97. ↑ "Billboard Vol. 112, No. 6". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media): 20. 2000-02-05. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
  98. ↑ "Ask Billboard: Cher Information, Yes?". Billboard. 2011-11-05. Retrieved 2012-03-11.
  99. ↑ "BPI CERTIFIED AWARDS FOR SINGLES NOW INCLUDE STREAMS". BPI. 8 July 2014.

External links