Don't Stop Believin'

Did You Know?

• The song's chorus does not arrive until the final 50 seconds, after two pre-choruses and three verses.
• In December 2020, LadBaby released a comedy version titled "Don't Stop Me Eatin'" that became the UK Christmas number one.
• The song is played in the key of E major at 118 beats per minute, with a chord progression of I–V–vi–IV–I–V–iii–IV.

Background

By 1980, Journey had become one of the most successful rock acts of the era, having scored several top-25 hits after hiring vocalist Steve Perry and smoothing out its sound. Original keyboardist Gregg Rolie left the group in 1980 and recommended Jonathan Cain of the Babys as his replacement. Cain joined as the band prepared to record Escape. To write the album, Journey rented a warehouse in Oakland, California, where they worked daily on arrangements.

Cain brought the song's title and hook from encouragement his father gave him when Cain was a struggling musician on Sunset Boulevard: "Don't stop believing or you're done, dude." Guitarist Neal Schon created the distinctive bass line, and Perry suggested Cain write a driving synthesizer part to complement it. Drummer Steve Smith added a standard rock backbeat and instructed Schon to play 16th note arpeggios, like a train guiding the song. This motif inspired lyrics about two people leaving their hometown on a midnight train.

Perry wanted the characters to be a girl from a small town and a boy raised in the city. Smith supplemented the beat with melodic syncopations on tom-toms and ride cymbal bell, increasing complexity as the song builds. The song was built backwards, as the title hook was the only lyric initially developed.

Release

The song reached number eight on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, selling over a million vinyl copies. It became the number one paid digital download originally released in the 20th century, and by August 31, 2009, topped three million paid downloads. It was the best-selling digital song from a pre-digital era and the best-selling rock song in digital history until overtaken by Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" in January 2014.

As of July 2017, it had sold over seven million digital units in the US and was certified eighteen-times Platinum by the RIAA. In Ireland, the song peaked at number four and remains among the most popular rock tracks. It peaked at number 25 in Sweden and number 50 in the Netherlands. Released in the United Kingdom in December 1981, it initially peaked at number 62.

It re-entered the UK Singles Chart in February 2009 at number 94 due to digital downloads, and after performances on The X Factor, it peaked at number six in 2010. The song spent 21 non-consecutive weeks in the top 40 from November 2009 to April 2010, was the 25th best-selling track of 2010, and has spent 95 weeks in the top 100 as of 2013.

In popular culture

The song gained sharp popularity after its use in the Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series championship and in the final scene of HBO's The Sopranos series finale "Made in America" in 2007. Steve Perry initially hesitated to allow the use but later agreed; digital downloads soared after the episode aired. The song has been commonly played at Detroit Red Wings home games, with fans singing the "south Detroit" line during playoff victories, and was played at the closing ceremony of Joe Louis Arena in 2017.

It is played during the eighth inning of every San Francisco Giants home game; Perry, a Giants season ticket holder, led the crowd in the song during a 2014 World Series game. After the Giants won the 2010 World Series, Fox Sports used the song to close postgame coverage. The song was the closing number in the jukebox musical Rock of Ages, which ran on Broadway from 2009 to 2015 and was made into a 2012 movie starring Tom Cruise. Professional wrestler Silas Young uses it as entrance music on the independent circuit.

In 2020, it was used in a Toyota Hilux commercial. In 2024, Richard Goodall sang it on America's Got Talent, winning the Golden Buzzer and the competition. It also appeared in trailers for Anchorman: The Legend Continues, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and Spellbound. At Party Animals home games in Banana Ball, fans sing a live cover during the seventh inning.

Glee cast version

The cast of the American television series Glee recorded "Don't Stop Believin'" and performed it in six episodes. The first performance closed the pilot episode in May 2009, featuring Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Amber Riley, Kevin McHale, and Jenna Ushkowitz; this arrangement became the first single from the soundtrack Glee: The Music, Volume 1. A second version was performed in the first-season finale "Journey to Regionals" in June 2010, earning a 2011 Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals—the only Glee song nominated for a Grammy.

A third version was performed by Lea Michele in the fourth-season episode "Sweet Dreams" in April 2013, joined in her imagination by the original six; this was the last new musical performance by Finn Hudson, as actor Cory Monteith died three months later. A fourth version was performed by ten original members and others in the fifth-season episode "New Directions" in March 2014. The final performance was a reprise of the six-member pilot version in the second-last episode "2009" in March 2015.