Journey "Don't Stop Believin' (Single & Video)"

"Don't Stop Believin'" is a song by American rock band Journey. It was released in October 1981 as the second single from the group's seventh studio album, Escape (1981), released through Columbia Records. "Don't Stop Believin'" shares writing credits between the band's vocalist Steve Perry, guitarist Neal Schon, and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. It is a mid-tempo rock anthem and power ballad.

At the dawn of the 1980s, Journey was becoming one of the most successful rock acts of the era. The band added Cain on keyboards before entering the studio to record Escape. Cain had kept the song title from encouragement his father gave him as a struggling musician living on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard. The song is unusual in that its chorus does not arrive until the song is nearly finished; its structure consists of two pre-choruses and three verses before it arrives at its central hook. The band recorded the song in one take at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California.

A top-10 worldwide hit in 1981, "Don't Stop Believin'" became the group's signature song and has continued to endure over the years. Decades after its release, in 2012 it became the best-selling digital track from the twentieth century, with over seven million downloads by 2017. Critics acclaimed its anthemic qualities; music magazine Rolling Stone ranked it among its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2022, the single was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Cover versions have included the cast of the American comedy-drama Glee in 2009, which outperformed the original internationally.

By 1980, the Californian rock outfit Journey was on its way to becoming one of the most successful acts of the era. After discarding its roots in progressive rock, the group hired vocalist Steve Perry and smoothed out its sound. The band had notched several domestic top-25 hits with "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" and "Any Way You Want It". Original keyboardist Gregg Rolie, with the group since its progressive days, amicably departed in 1980, leaving the foursome without one of its signature elements. Rolie recommended the band invite Jonathan Cain of British rockers the Babys to be his permanent replacement, who accepted and joined the band as it prepared to record its next album, Escape (1981).

To prepare for writing its next effort, Journey rented a warehouse in Oakland, California, where they worked daily to complete arrangements and develop new ideas. Cain came up with the song's title and hook; it stemmed from something his father frequently told him when he was a struggling musician living on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard. Cain was unsuccessful and ready to give up, and each time he would call home in despair, his father would tell him, "Don't stop believing or you're done, dude." Guitarist Neal Schon invented the song's distinctive bass line, and Perry suggested Cain write a driving synthesizer piece to complement that bass line. Drummer Steve Smith added a standard rock backbeat behind that, and instructed Schon to play 16th note arpeggios over the rest of the instrumentation, as though he were a "train" guiding the song in its direction.

This motif lyrically inspired the song as well. Cain and Perry thought the imagery brought to mind a story of two people leaving behind past lives in their hometown and boarding a midnight train to anywhere else. Perry liked the concept that the characters be a girl from a small town and a boy raised in the city. "We felt that every young person has a dream and sometimes where you grow up isn't where you're destined to be," Cain said. They copied the day's progress to cassette tapes and took them home for further review. Smith felt a regular rock beat wouldn't suit the entire song, so he supplemented it with melodic, syncopated additions on the tom-toms and ride cymbal bell, increasing its complexity as the song builds. The song was built backwards, as the title hook were the only lyrics the band had developed initially.

The band recorded the song at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. Perry had a cold on the day of recording and was unable to make it, so its instrumental was tracked without him. The musicians found the song's tempo and varying sections difficult to record, especially Cain and bassist Ross Valory's intro. Co-producer Mike Stone turned on a verbal click track for the group to practise to; after about twenty minutes, they turned the machine off and recorded the song live in one take. Perry rejoined Journey the next week and also completed his vocals mainly in one take. Altogether, the song and its corresponding album came together under its budget and in about two months. Cain was grateful that Perry gave his ideas equal weight given his status as a new member of the band.

While the lyrics mention being "born and raised in south Detroit", there is no place in the Detroit, Michigan area commonly called "South Detroit". The city lies mainly on the north bank of the Detroit River, and directly south of its downtown area lies the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario. Steve Perry has said, "I tried north Detroit, I tried east and west and it didn't sing, but south Detroit sounded so beautiful. I loved the way it sounded, only to find out later it's actually Canada." Detroit residents often refer to the "east side" and "west side" of the city, but only rarely "north" (sometimes called "8 Mile", after the boundary road of the same name) or "south" (instead referred to as "Downriver" or "Mexicantown"). The lyric "streetlight people living just to find emotion" came from Perry watching people walking in the streets of Detroit at night after a show.

Jon Cain said of writing the song, "... the “South Detroit” thing I got a lot of flack for. Because there was no South Detroit. And I said, “Because it’s a mystical place, it doesn’t exist!” It's the city of possibilities in your mind. That's what South Detroit is. So, leave it alone."

The song was a commercial success and is known for its widespread use, but the song (along with Escape by Journey), initially received poor critical reviews (being criticized for its slick, inauthentic and derivative nature in both the musical and lyrical areas), but it has been retrospectively acknowledged as a staple of classic rock radio and 1980s rock music; for instance, Billboard called it an "uptempo, melodic track" and praised the "fluid guitar and vocal." Record World said that the "piano intro anticipates a powerful rock chorus for maximum airplay." Mike DeGagne of AllMusic has described "Don't Stop Believin'" as a "perfect rock song" and an "anthem", featuring "one of the best opening keyboard riffs in rock." In 2021, it was ranked No. 133 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2012 it was the best-selling digital track from the 20th century, with over seven million copies sold in the United States by 2017.

In 2021, the song received the Grammy Hall of Fame award.

The song gained press coverage and a sharp growth in popularity for its use for The Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series championship and in 2007, the famous final scene of HBO's The Sopranos series finale "Made in America". Steve Perry was initially hesitant to allow the song to be used in The Sopranos but later agreed. Digital downloads of the song soared following the episode's airing and the exposure motivated the band members to overcome the struggles they were having at the time and find a replacement lead singer after former lead singer Steve Augeri's departure.

The song has for years been commonly played at Detroit Red Wings home games. During the last minutes of playoff victories, the volume is lowered during the "born and raised in south Detroit" line, which is instead sung by home fans. It was played at the closing ceremony of the Red Wings long-time home Joe Louis Arena in 2017. It is also used at other Detroit sporting events.

The song is played during the 8th inning of every San Francisco Giants home game. Steve Perry is a Giants season ticket holder and memorably led the crowd in the song during a game in the World Series in 2014. In addition, after the Giants won the 2010 World Series, Fox Sports used the song to close out their postgame coverage of the fifth and deciding game of the series.

The song got a boost when it was used as the closing number in Rock of Ages, a jukebox musical featuring hits of the '80s. The show ran on Broadway from 2009 to 2015, and in 2012 was made into a movie starring Tom Cruise.

The song is used in professional wrestling by Silas Young as his entrance music on the independent circuit, though due to music rights issues he's used in-house music commissioned by Ring of Honor when wrestling for that promotion.

In 2020, the song was used in a Toyota Hilux commercial. In the commercial, With the help of his Hilux, a dad retraces his steps on an epic journey to help his daughter find her lost toy.

In South Park, the character Eric Cartman is seen singing the song in the episode "Tsst" while plugging in his video game console, moments after disobeying his nanny.

In the Family Guy episode “Don’t Make Me Over” (season 4, episode 4), characters Peter Griffin, Cleveland Brown, Glenn Quagmire, and Joe Swanson perform the song at karaoke.

The song is one of the possible songs that can be heard at the exit path after the ride in Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.

The song was used as the soundtrack in the last scenes of the episode "Schadenfreude" (S 2, Ep 17) of the CBS television series Cold Case, aired March 20, 2005.

The song saw a resurgence in popularity in 2009 after being featured prominently in the pilot episode of Glee. It would be performed a total of seven times in the show, as well as live on tour between 2010 and 2011. It would also be featured in Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, a live recording of the concert featuring the cast performing in character both onstage and off.

In 2024, the song was sung by Richard Goodall in America's Got Talent; he won the Golden Buzzer for his performance. It was even heard in the trailers of Harold and the Purple Crayon and Spellbound.