Believe (Cher song)

The origins of the song go back to as early as 1991, when the original demo of "Believe", written by singer Mark Scott and songwriter Brian Higgins and co-produced by Nick Van Eede and Kevin MacMichael (both of the band Cutting Crew) was created for Warner Records, to which Van Eede and MacMichael received modest compensation—reportedly just a bottle of whisky—for their contributions. The demo was passed on to several major artists through Higgins and eventually landed with Cher in 1997 which was rearranged with altered lyrics.^[1] This rearranged demo of "Believe", now written by Higgins, Matthew Gray, Stuart McLennen and Timothy Powell, circulated at Warner Records for months. Higgins offered the demo to the English indie dance band Saint Etienne, who turned it down.^[2] According to the producer Mark Taylor, "everyone loved the chorus" but not the rest.^[3] The Warner chairman, Rob Dickins, asked the production house Dreamhouse to work on it; their goal was to make a dance record that would not alienate Cher fans.^[3] Two more writers, Steve Torch and Paul Barry, completed a version that Dickins and Cher were happy with.^[3]

Cher felt the song was "too whiny" and wanted to "toughen it up a bit".^[4] Feeling that "a girl can be sad in one verse, but she can't be sad in two verses",^[5] she rewrote the lyrics in the second verse to make the character more assertive: 'I need time to move on, I need love to feel strong / 'Cause I've had time to think it through and maybe I'm too good for you".^[5][6][7] In 2023, Cher said she regretted not asking for a songwriting credit.^[5]

"Believe" was recorded in mid-1998 at the Dreamhouse studio operated by Metro Productions in Kingston upon Thames, London. It was assembled with Cubase on an early Power Macintosh G3, with synthesizers including a Clavia Nord Rack and an Oberheim Matrix 1000. Cher's vocals were recorded on three TASCAM DA-88 digital audio recorders with a Neumann U67 microphone.^[3][6]

Cher's vocals were processed using the pitch correction software Auto-Tune. Auto-Tune was designed to be used subtly to correct sharp or flat notes in vocal performances; however, Taylor used extreme settings to create unnaturally rapid corrections, thereby removing portamento, the natural slide between pitches in singing.^[8] Taylor said it was "the most nerve-wracking part of the project", as he was not sure how Cher would react.^[3] She insisted the effect remain when Warner wanted it removed.^[6] In an attempt to protect their method, the producers initially claimed it was achieved using a vocoder.^[3] The manual for Auto-Tune's fifth version describes the zero-speed setting as the "Cher effect".^[8]

Critics described "Believe" as Eurodance,^[9] Europop,^[10] dance,^[9] dance-pop and electropop.^[11][12][13] It was recorded in the key of F♯ major with a tempo of 133 beats per minute. It follows a chord progression of F♯–C♯–G♯m–B–F♯–A♯m7–G♯m–D♯m, and Cher's vocals span from F♯₃ to C♯₅.^[14]

In the verses, Cher's vocals are manipulated heavily with Auto-Tune. The New Yorker said this produced "a controlled version of losing control, hinting at various histrionic stations of the human voice". It was used more sparingly for the chorus, "Do you believe in life after love?", which is performed in a "a full, human-sounding voice".^[8]

"Believe"

A 15-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 became known as the "Cher effect".

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Chuck Taylor from Billboard wrote that "Believe" was Cher's best song in years, writing: "Some songs are so natural, so comfortably sung, that you wonder that somebody didn't think them up decades before. With this, you'll be whirling around the floor, tapping hard on the accelerator to 'Believe,' a simple ode to those feelings that we all search out and cling to. Cher is just a prize here; even her hardy detractors will be fighting the beat on this one."^[15] The critic Robert Christgau highlighted "Believe" as the best song on the album.^[16] A reviewer from Entertainment Weekly described it as "poptronica glaze, the soon-to-be club fave" and called Cher's voice "unmistakable".^[17] Deborah Wilker from Knight Ridder said that "her electronically altered vocal" was "like nothing she's ever done".^[18]

New York Daily News described "Believe" as a "club track so caffeinated, it not only microwaved [Cher's] cold career to scorching-hot but gave dance music its biggest hit since the days of disco".^[19] They noted the song's "killer hook and amazing beat."^[20] Neil Strauss from The New York Times wrote that "the verses are rich and bittersweet, with the added gimmick of breaking up Cher's voice through an effect that makes her sound robotic. And the choruses are catchy and uplifting, with Cher wailing, 'Do you believe in life after love?' All of it bounces over a bed of 80s-style electronic pop. It is a song with a universal theme—a woman trying to convince herself that she can survive a breakup."^[21] Another editor, Jim Sullivan, called it a "hooky, defiant beat-fest".^[22]

"Believe" was released as the lead single from Cher's 22nd studio album, Believe (1998), on October 19, 1998.^[31] It peaked at number one in 23 countries.^[32] It debuted at number 99 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on December 19, 1998.^[33] On January 23, 1999, it reached the top 40. On March 13, and reached number one March 13, making Cher, then aged 52, the oldest solo female artist to achieve this feat, breaking the record set by Tina Turner who was 44 when she reached No. 1 with "What's Love Got to Do With It" in 1984.^[34][a] Cher also set the record for the longest span between number-one singles on the Hot 100: 33 years and 7 months between her first number-one single, "I Got You Babe", and her fifth and last, "Believe".^[35] "Believe" was ranked as the number-one song of 1999 by Billboard on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Dance Club Play charts, becoming the biggest single of her entire career.^{[citation needed]} "Believe" became Cher's 17th, and last, top-10 hit in the US.^{[citation needed]}

"Believe" debuted at number one on the UK singles chart on October 25, 1998—for the week ending October 31, 1998—during a week in which the top five singles were all new entries, a first for the chart (not counting the first ever chart).^[36][37] It was Cher's fourth number one in the UK, and remained at the top of the chart for seven consecutive weeks. "Believe" was Britain's biggest-selling song of 1998, and won its writers Ivor Novello Awards for Best Selling UK Single, Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and International Hit of the Year, at the 1999 ceremony.^[38] On January 31, 2025, "Believe" was certified five-times platinum in the UK.^{[citation needed]} As of October 2017, it had sold 1,830,000 copies in the UK, making it the biggest-selling song by a female artist on the UK singles chart.^[39] At 52 years old, Cher was the oldest female artist to top the UK charts, a record broken by Kate Bush in 2022, who was 63 when "Running Up That Hill" re-entered the charts and reached number one.^[40]

The success of "Believe" not only expanded through each country's singles chart, but also most countries' dance charts. In the United States "Believe" spent 15 weeks on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, five of those weeks at number one, and 22 weeks on the European Hot Dance Charts. "Believe" also set a record in 1999 after spending 21 weeks atop the Billboard Maxi-Singles Sales chart—it was still in the top 10 one year after its entry on the chart.^[41] On October 13, 2008, the song was voted number 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.^[3][42] Peter Rauhofer (Club 69) won the Grammy Award in 2000 for Best Remixer of the Year for his remix of Cher's "Believe".

The music video for "Believe" was directed by Nigel Dick. It features Cher in a nightclub in a double role as both a singer on stage wearing a glowing headdress and a supernatural being in a cage surrounded by many people to whom she is giving advice. The video follows a woman (played by Katrine De Candole)^[43] who is in the club with her friends and sees her ex-boyfriend. Scenes are shown of her clearly disappointed when he walks away from her and then proceeds to dance and make out with another woman in her presence.^{[citation needed]} The version on The Very Best of Cher: The Video Hits Collection is slightly different from the previous version (which 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 Europe before a video was completed.^{[citation needed]} 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".^{[citation needed]}

The Billboard music critic Chuck Taylor in March 1999 graded the video a "C", praising Cher's appearance but criticizing "an unnecessary subplot about a few kids stalking each other."^[44] In Pitchfork, Simon Reynolds wrote that through the combination of cosmetic surgery, makeup and bright lights, "Cher actually looks how Auto-Tune sounds ... Her face and her voice seem to be made out of the same immaterial substance."^[45]

Cher performed the song during the Do You Believe? tour, the Farewell Tour, Cher at the Colosseum and the Dressed to Kill Tour.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 ballad "I Hope You Find It", a second single from her 25th studio album Closer to the Truth.^[46] It returned as the encore at her Classic Cher (2017–2020) shows and stayed in that place for the Here We Go Again Tour (2018–2020) as well.^{[citation needed]}

VH1 placed "Believe" at number 60 in their list of 100 Greatest Dance Songs in 2000^[47] and at number 74 in their list of 100 Greatest Songs of the 90s in 2007.^[48] In 2003, English music journalist Paul Morley included it in his list of "Greatest Pop Single of All Time".^[49] In 2007, Rolling Stone placed "Believe" at number 10 in their list of the "20 Most Annoying Songs".^[50] In 2008, Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times called it "the greatest disco song written after the alleged death of disco".^[51] In 2020, The Guardian ranked "Believe" as the 83rd greatest UK number one.^[52] "Believe" was placed at number 337 on the 2021 revised list of Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".^[53]

In July 2020, the digital publication The Pudding carried out a study on the most widely-known songs from the '90s and songs that are most known by Millennials and the people of Generation Z. "Believe" was the sixth song with the highest recognisability rate.^[54] In October 2023, Billboard ranked it among the "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time".^[55] In 2024, Esquire and Forbes ranked "Believe" at numbers 32 and 20 in their lists of the 50 best songs of the '90s, respectively.^[56][57]

In May 2012, after successfully auditioning for The X Factor (UK), Ella Henderson, then 16 years old, performed a ballad arrangement of "Believe" after the Bootcamp round, reducing guest judge Nicole Scherzinger to tears.^[76] The cover, which was based on Adam Lambert's version performed on American Idol in 2009,^[77] was so popular for its slow tempo, emotional interpretation that Henderson released an acoustic performance in 2013 on YouTube^[78] and performed it at the National Television Awards on January 23, 2013.^[79] Henderson also included a studio version of the cover on a deluxe edition of her debut album Chapter One as part of a pre-order EP called Chapter One Sessions.^{[citation needed]}

In October 2016, the Australian rock band DMA's performed "Believe" for Triple J's Like a Version. It made such an impact on the Australian audience that in the year it was performed, the cover became the highest ranked Like A Version in a Hottest 100 countdown, landing at number 6 in the 2016 edition of the countdown (this was later surpassed by The Wiggles in 2021). In 2020 it was the only Like A Version to feature in the Hottest 100 of the 2010s countdown landing at No. 41. In 2023, it topped the Triple J Hottest 100 of Like a Version countdown.^[80]

In December 2018, Lambert performed his ballad version of "Believe" again in honor of Cher during the 41st annual Kennedy Center Honors; the performance was highly acclaimed, with Cher stating that she was "at a loss for words" and was moved to tears.^[81][82] On December 6, 2019, Lambert released a studio version of his version of "Believe", which reached number 23 on the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart on December 21, 2019.^[83][84]

Personnel are adapted from the Believe album liner notes and Sound on Sound.^[96][97]