Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ has been named the as the Biggest Song Of All Time

22 March, 2024

Journey photo. Credit: Mike Savoia

Journey‘s hit track ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ has been named the biggest song of all time by Forbes and has become 18x platinum.

According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ is now an 18-times-platinum-certified single, meaning that the track has moved more than 18 million units between pure sales and other forms of consumption like streaming in the US alone.

Before reaching this honour, in May 2013, ‘Don’t Stop Believin” had only hit quadruple platinum status. Journey’s founding member and lead guitarist Neal Schon took to X/Twitter to celebrate the achievement. “We now officially have the biggest song in the world ever in the history of music! Congratulations to all 👆🏻🙌🏻👌🏻,” he wrote.

Former Journey frontman Steve Perry also took to his Instagram account to celebrate, writing: “To be part of such a moment as this made me reflect on my parents. By that I mean, though I lost them both years ago, I was so happy for them because they are truly the reason this is happening. My dad was a singer and both of them were very musical. So on behalf of my Mom and Dad, I thank every one of you for so many years of support.”

Upon it’s release in October 1981, ‘Don’t Stop Believin” earned the Number Nine spot on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming one of Journey’s biggest hits. The track appeared on the band’s seventh studio LP ‘Escape’ which landed the top spot on the Billboard 200 upon its release.

‘Escape’ was certified Diamond by the RIAA in July 2021 for at least 10 million sales in the US, making it the band’s most successful studio album and second most successful album overall behind ‘Greatest Hits’.

‘Don’t Stop Believin” has become a staple within pop culture, notably being featured in the famous final scene of HBO’s The Sopranos series finale ‘Made in America’.

It was also featured in Rock of Ages, a jukebox musical featuring hits of the ’80s that went on to become a film staring Tom Cruise as well as the in the pilot episode of the 2009 series Glee. It would go on to be performed seven times in the show, as well as live on tour between 2010 and 2011.

In other news, Journey recently announced a 50th anniversary UK and Ireland arena tour, kicking off this autumn. Visit here for more information and to purchase tickets.

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