Journey were “terrified” of ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ being used in “teenybopper show” ‘Glee’
Journey have said they were “terrified” of their hit ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ being used in Glee.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the rockers have opened up about the history of their smash hit, including its usage on several popular films and TV shows.
“When I first heard the finished song I knew it was special, but it took years to get to the place where it’s a worldwide anthem,” said Journey guitarist and songwriter Neal Schon. “First, there was the movie Monster, with Charlize Theron. Then came The Sopranos – I remember my phone blowing up and all my friends saying: ‘Man, did you see the final scene?'”
“Then Glee happened,” he recounted. The song was used in the show’s 2009 pilot episode; the glee club’s performance of the song convinced Spanish teacher Will Schuester to become their eventual director, kicking off the premise for the series.
“I was terrified by that because I thought it was a teenybopper show, not so cool for us,” Schon revealed. “Little did I know that it would open up a younger generation to our music. I’m a rocker and a blues guy, and we always joke that if I think something is too schmaltzy, it’s usually gonna be big!”
Though ‘Don’t Stop Believin” was originally released in 1981, the song saw a resurgence when the hit Fox series featured it in its pilot episode. It shot the original song to Number Six in the charts, with the Glee version peaking at Number Two.
Meanwhile, ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ was named as the Biggest Song Of All Time by Forbes in March this year, going 18x platinum.
Schon took to X/Twitter to celebrate the news, writing: “We now officially have the biggest song in the world ever in the history of music! Congratulations to all 
”.
In other news, Journey recently announced a 50th anniversary UK and Ireland arena tour with Cheap Trick. Chek below for dates and purchase tickets here.
Journey’s 2024 UK and Ireland tour dates are:
OCTOBER
30 – CARDIFF, Utilita Arena Cardiff
31 – NOTTINGHAM, Motorpoint Arena
NOVEMBER
02 – GLASGOW, OVO Hydro
04 – BELFAST, SSE Arena Belfast
05 – DUBLIN, 3Arena
08 – MANCHESTER, AO Arena
09 – LEEDS, first direct Arena
11 – LIVERPOOL, M&S Bank Arena
13 – BIRMINGHAM, Utilita Arena Birmingham
16 – NEWCASTLE, Utilita Arena
17 – LONDON, O2 Arena
The post Journey were “terrified” of ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ being used in “teenybopper show” ‘Glee’ appeared first on NME.
Alex Rigotti
NME
