<p id=”par-1_48″><em>Glee </em>was one of the defining <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tv/”>TV</a> shows of the 2010s and the cast’s cover of <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/5-classic-rock-songs-overexposed.html/”>Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”</a> was a huge pop culture moment. The members of Journey were not enthused at first. Notably, <em>Glee </em>made the original song much cheesier than it ever was before.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-a-journey-member-revealed-how-don-t-stop-believin-got-bigger-and-bigger”>A Journey member revealed how ‘Don’t Stop Believin” got bigger and bigger</h2>
<p id=”par-2_92″>During a 2024 interview with <a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/aug/05/journey-dont-stop-believin-sopranos-midnight-train” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The Guardian</a>, Journey’s Neal Schon discussed his feelings about “Don’t Stop Believin’.” “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,” he said. “Everybody has their own theory about why ‘Don’t Stop Believin” exploded in the new millennium. First, there was the movie <em>Monster</em>, with Charlize Theron. Then came<em> The Sopranos</em> — I remember my phone blowing up and all my friends saying: ‘Man, did you see the final scene?’ </p>
<p id=”par-3_62″>“Then <em>Glee </em>happened,” he added. “I was terrified by that because I thought it was a teenybopper show, not so cool for us. Little did I know that it would open up a younger generation to our music. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/why-glees-ryan-murphy-called-slash-of-guns-n-roses-stupid.html/”>I’m a rocker</a> and a blues guy, and we always joke that if I think something is too schmaltzy, it’s usually gonna be big!”</p>
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<iframe title=”Journey – Don’t Stop Believin’ (Live 1981: Escape Tour – 2022 HD Remaster)” width=”925″ height=”694″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/VcjzHMhBtf0?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-glee-made-don-t-stop-believin-very-schmaltzy”>‘Glee’ made ‘Don’t Stop Believin” very schmaltzy</h2>
<p id=”par-4_76″>“Don’t Stop Believin’” was always schmaltzy. <em>Glee </em>turned it into 100% pure sucrose. The a cappella section, the use of Auto-Tune, the limp guitar riff, and <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/glee-predicted-lea-michele-jane-lynch-funny-girl-drama.html/”>Lea Michele’s over-emotive singing</a> all combine to make it a theater kid disaster that could only sound good if you’re five years old and this cover is your first exposure to Journey. Fortunately, <em>Glee</em>‘s fans were too young to know the original versions of the older songs on the show.</p>
<p id=”par-5_44″>Schon discussed the impact of “Don’t Stop Believin’.” “We just got done selling out three years of arenas and the band is firing on all cylinders right now,” he said. “When we play ‘Don’t Stop Believin” live, I feel like I’m in my Ferrari.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_26″>At some point, “Don’t Stop Believin’” stopped being a song. It’s now a fact of life. If you know one song, it’s probably “Don’t Stop Believin’.”</p>
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<iframe title=”Don’t Stop Believin’ (Glee Cast Version) (Cover of Journey)” width=”925″ height=”694″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Dc1d46O3O8?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/artists-who-wouldnt-let-glee-use-their-music.html/”>
Artists Who Wouldn’t Let Glee Use Their Music </a>
</p>
</div>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-the-journey-and-glee-versions-of-the-song-performed”>How the Journey and ‘Glee’ versions of the song performed</h2>
<p id=”par-7_60″>The original “Don’t Stop Believin’” reached No. 9 on the <a href=”https://www.billboard.com/artist/journey/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Billboard Hot 100</a> and stayed on the chart for 16 weeks. The tune appeared on the album <em>Escape</em>. That record peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a single week, making it Journey’s only chart-topper in the United States. Escape lasted on the Billboard 200 for 154 weeks.</p>
<p id=”par-8_62″>The <em>Glee </em>version of “Don’t Stop Believin’” reached No. 4 on the <a href=”https://www.billboard.com/artist/glee-cast/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Billboard Hot 100</a> and lasted on the chart for seven weeks, meaning that it peaked higher than the original. “Don’t Stop Believin’” became <em>Glee</em>‘s biggest hit. A whopping 207 <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/peter-tork-said-the-monkees-making-album-headquarters-star-treks-leonard-nimoy-becoming-real-vulcan.html/”>songs from <em>Glee</em></a> charted on the Billboard Hot 100, however, the vast majority of these songs only charted for one week.</p>
<p id=”par-9_36″><em>Glee</em>‘s “Don’t Stop Believin’” appeared on the album <em>Glee: The Music, Volume 1</em>. That album climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard 200. It spent 75 weeks on the chart, making it the show’s biggest album.</p>
<p id=”par-10_10″>“Don’t Stop Believin’” is great when Journey is singing it.</p>