"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. A mid-tempo rock anthem, "Don't Stop Believin'" is memorable for its distinctive opening keyboard riff.
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, it became the best-selling digital track from the twentieth century, with over seven million downloads.
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.