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Believe (Elton John song)

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"Believe"
Single by Elton John
from the album Made in England
B-side
Released20 February 1995 (1995-02-20)[1]
Genre
Length4:51
LabelRocket
Composer(s)Elton John
Lyricist(s)Bernie Taupin
Producer(s)
Elton John singles chronology
"Circle of Life"
(1994) 		"Believe"
(1995) 		"Made in England"
(1995)
Music video
"Believe" on YouTube

"Believe" is a song by English musician Elton John. It was the first single from his twenty-fourth studio album, Made in England (1995), and was released on 20 February 1995 by Rocket. Several versions of the single were released, featuring B-sides such as "Circle of Life" from The Lion King and live versions of tracks including "The One," "The Last Song," "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word," and "Believe," which were recorded at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

"Believe" reached number one in Iceland, Italy and Canada, becoming John's 18th number-one single in the latter country. In the United States, "Believe" became John's 15th number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart[2] and peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100; it gave him a third straight top-20 single in the US. In Europe, it was a top-20 hit in France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the Wallonia region of Belgium.

The accompanying music video for the song was entirely in black-and-white and shot in London.

Critical reception

[edit]

Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report wrote, "Elton John debuts his resurrected Rocket label with a ballad as compelling as any he's ever recorded. Go directly to the air studio, place in deck, hit play. End of story."[3] Chuck Campbell from Knoxville News Sentinel viewed it as a "plodding single," saying, "This is the formula stuff John's been getting away with for years."[4] British magazine Music Week gave the song four out of five, describing it as "a fab, pompous and brooding 'I believe in love' stomper. Thankfully, he's ditched the frothy pop for a quite majestic song that would no doubt get an approving nod from a certain Freddie Mercury."[5] Music Week editor Alan Jones felt the song "is clearly destined to be massive. The big ballad, cleverly marketed over two CD singles, augers well for his upcoming album Made in England."[6] Paul Moody from NME wrote that the "belting comeback single" "is probably the best thing Elt's come up with since his last career revival in the mid-'80s, being a booming epic not dissimilar in mood to Duran's marvellous 'Ordinary World'."[7] A reviewer from People Magazine described it as "a power ballad that hints at John Lennon during his pop-obsessed Double Fantasy era."[8]

Music video

[edit]

In the accompanying black-and-white music video for "Believe" directed by Marcus Nispel, Elton John travels around the world in a zeppelin. Some behind the scenes footage of the video was used for the 1997 documentary Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras.

Accolades

[edit]
Year Nominee / work Award Result
1996 "Believe" Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance[9] Nominated

Track listings

[edit]
  • 7-inch
  1. "Believe" – 4:51
  2. "The One" (live) – 6:32
  • Europe CD maxi
  1. "Believe" – 4:51
  2. "Believe" (live) – 4:43
  3. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (live) – 3:52
  • US CD maxi
  1. "Believe" – 4:51
  2. "The One" (live) – 6:32
  3. "Believe" (live) – 4:43

Personnel

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Charts

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 18 February 1995. p. 31. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 129.
  3. ^ Sholin, Dave (17 February 1995). "Gavin Picks: Singles" (PDF). Gavin Report. p. 94. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  4. ^ Campbell, Chuck (31 March 1995). "Traci Lords' Passion Turns To Techno Music". Knoxville News Sentinel.
  5. ^ "Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 11 February 1995. p. 10. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  6. ^ Jones, Alan (25 February 1995). "Talking Music" (PDF). Music Week. p. 16. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  7. ^ Moody, Paul (25 March 1995). "Long Play". NME. p. 41. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Picks and Pans Review: Made in England". People. 24 April 1995. Retrieved 18 October 2021.
  9. ^ "THE 38TH ANNUAL GRAMMY NOMINATIONS : The Complete List of Nominees". Los Angeles Times. 5 January 1996.
  10. ^ "Elton John – Believe". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Elton John – Believe" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Elton John – Believe" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Elton John – Believe" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  14. ^ "Hits of the World: Canada" (PDF). Billboard. 24 June 1995. p. 52. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6889." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  16. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 9167." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  17. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 12. 25 March 1995. p. 15. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  18. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Elton John". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 117. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  19. ^ "Elton John – Believe" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  20. ^ "Elton John – Believe" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  21. ^ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (8.4. '95 – 14.4. '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 8 April 1995. p. 50. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  22. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Believe". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  23. ^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 12. 25 March 1995. p. 17. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  24. ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 13, 1995" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Elton John – Believe" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  26. ^ "Elton John – Believe". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  27. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  28. ^ "Elton John – Believe". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  29. ^ "Elton John – Believe". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  30. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  31. ^ "Elton John Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  32. ^ "Elton John Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  33. ^ "Elton John Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  34. ^ "Elton John Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  35. ^ "RPM Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1995". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  36. ^ "RPM Top 100 Adult Contemporary Tracks of 1995". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  37. ^ "Tops de L'année | Top Singles 1995" (in French). SNEP. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  38. ^ "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1996. p. 16. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  39. ^ "Billboard Top 100 – 1995". Archived from the original on 15 August 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  40. ^ "1995 The Year in Music" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 51. 23 December 1995. p. YE-80. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
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