Journey Guitarist Was Told to 'Play Something Dumb,' Leading to Pop Culture Favorite 'Don't Stop Believin' ' 45 Years Ago
Journey Guitarist Was Told to 'Play Something Dumb,' Leading to Pop Culture Favorite 'Don't Stop Believin' ' 45 Years Ago
Angela AndaloroThu, June 4, 2026 at 8:41 PM UTC
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The Sopranos (left), GleeCredit: Will Hart/HBO; FOX Image Collection/Getty -
Journey first released their song "Don't Stop Believin'" in 1981
While the song didn't chart well in its initial release, it's enjoyed several resurgences throughout the years, in part thanks to its use in The Sopranos and Glee
The band has opened up about the song's unusual trajectory and how it first came together
Journey gave pop culture one of its catchiest songs, 45 years ago.
Guitarist Neal Schon talked about recording "Don't Stop Believin'," which has become one of the band's most iconic singles. Speaking about the hit in a Nov. 2025 interview with Rick Beato, he explained producers Kevin Elson and Mike "Clay" Stone told him to "play something dumb" as he was working on the rhythm guitar for the track.
"It's crazy. When we wrote it, I thought there was something there when we were messing around with it in the studio. When I went back in the studio to listen after we cut it and it was coming together in a mix, I looked at the guys and I go, 'I think there's something here that's special that's going to be bigger than this whole record,' " Schon shared.
"And they go, 'Oh, you think so?' And I go, 'I do.' Not until this many decades later did it happen, but it did happen. Because when they released it as a single back then, it didn't chart nearly as high as some of the other singles."
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From the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s, the song enjoyed a resurgence, thanks to two important placements on TV. In 2007, the song appeared in the final moments of the series finale of The Sopranos.
Sopranos creator David Chase talked about the decision to use the song in the pivotal scene during a 2021 interview on the WTF with Marc Maron Podcast.
"I didn't know Journey was the answer. In preproduction [for the show's final season], there was going to be a song at the end [that Tony Soprano] was going to play on the jukebox. I was in the scout van with all the department heads … and I had never done this before. I said, 'Listen, I'm going to talk about three songs that I am thinking about for ending the show.' One of them was Al Green's 'Love and Happiness,' the second one I don't remember and the Journey song."
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"And they went, 'Oh, Jesus Christ, no. Don't do that! Ugh, f---.' And I said, 'Well, I guess that's it. That's the one.' I wasn't saying that just to throw it in their face. That was kind of my favorite, and it got a reaction of some kind. So I can make this song lovable, which it was — it had been."
Two years later, the song became the recurring anthem of Glee, with the musically-driven TV show performing their cover of the song in six different episodes throughout the show's six-year, six-season run.
Schon admitted in an interview with The Guardian that the single being used in Glee "terrified" the band at first.
"I was terrified by that because I thought it was a teenybopper show, not so cool for us," he said. "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!"
Singer Jonathan Cain also spoke with The Guardian, sharing, "I think every song has a destiny. When it was first released in 1981, 'Don't Stop Believin' ' didn't get played a ton on the radio. It only made it to number nine and then it was gone."
"But it has lasted and lasted. It's a song that gives you permission to dream. And there are still a lot of smalltown girls and city boys wanting to get on a midnight train going anywhere. Everyone is still looking for that window of hope and opportunity."
"That's universal. That's never going to change," he concluded.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
