NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Legacy Recordings) - "Don't Stop Believin'," the classic
Journey power ballad, has just become the first catalog track in history to achieve online digital sales of more than 2 million units, according to SoundScan.
First made available through the iTunes Store on April 28, 2003, the truly timeless "Don't Stop Believin'" has become the top-selling catalog track in iTunes history and the sole catalog track to have crossed the 2 million (double platinum) threshold. (The term "catalog" is used to refer to a pre-digital era track released for digital sales prior to the launch of the iTunes Store.)
"Don't Stop Believin'" enjoyed a massive resurgence in popularity in June 2007 after serving as the soundtrack to the climactic final set-piece of HBO's hit mafia family television series, "The Sopranos." Download sales of the song on iTunes rocketed an incredible 482% for the period from Saturday, June 9th (the night before "The Sopranos" finale) through Tuesday, June 12th, of that year.
As downloads of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" reached record numbers, demand for the band's CD catalog began accelerating and continue to this day.
Following its original release in 1981, "Don't Stop Believin'," the second single from Journey's groundbreaking chart-topping "Escape" album, peaked at No 8 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and at No 9 on the Pop Singles chart. Propelled by what the All Music Guide has called "one of the best opening keyboard riffs in rock," "Don't Stop Believin'" quickly established itself as one of Journey's signature songs while defining the possibilities of the classic rock power ballad.
Like the rest of the Journey catalog, "Don't Stop Believin'" continues to connect with the hearts and lives of pop music lovers. The song has been a perennial favorite with producers and directors of both movies and television. It was featured memorably in "Monster," starring Charlize Theron and made its way onto iTunes' "Top 10 Most Downloaded Singles" list in 2005 following same-week appearances on both Fox's "Family Guy" and MTV's "Laguna Beach."
"Don't Stop Believin'" hit a grand slam in 2005 when it became the unofficial theme song for the Chicago White Sox, World Series Champions. Journey frontman Steve Perry performed the song at the World Series Championship celebration in Chicago.
