“Believe” became the first Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 to use Auto-Tune as a prominent vocal effect.
Released in 1998, the song was recorded for Cher’s twenty-second studio album, also titled Believe. Producers Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling used the Antares Auto-Tune processor aggressively on Cher’s vocal, creating the striking electronic vocal sound later widely imitated in pop music.
“Believe” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1999 and stayed there for four weeks. It became Cher’s first American chart-topper as a solo artist since 1974 and made her, at age 52, the oldest female solo artist to top the chart with a No. 1 song at that time.
Auto-Tune existed before “Believe,” but the song helped turn the effect into an audible artistic style rather than merely a studio correction tool. Its dance production also marked a major late-career reinvention for Cher.