Cher’s “Believe” gave her the record for the oldest female singer to top the Billboard Hot 100.
The dance-pop single was released in 1998 as the lead single from Cher’s album of the same name. It became her first U.S. No. 1 single and arrived more than three decades after her first chart appearances with Sonny Bono.
Cher was 52 when “Believe” reached the top in 1999. That made her the oldest female solo artist to lead the Hot 100 at the time, and the song also extended her career into a new era of electronic pop. Its prominent use of Auto-Tune as a creative vocal effect became especially influential.
The achievement is sometimes misremembered as Cher’s first chart hit. She had already recorded major successes, including “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” and “If I Could Turn Back Time.” “Believe” was specifically her first U.S. No. 1 and her landmark late-career comeback.