Cher is a legend. And she’s been a legend since her early beginnings as one part of the pop duo Sonny & Cher. She’s earned plenty of accolades as a singer, musician, and film star over the years. The iconic diva even broke a pretty major record with a very memorable song on this very day, March 13, 1999.
Cher released her hit song “Believe” in October 1998 to great acclaim. A musician known for her work in disco, Cher stepped into a new era with this iconic Eurodance pop tune and the album of the same name that made waves. “Believe” became a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on this very day. And it remained at No. 1 for a whopping four weeks. Just as well, “Believe” stayed on the chart for a whopping 31 weeks, too. Shockingly, Cher was 52 years old when the song was released.
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The success of “Believe” was the first of its kind. Cher was the oldest woman to reach the summit of the Hot 100 at the time. She broke Tina Turner’s previous record, who was 44 years old when “What’s Love Got To Do With It” reached No. 1 in 1984. No one broke Cher’s record for decades until 2023, when 78-year-old Brenda Lee hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 with the holiday jam, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”.
The Legacy of “Believe”
Few songs remind one of the turn of the century and millennium quite like Cher’s “Believe”. In a way, it was the perfect song to welcome in a whole new era. Cher herself was entering a new era and fearlessly continued her successful music career in new spaces and genres, and it really did pay off in the end.
“Believe” won Cher a Grammy Award, her first and only one as of 2026. It was also Cher’s 17th Top 10 hit in the US, and it would be her last. But her career didn’t crumble after “Believe” hit the airwaves, either. Following the release of Believe, Cher enjoyed several more Top 10 albums, including Living Proof, Closer To The truth, and Dancing Queen.
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