Cher’s Record Label Hated the Vocals on 1 of Her Biggest Songs

Cher‘s “Believe” was a massive hit and the Goddess of Pop said putting it together was fun. Despite this, she almost gave up on the song. Issues in the recording studio led her producer to make a major change to the song.

Cher told her producer that she should find someone else to sing ‘Believe’

During a 2015 interview with Billboard, Cher said she’s not a fan of her music overall but she had positive things to say about some of her tunes. “I honestly think that the most fun I ever had making a song was ‘Believe,'” she said. “Because you didn’t know it was me in the beginning, and I was so excited.”

She recalled the creation of the song. “[Producer Mark Taylor] hated what I was doing and he kept saying to do it better, because it didn’t really pop until the chorus,” she remembered. “I just couldn’t do it.”

The singer had a difficult time working with Taylor. “We had a huge fight,” she said. “I stormed out. I mean, we were really close — we’re still really close — but he just kept going ‘It’s not good, it’s not good.’ And then I said, ‘Well, if you want it better, get somebody else.’ And I walked out.”

Cher jumped for joy after Mark Taylor made a certain change to the track

Subsequently, Taylor altered the pitch of the vocals. Cher was a huge fan of the new edits to the song. She and Taylor jumped up and down in joy because it sounded so good.

She decided she wanted record executive David Foster to listen to it. “And then, after he heard it, he turned around and he said, ‘There’s only one thing wrong with this song,'” she remembered. “And I thought, ‘Oh my God, what is it?’ And he said, ‘I didn’t do it. I didn’t produce it.'”

‘Believe’ became a huge hit even though people at Warner Records had issues with the song

According to The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, “Believe” still proved controversial with the record label. Some people working there wanted to remove the effects on Cher’s voice. The Goddess of Pop said they could do so over her dead body. Ultimately, the vocal effects remained on “Believe.”

Warner Records initially didn’t want to release the song in the United States. The singer tried to convince them the song was worthwhile. Finally, the song was released in the U.S. and became one of her biggest singles. She broke a chart record because there was a 33-year gap between her first No. 1 single (“I Got You Babe“) topping the charts in 1965 and “Believe” topping the charts in 1999.

“Believe” was a lot of fun for Cher to make even if she almost gave up on it.