"She Believes in Me" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

. It was released in April 1979 as the second single from his 1978 album '' The Gambler''. The song was written by American singer-songwriter Steve Gibb (not to be confused with

Steve Gibb Stephen Thadeus Crompton Gibb (born 1 December 1973) is a British-American guitarist. He has been a member of numerous hard rock and metal bands including 58, Black Label Society, Crowbar, Kingdom of Sorrow, The Underbellys, SkilletHead, and ...

, son of

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popula ...

) who first released his version as a 7" single in 1978. A version by

T. G. Sheppard William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer-songwriter, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones ...

appears on his 1978 album ''Daylight'', released a month before Rogers' album.

Content

The song is the tale of a struggling songwriter/performer who has a beloved who supports him, although he sometimes wonders why.

Kenny Rogers version

"She Believes in Me" became one of his biggest crossover hits in the late spring of 1979, reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Country Singles chart. "She Believes in Me" also peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 pop singles chart, and number one on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart. It was also a minor pop hit in the UK, reaching number 42. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record W ...

'' said that it is "romantic" and features "Roger's lusty and mature delivery." The melody of the chorus also somewhat resembles the chorus of "

Lost Without Your Love ''Lost Without Your Love'' is the sixth and final studio album by Bread, released in 1977. The title track of this LP became the group's sixth and final top 10 hit, reaching number nine on the US '' ''Billboard'' Hot 100'' in February 1977. " ...

" by

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

band

Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

(released in 1976), with the chords and structure having some similar properties. The song "Como Ama una Mujer" ("How a Woman Loves") by

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series '' In Living Color'', where she re ...

, the title track of her

fifth album ''Fifth Album'' is the fourth studio album (her 5th overall release) by American singer and songwriter Judy Collins, released by Elektra Records in 1965. It peaked at No. 69 on the ''Billboard'' Pop Albums chart''. The album featured a collecti ...

, has a melodic chorus which was noted for being similar to the song.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Ronan Keating version

"She Believes in Me" served as the second single from Irish singer-songwriter

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career s ...

's third studio album, ''

Turn It On ''Turn It On'' is the third studio album released by Boyzone frontman and Irish singer-songwriter Ronan Keating. The album was released on 17 November 2003, a week after the release of the lead single, " Lost for Words". The album became the w ...

'' (2003). The song was released on February 9, 2004, peaking at number two on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. It was successful elsewhere, reaching the top 30 in Austria, Germany, and Ireland. Keating's version of the song slightly alters the lyrics from the original version.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "She Believes (In Me)" # "Lovin' Each Day" (

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

Live Session) # "She Believes (In Me)" (Metro mix) # "First Time" (live acoustic session video) # "She Believes (In Me)" (video) UK CD2 # "She Believes (In Me)" # " If Tomorrow Never Comes" UK DVD single # "She Believes (In Me)" # "First Time" (live acoustic session) # "She Believes (In Me)" (video) # " The Long Goodbye" (video) # The making of the video

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

Other versions

* In 1979,

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

recorded for his album ''

Mathis Magic ''Mathis Magic'' is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 17, 1979, by Columbia Records and contained an equal balance of new material and songs associated with other artists. Although this album did not m ...

'' * Also in 1979, Dutch-speaking

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

pop singer Will Tura sang a Dutch version of the song called "Zij gelooft in mij". * Two years later, in 1981,

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

singer

André Hazes André Gerardus Hazes (30 June 1951 - 23 September 2004) was a Dutch singer and actor. As an accomplished levenslied singer, Hazes recorded 36 studio and live albums, and 55 singles prior to his death in 2004. His music is still well-known in th ...

wrote another Dutch version of the song also called "Zij gelooft in mij". Although both songs bear the same name, the lyrics are completely different. It is also the title of an award-winning documentary by

John Appel John George Appel (1859–1929) was an Australian politician, lawyer, and farmer. He served from 1908 to 1929 as a delegate for the electoral district of Albert and from 1909 to 1915 as the Secretary of Mine and Public Works and Home Secretar ...

about André Hazes's life. * Also in 1981, Welsh singer

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

covered the song in a live performance at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. *

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

ic singer

Pálmi Gunnarsson Pálmi Gunnarsson (born 29 September 1950) is an Icelandic musician, who was involved in some of the country's most popular musical acts in the 1970s and into the 1980s, including Mannakorn and Brunaliðið. He is perhaps best known internatio ...

recorded an Icelandic version of the song called "Hún hefur trú á mér", which appears on his 1980 album ''Hvers vegna varst' ekki kyrr?''. *

Roger Whittaker Roger Henry Brough Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents. His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits. He is bes ...

covered it in his 1986 album "Best Loved Ballads" * Punk rock

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. ...

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (often shortened to just Me First or the Gimmes) are a punk rock supergroup and cover band that formed in San Francisco in 1995. The band's lineup consists of Spike Slawson, Fat Mike, Joey Cape, and Dave Raun. Ch ...

recorded a version of "She Believes in Me" for their 2006 album, ''

Love Their Country ''Love Their Country'' is the fifth studio album, and sixth overall by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. It was released on October 17, 2006, by Fat Wreck Chords. The album consists of cover versions of country and western songs. Prior to its rele ...

''. * In 2011

Scotty McCreery Scott Cooke McCreery (born October 9, 1993) is an American country music singer. He rose to fame after winning the tenth season of ''American Idol'' on May 25, 2011. His debut studio album, ''Clear as Day'', was released in October 2011 and w ...

performed this song on ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

'' as his third number in the May 17 episode. It was chosen for him to sing by the judges. * Around the same time, a Dutch female singer

Dominique van Hulst Dominique Rijpma van Hulst (; born 7 September 1981) is a Dutch singer and actress known by her stage name Do. She is best known for singing the vocals of "Heaven", DJ Sammy's worldwide top 10-hit in 2002–2003, a cover of the 1980s hit of the ...

, better known as 'Do', covered the song as "Hij gelooft in mij" (He believes in me). * The song is also covered in Portuguese by Maria de Fátima. * Spanish version sung by Spanish singer Dyango "Ella cree en mí".

References

{{Authority control 1978 songs 1979 singles 2004 singles T. G. Sheppard songs Kenny Rogers songs Ronan Keating songs Music videos directed by Lindy Heymann Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Larry Butler (producer) United Artists Records singles