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When You Believe
"When You Believe" is a song made for the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature The Prince of Egypt, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version of "When You Believe" performed by American singers Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, with additional music and lyrics by writer-producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, was also recorded for the film's end credits and its soundtrack album by DreamWorks Records. Additionally, the song was released as a single on October 28, 1998, serving as the lead single for the soundtrack and for both Houston's fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love by Arista Records, and the second single and first commercial single for Carey's first compilation album, #1's by Columbia Records. The original version of the song, featured in the narrative portion of the film, is performed by Sally Dworsky, Michelle Pfeiffer, and a children's choir soloist Andrew Bryan. "When You Believe" is described as a big ballad, with meaningful and inspirational lyrics, describing the ability each person has to achieve miracles when they reach out to God and believe.
The song received generally positive reviews from music critics and experienced moderate success, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, despite heavy media attention and live promotion. It achieved better charting throughout Europe and other nations, reaching number one in Hungary, peaking within the top five in Belgium, France, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. "When You Believe" was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 71st annual ceremony on March 21, 1999. Prior to their performance of the song that night, Schwartz left Babyface's name off the nomination submission sheet. He felt that because the additions Babyface added to the song were not featured in the actual film version, he did not deserve writing credits. However, while Babyface did not receive the Oscar, Carey and Houston performed his version of the song, because they were more familiar with it than the one in the film. Prior to their performance at the Academy Awards, they sang it on November 26, 1998, on The Oprah Winfrey Show, promoting the song, as well as both their albums.
The song featured two music videos. The first and most commonly seen video was filmed at Brooklyn Academy of Music performing arts center. The video features both singers, and begins with Houston and Carey performing in a large auditorium, giving the illusion of a concert. Towards the end of the video, clips of the film are projected onto a large screen at the concert, while they belt out the final verse. The alternate video was only released on NBC's special, When You Believe: Music Inspired by the Prince of Egypt, broadcast on December 13, 1998. It features a similar synopsis, with both singers performing on a large stage of an old Egyptian pyramid.
It's sort of a message song. It's what Prince of Egypt is about, Moses. If we were ever going to come together on any kind of record, this is definitely the right one, and really the coolest thing to me is that after all of the drama and everybody making it like we had a rivalry, she was just really cool and we had a really good time in the studio. We had fun. And so, if nothing else, it was a good experience... and diva-ism, whatever.
When Carey compiled her first compilation effort, #1's, "When You Believe" was included in the track listing. According to Carey, the song was included because she felt it was "a miracle" that she and Houston collaborated on a record. During the development of All That Glitters (a film Carey was working on at the time, later known as Glitter), she had been introduced to DreamWorks co-owner Jeffrey Katzenberg, who asked her if she would record the song "When You Believe" for the soundtrack of the animated film The Prince of Egypt. Houston, on the other hand, was introduced to the project through Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, with whom she had been collaborating on her album, My Love Is Your Love. After they were shown the film separately, both became very enthusiastic about participating in the project.
The song was co-written by Stephen Schwartz and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, who also produced the song. Edmonds expressed how he went through more than one version of the song and described its production as a beautiful film ballad that was something different from anything he, Carey, or Houston had ever previously recorded. In an interview with Vibe, Carey said that she "liked [the song] the way it was". She had characterised it as "a very big ballad but in an inspirational way" and denied speculation that there had been past rivalry or animosity between her and Houston prior to its recording: "I never even really talked to her until this. We never had any issues between us. The media and everybody made it an issue". In an interview with Ebony, Houston spoke about her relationship with Carey:
I enjoyed working with her very much. Mariah and I got along very great. We had never talked and never sang together before. We just had a chance for camaraderie, singer-to-singer, artist-to-artist, that kind of thing. We just laughed and talked and laughed and talked and sang in between that ... It's good to know that two ladies of soul can still be friends. We talked about doing other things together, enterprise-wise, which is cool, because she's got a good, vivid mind, that girl. She's a smart lady. I really like Mariah.
Although the pair continued to express positive feelings for one another, the media continued to perpetuate the rivalry narrative. It was alleged that the singers had to record their parts separately due to tension. While media speculation grew as the film's release date drew near, both singers maintained that they had become close friends, and had only the most positive things to say about each other.
When You Believe
"When You Believe" is a song made for the 1998 DreamWorks musical animated feature The Prince of Egypt, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. A pop single version of "When You Believe" performed by American singers Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, with additional music and lyrics by writer-producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, was also recorded for the film's end credits and its soundtrack album by DreamWorks Records. Additionally, the song was released as a single on October 28, 1998, serving as the lead single for the soundtrack and for both Houston's fourth studio album, My Love Is Your Love by Arista Records, and the second single and first commercial single for Carey's first compilation album, #1's by Columbia Records. The original version of the song, featured in the narrative portion of the film, is performed by Sally Dworsky, Michelle Pfeiffer, and a children's choir soloist Andrew Bryan. "When You Believe" is described as a big ballad, with meaningful and inspirational lyrics, describing the ability each person has to achieve miracles when they reach out to God and believe.
The song received generally positive reviews from music critics and experienced moderate success, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, despite heavy media attention and live promotion. It achieved better charting throughout Europe and other nations, reaching number one in Hungary, peaking within the top five in Belgium, France, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. "When You Believe" was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 71st annual ceremony on March 21, 1999. Prior to their performance of the song that night, Schwartz left Babyface's name off the nomination submission sheet. He felt that because the additions Babyface added to the song were not featured in the actual film version, he did not deserve writing credits. However, while Babyface did not receive the Oscar, Carey and Houston performed his version of the song, because they were more familiar with it than the one in the film. Prior to their performance at the Academy Awards, they sang it on November 26, 1998, on The Oprah Winfrey Show, promoting the song, as well as both their albums.
The song featured two music videos. The first and most commonly seen video was filmed at Brooklyn Academy of Music performing arts center. The video features both singers, and begins with Houston and Carey performing in a large auditorium, giving the illusion of a concert. Towards the end of the video, clips of the film are projected onto a large screen at the concert, while they belt out the final verse. The alternate video was only released on NBC's special, When You Believe: Music Inspired by the Prince of Egypt, broadcast on December 13, 1998. It features a similar synopsis, with both singers performing on a large stage of an old Egyptian pyramid.
It's sort of a message song. It's what Prince of Egypt is about, Moses. If we were ever going to come together on any kind of record, this is definitely the right one, and really the coolest thing to me is that after all of the drama and everybody making it like we had a rivalry, she was just really cool and we had a really good time in the studio. We had fun. And so, if nothing else, it was a good experience... and diva-ism, whatever.
When Carey compiled her first compilation effort, #1's, "When You Believe" was included in the track listing. According to Carey, the song was included because she felt it was "a miracle" that she and Houston collaborated on a record. During the development of All That Glitters (a film Carey was working on at the time, later known as Glitter), she had been introduced to DreamWorks co-owner Jeffrey Katzenberg, who asked her if she would record the song "When You Believe" for the soundtrack of the animated film The Prince of Egypt. Houston, on the other hand, was introduced to the project through Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, with whom she had been collaborating on her album, My Love Is Your Love. After they were shown the film separately, both became very enthusiastic about participating in the project.
The song was co-written by Stephen Schwartz and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, who also produced the song. Edmonds expressed how he went through more than one version of the song and described its production as a beautiful film ballad that was something different from anything he, Carey, or Houston had ever previously recorded. In an interview with Vibe, Carey said that she "liked [the song] the way it was". She had characterised it as "a very big ballad but in an inspirational way" and denied speculation that there had been past rivalry or animosity between her and Houston prior to its recording: "I never even really talked to her until this. We never had any issues between us. The media and everybody made it an issue". In an interview with Ebony, Houston spoke about her relationship with Carey:
I enjoyed working with her very much. Mariah and I got along very great. We had never talked and never sang together before. We just had a chance for camaraderie, singer-to-singer, artist-to-artist, that kind of thing. We just laughed and talked and laughed and talked and sang in between that ... It's good to know that two ladies of soul can still be friends. We talked about doing other things together, enterprise-wise, which is cool, because she's got a good, vivid mind, that girl. She's a smart lady. I really like Mariah.
Although the pair continued to express positive feelings for one another, the media continued to perpetuate the rivalry narrative. It was alleged that the singers had to record their parts separately due to tension. While media speculation grew as the film's release date drew near, both singers maintained that they had become close friends, and had only the most positive things to say about each other.