Mariah Carey - I Still Believe - Live The Tonight Show with Jay Leno - 1998

"I Still Believe" is a song written and composed by Antonina Armato and Giuseppe Cantarelli, and originally recorded by pop singer Brenda K. Starr for her eponymous second studio album, Brenda K. Starr (1987). It is a ballad in which the singer is confident she and her former boyfriend will be together again one day. It is Starr's biggest hit in the United States, reaching the top-twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 and being considered her signature song. "I Still Believe" was covered by American singer Mariah Carey, a former backup singer for Starr before she achieved success, for her #1's album in 1998 and released as a single in 1999. It was also recorded by Cantopop singer Sandy Lam in 1989.

Background and release
While choosing new material to record for her first compilation, #1's, Mariah Carey decided to cover "I Still Believe" as a tribute to Brenda K Starr, as she had been Starr's backing singer in the late 1980s and Starr had helped jump-start Carey's career by handing a demo tape to CBS Records executive Tommy Mottola, who had then signed Carey to her first recording contract. She explained that the song "reminds me of the fact that not long ago I was a teenage girl with nothing to my name but a demo tape, my voice, and my ability to write songs. Brenda K. Starr treated me like a 'star' and gave me a shot."[12] During an interview for Entertainment Tonight, she further commented:

"I'm really glad that I got a chance to remake the song 'I Still Believe,' because the album is called '#1's' and this is the first song that I sang as a professional singer. I would go on the road with Brenda. I was a little skinny kid with no money that she took under her wing and she was so nice to me. I auditioned to be her back-up singer and she hired me and she used to bring me clothes and food, and she really took care of me like a big sister. A lot of people wouldn't have done that. The main thing was that she believed in me and it's really hard to get people to listen to your tapes. [...] She was always real cool and helpful and supportive. I always loved this song. When I sing it now, it reminds me of those times."[13]

"I Still Believe" was released as the compilation's second single on February 8, 1999. Carey's version derives from both pop and R&B music,[14] being produced by Carey with Stevie J and Mike Mason. According to EMI Music Publishing, the song was written in the key of G major and set in a moderately slow tempo of 59 beats per minute, while Carey's vocal range from G3 to D6.[15]

Remixes
A remix of the song was produced by Carey and Damizza titled "I Still Believe/Pure Imagination," which was included on the CD single with the original version and three other remixes, released on February 23, 1999.[16] It differs significantly from the original, as it retains none of the music and only minor lyrical elements. The melody is based heavily on interpolations of the song "Pure Imagination," which Gene Wilder sang, in character as Willy Wonka,