The music of this song was composed in 1983 & the words in 1984 for Linda Lawrence, one of the historical Motown-R&B vocal group The Supremes, upon her request. Beppe wrote it in order to help Linda to find a record deal & the song was never released with Linda's performance due to the fact that the record deal did not materialize. In 1988 a new singer with MCA Records, Brenda K.Starr, heard Linda's version through Beppe's publisher, EMI Screngems-Colgems, and decided to record it with the artistic production of world-wide renowned musician Eumir Deodato. In 1989 reached the top 10 in the U.S. charts as well as in several other territories such as the U.K., Japan, Germany & Australia. An 18 years old girl, Mariah Carey, was a back-ground singer for Brenda K.Starr and almost 10 years later she re-recorded "I Still Believe" in several different versions (rap, pop & dance) for a single release that sold several million copies world-wide &, as one of the selections of her Album/CD "#1's",
over 20 million copies world-wide.
In the booklet of that CD there's a nice note written by Mariah Carey where she dedicates "I Still Believe" to Brenda K.Starr, her mentor and the first person in show-business to give her a break & give her a chance to work when she was young and unknown.
"I Still Believe" proceeded to become one of the selections of the following Mariah Carey's Greatest Hits album in 2001 and all together, between Mariah Carey's several versions and releases, Brenda K. Starr's single and album, along with several other versions by other artists such as Krayzie Bone, reached a staggering sale of over 30 million records world-wide.
During an episode of the soap opera "Beatiful", the performance of "I Still Believe" (see video)
Beppe Cantarelli received an award at the Beverly Hilton Hotel by ASCAP, the American performing society of Authors & Publishers, because his song "I Still Believe" was one of the most performed songs in the United States of America and the rest of the world on radios, televisions and various mass media during the year 1999.