welp, looks like you all have some takes that seem to be backed by some data
no one mentioned Rock of Ages tho?
Wikipedia has some good data
A top-10 worldwide hit in 1981, "Don't Stop Believin'" became the group's signature song and has continued to endure over the years. Decades after its release, it became the best-selling digital track from the twentieth century, with over seven million downloads. Critics acclaimed its anthemic qualities; music magazine Rolling Stone ranked it among its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2022, the single was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[2] Cover versions have included the cast of the American comedy-drama Glee in 2009, which outperformed the original internationally.
In 2007, the song gained press coverage and a sharp growth in popularity for its use in the famous final scene of HBO's The Sopranos series finale "Made in America". Steve Perry was initially hesitant to allow the song to be used in The Sopranos but later agreed.[14] Digital downloads of the song soared following the episode's airing and the exposure motivated the band members to overcome the struggles they were having at the time and find a replacement lead singer after former lead singer Steve Augeri’s departure.[15][16]
The song has for years been commonly played at Detroit Red Wings home games. During the last minutes of playoff victories, the volume is lowered during the "born and raised in south Detroit" line, which is instead sung by home fans.[17][18] It was played at the closing ceremony of the Red Wings long-time home Joe Louis Arena in 2017. It is also used at other Detroit sporting events.[19]
The song is played during the 8th inning of every San Francisco Giants home game. Steve Perry is a Giants season ticket holder and memorably led the crowd in the song during a game in the World Series in 2014.[20] In addition, after the Giants won the 2010 World Series, Fox Sports used the song to close out their postgame coverage of the fifth and deciding game of the series.
The song got a boost when it was used as the closing number in Rock of Ages, a jukebox musical featuring hits of the '80s. The show ran on Broadway from 2009 to 2015, and in 2012 was made into a movie starring Tom Cruise.[21]
oh and this and this does back Hutch's assement
It is the number one paid digital download song originally released in the 20th century,[25] and was also the 72nd most downloaded song of 2008, and 84th most downloaded song of 2009 in the store, over 27 years after its release. On August 31, 2009 the song topped the 3 million mark in paid downloads.[26] It is the best-selling digital song from a pre-digital-era
