Cher's 'Believe' Becomes UK's First Female Triple-Platinum Single

Cher's 1998 single 'Believe' has become the first female solo single to be certified Triple-Platinum in the United Kingdom.

Just last week, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) announced that Pharrell Williams' 'Happy' had sold 1.8-million copies and therefore had become the UK's fourth ever Triple-Platinum single, following: Elton John's 'Candle In The Wind'; Pop Idol winner Will Young's double-A-side 'Evergreen' / 'Anything Is Possible'; and Aqua's novelty 'Barbie Girl'.

Today, the same music industry body has certified Cher's 1998 #1 smash hit as Triple-Platinum, thus making it the UK's fifth-ever Triple-Platinum single.

Last month, the BPI incorporated streaming figures into their certifications, with 100 streams equivalent to 1 single sale - which helped push Pharrell's 'Happy' over the 1.8-million barrier. Streaming would have had little - if any - help in Cher's Triple-Platinum certification, as the UK's Official Chart Company reported that 'Believe' was already at 1,790,000 sales in June of last year.

'Believe' ruled the UK single chart for a whopping seven weeks in late 1998 and ultimately surpassed Whitney Houston's monster-hit ballad 'I Will Always Love You' as the country's best-selling single by a female solo artist. The dance-pop tune has sold somewhere between 8-million to 11-million copies worldwide, including almost 2.5-million in the United States.