Who wrote it
I'm a Believer
Written by Neil Diamond — recorded by The Monkees
The Monkees’ biggest hit and one of the best-selling singles of the 1960s — but the band didn’t write it. ‘I’m a Believer’ was written by Neil Diamond, then near the start of his own career, who recorded his own version the following year.
The credit
Who wrote it
Definitive version The Monkees’ 1966 single — the last US No. 1 of 1966 and the biggest-selling single of 1967.
How we traced it
The song is credited to Neil Diamond on the Monkees’ release and throughout its publishing history; it was produced by Jeff Barry.
Diamond wrote it in 1966 and recorded his own version for his 1967 album Just for You; that version was a minor chart hit when released as a single in 1971.
The Monkees were assembled for a television show and, early on, largely recorded material written by outside songwriters — which is why the writing credit surprises people who take the hit for a band original.
I'm a Believer — song historyKnow more about the original — or think we’ve got it wrong? Add a source →
Context
The song that made Neil Diamond a hitmaker
‘I’m a Believer’ is one of the clearest cases of a song the public files under the performer while the writer sits just out of frame. Neil Diamond wrote it early enough that he was better known, at the time, as a songwriter for others than as a star in his own right.
That flipped soon after: the Monkees’ No. 1 helped establish Diamond as a commercial songwriter, and his own performing career followed. The song belongs to both of them — the Monkees’ record, Diamond’s pen.
The Monkees' biggest hit was Neil Diamond's early calling card.