who was the first artist to use autotune

The artist most widely credited as the first to use Auto‑Tune on a vocal in a released song is Cher , on her 1998 hit “Believe.”

Why Cher is usually named

• Auto‑Tune was developed by Antares Audio Technologies in 1997 , but Cher’s “Believe” (released October 1998) was the first commercially released track to prominently feature the software on vocals.

• The producers deliberately cranked the retune‑speed setting to the fastest value, creating the now‑famous robotic “glitch” effect on the word “believe,” which many call the “Cher effect.”

Earlier or subtler uses?

• Some engineers say pitch‑correction software similar to Auto‑Tune had been used quietly in studios before 1998, mainly to fix small vocal mistakes rather than as an audible effect.

• A few forum discussions point to Kid Rock’s “Only God Knows Why” (on the 1998 album Devil Without a Cause) as an early example, but Cher’s “Believe” is still regarded as the first major, intentional use of Auto‑Tune as a creative vocal effect.

Quick reference table

Item| Detail
---|---
Software introduced| Auto‑Tune by Antares, 1997 57
First widely recognized use| Cher – “Believe” (1998) 35710
What made it famous| Robotic “Cher effect” on the word “believe” 37
Earlier pitch‑correction| Other tools used subtly in studios before 1998 19

In short: Cher is the first artist to use Auto‑Tune in a way that became famous and defined the sound , even if others may have used similar pitch‑correction tools quietly before her.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.