Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

On This Day in 2007, This Beloved TV Series Ended on a Divisive Note, Plus 3 More Iconic Soundtrack Moments

“I’m a fool to do your dirty work, oh yeah…”

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

June 10, 2007, marked the end of a television era when The Sopranos finale aired on HBO.

Six seasons of complicated, introspective, violent, messy storylines that changed the landscape of television. Without The Sopranos’ depth in both narrative and character, there would be no Breaking Bad, The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, or Mad Men. Seven years of golden-age TV culminated in this moment, sparking divisive arguments that persist nearly two decades later.

When the series finale ended by fading to black on the Soprano family while Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” played on the diner jukebox, many fans almost couldn’t believe what they’d seen. Was that it? They lamented. That can’t be it! The song cuts off on an ominous “Don’t stop—“. Tony Soprano’s fate, and that of his family, is left to languish in limbo forever.

Series creator David Chase has since refused to offer any insight into that ending. Except to defend his music choice. For example, he once said that Tony would have listened to Journey when he was younger. “He would’ve liked that song as a kid or a young man,” Chase said of “Don’t Stop Believin’”, speaking with Noisey in 2015. “That would have been part of his........

© Vice