karaokecaptions

Ranked by what people really sing

The best karaoke songs

Not the biggest hits. The ones that reliably work. Every song here earns its place by what happens in the room when it starts.

"Best" is doing a lot of work in that phrase, so here is what it means on this page. These are the karaoke songs that reliably land. Not the most streamed, not the most critically admired. The ones where the first four bars change the temperature of a room.

That is a different list from a chart. Some of the most successful records ever made are terrible karaoke, because they were built around a voice nobody else has. Meanwhile a handful of merely popular songs are unbeatable, because the whole room knows the chorus and will drag you through it whether you're any good or not.

The ordering comes from public karaoke charts and the singer threads where the same forty titles keep coming back. Against each one we have written what it is actually doing for you: the crowd hook, the forgiving verse, the moment you can stop singing and let the room take over.

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# Song · Why it lands Range low → high Difficulty Length
  1. 1 ShallowDuet Lady Gaga2018Popkey G96 bpm The verses are gentle and sit low. Then the last chorus goes somewhere most people cannot follow, which is exactly why the room watches. 3:36
  2. 2 Bohemian RhapsodyGroup Queen1975Rockkey Cm144 bpm Nobody sings this well and nobody has ever minded. The room takes the opera section off your hands and the guitar solo gives you somewhere to stand still. 5:55
  3. 3 Dancing QueenGroup ABBA1976Popkey A101 bpm The chorus sits high enough to be a real sing, but the room joins in so completely that a wobble in the middle of it disappears. 3:50
  4. 4 Don't Stop Believin'Group Journey1981Hard Rockkey E119 bpm The verses are low and conversational and lull you completely. Then the title line arrives at the very top of the song, in the last thirty seconds, when you have stopped concentrating. 4:11
  5. 5 Sweet CarolineGroupTalk-sing Neil Diamond1969Popkey B126 bpm The melody barely moves and the key sits low. The only part anyone is waiting for is the bit where they shout, not the bit where you sing. 3:24
  6. 6 Livin' on a PrayerGroup Bon Jovi1986Rockkey C123 bpm A perfect karaoke song for four minutes and an ambush in the last one. Everyone knows the chorus; almost nobody survives where it goes at the end. 4:09
  7. 7 I Want It That Way Backstreet Boys1999Popkey F#m99 bpm Built for several voices, which means nobody is ever alone for long. The chorus is the most reliably known line of the entire decade. 3:33
  8. 8 WonderwallGroupTalk-sing Oasis1995Indiekey D87 bpm Five notes, a shouted chorus, and a room that will sing it whether you do or not. The nearest thing to a guaranteed result. 4:19
  9. 9 Take Me Home, Country Roads John Denver1971Countrykey A82 bpm Everybody knows it, nobody has strong feelings about it, and it sits in the middle of almost any voice. The safest song in the country section. 3:18
  10. 10 CreepTalk-sing Radiohead1992Alternative Rockkey G92 bpm The verses are almost spoken and the chorus is a shout rather than a sing. Attitude does most of the work, which is why it survives voices that should not attempt it. 3:59
  11. 11 Mr. BrightsideGroupTalk-sing The Killers2004Indiekey C#148 bpm Barely a melody, entirely a shout, and the whole room does it with you. The words come fast but they never go high. 3:43
  12. 12 AfricaGroup Toto1982Classic Rockkey A93 bpm The chorus is layered on the record, so the backing does half the work. The verses are lower and easier than the song's reputation suggests. 4:56
  13. 13 I Will SurviveGroup Gloria Gaynor1978R&Bkey Am117 bpm A song about walking through a door, which gives you something to act rather than something to sing. The room arrives at the chorus regardless. 4:56
  14. 14 Total Eclipse of the HeartGroup Bonnie Tyler1983Popkey G#130 bpm Enormous, absurd and much harder than anyone expects. Its saving grace is that the whole room wants it to be ridiculous, so going too far is the correct approach. 4:27
  15. 15 Tennessee Whiskey Chris Stapleton2015BlueGrasskey A97 bpm A slow burn that lives or dies on tone rather than accuracy, which is unusually forgiving right up until the last chorus, where it stops being forgiving at all. 4:53
  16. 16 Zombie The Cranberries1994Alternative Rockkey G83 bpm The verses are almost monotone and the chorus is a wail you can throw yourself into. Precision is not the point and never was. 5:06
  17. 17 Valerie Amy Winehouse2007Soulkey Fm97 bpm Fast, warm and rhythmic, with a chorus the room knows cold. The speed is the only real obstacle. 3:54
  18. 18 Rolling in the Deep Adele2010Soulkey G#105 bpm The verses are low and stalking, which flatters most voices, and then the chorus asks for genuine power. The drums carry you even if the notes do not. 3:48
  19. 19 My Way Frank Sinatra1969Swing Slow enough to think about, which is a gift and a trap. It builds to a real ending, but the phrasing is conversational the whole way there. 4:36
  20. 20 Lean on MeTalk-sing Bill Withers1972Soulkey C75 bpm A song built to be sung by a room rather than a person. It sits low, moves slowly and repeats until everyone has caught up. 4:19
  21. 21 Piano ManGroupTalk-sing Billy Joel1973Rockkey C89 bpm Six minutes of storytelling with a chorus that is essentially a group hum. Long, but almost none of it is difficult. 5:39
  22. 22 Sweet Home AlabamaGroupTalk-sing Lynyrd Skynyrd1974Rockkey G98 bpm Three chords, a drawl and a chorus everyone shouts. The verses are close to spoken. 4:44
  23. 23 Friends in Low PlacesGroupTalk-sing Garth Brooks1990Countrykey A108 bpm The best group song in country music. The verses are conversational and the chorus is designed for a bar to shout back at you. 4:20
  24. 24 Wagon WheelGroupTalk-sing Darius Rucker2013Countrykey A148 bpm Relentlessly cheerful and impossible to get wrong. The chorus repeats often enough that people who have never heard it join in by the second one. 4:58
  25. 25 Jolene Dolly Parton1973Countrykey C#m111 bpm Almost hypnotic. The melody circles the same few notes, and the name does most of the emotional work for you. 2:42
  26. 26 9 to 5 Dolly Parton1980Countrykey F#105 bpm Bright, fast and relentlessly upbeat, with a chorus that everyone in the room over thirty knows by reflex. 2:42
  27. 27 Ring of FireTalk-sing Johnny Cash1963Country105 bpm Ten semitones, sung low and flat by design. If you can talk, you can do this one. 2:36
  28. 28 Folsom Prison BluesTalk-sing Johnny Cash1955Countrykey C110 bpm Spoken more than sung, in a range that suits people who insist they cannot sing at all. 2:51
  29. 29 Before He Cheats Carrie Underwood2005Countrykey F#m148 bpm The verses are almost spat and the chorus is a genuine belt. Great fun, and harder than it sounds on the radio. 3:20
  30. 30 Man! I Feel Like a Woman! Shania Twain1997Countrykey A#125 bpm Opens with a spoken line, which is the friendliest possible way into a song, and the chorus is pure celebration. 3:54
  31. 31 That Don't Impress Me Much Shania Twain1998Countrykey A#125 bpm Half of it is delivered as an eye-roll rather than a melody, and the joke does the work. 4:27
  32. 32 Neon Moon Brooks & Dunn1991Countrykey A103 bpm Slow, low and unhurried. The closest country gets to a song you can sing while thinking about something else. 4:21
  33. 33 Chicken FriedTalk-sing Zac Brown Band2008Countrykey F#86 bpm Warm, mid-tempo and built entirely around a list, which makes the words easy to hold on to. 3:40
  34. 34 Islands in the StreamDuet Kenny Rogers1983Countrykey G#102 bpm The most reliably successful duet in the book. Both parts sit low, and the chorus puts you in unison, which hides everything. 4:09
  35. 35 Summer NightsDuet John Travolta1978Pop A duet that is really a conversation, with a room shouting the responses between the lines. Almost impossible to ruin. 3:36
  36. 36 You're the One That I WantDuet John Travolta1978Rock Fast, silly and entirely built on call and response. Neither singer holds anything for long. 2:49
  37. 37 Don't Go Breaking My HeartDuet Elton John1976Popkey F131 bpm A back-and-forth that never leaves the middle of either voice, and a chorus that is more chant than melody. 4:35
  38. 38 Ain't No Mountain High EnoughDuet Marvin Gaye1967Soulkey Bm129 bpm Joyful and forgiving. The two parts trade lines constantly, so neither of you is out on your own for more than a phrase. 2:29
  39. 39 Endless LoveDuet Diana Ross1981Soulkey A#93 bpm Slow and exposed, which makes it the least forgiving duet here, but the parts weave closely so you're rarely alone. 4:27
  40. 40 Under PressureDuet Queen1981Rockkey D114 bpm Two very different voices doing very different things, which means you genuinely need to decide who is doing what before the track starts. 4:08
  41. 41 PictureDuet Kid Rock2002Hard Rockkey G98 bpm A conversational country duet in a low, easy range for both parts, and the phrasing is close to speech. 4:59
  42. 42 A Whole New WorldDuet Peabo Bryson1992R&B Familiar to everyone under fifty, and the two parts hand off cleanly rather than overlapping. 4:06
  43. 43 (I've Had) The Time of My LifeDuet Bill Medley1987Popkey F81 bpm A big finish and a room that expects the lift, which is either a gift or a problem depending on your nerve. 4:18
  44. 44 I Will Always Love You Whitney Houston1992Soul The most attempted and least survived song at karaoke. The a cappella opening is exposed, and the last chorus is a genuine feat. 4:27
  45. 45 I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) Whitney Houston1987Soulkey F#117 bpm Far more forgiving than her ballads. It's fast, bright, and the crowd sings the hook with you. 4:53
  46. 46 Respect Aretha Franklin1967R&B115 bpm Rhythm and command rather than range. You have to sell it, but you do not have to soar. 2:27
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The best karaoke songs: your questions answered

What is the best karaoke song to sing?

Judged on how reliably a room responds, it is hard to beat Don't Stop Believin' or Sweet Caroline. Both have a chorus the crowd sings for you and a verse that sits in almost anyone's range.

Are the best karaoke songs hard to sing?

Mixed on purpose. Filter by difficulty to keep only what suits you, or start with our easy karaoke songs.

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Karaoke songs, filtered the way you actually pick oneFree · No sign-up · Filter by voice, not by vibe Good karaoke songs that flatter youChosen for what they do to your voice Easy karaoke songsRated 1 or 2 out of 5 Group karaoke songsWith the line everyone shouts Turn a song into a lyric videoFree, in your browser

plays a 30 second preview from Apple, and the video button opens a karaoke version with the words on screen. Range shows where the melody sits across roughly two octaves and how far it travels. It's an estimate, and the quickest way to tell whether a karaoke song suits your voice. Difficulty is our own 1 to 5 rating.

Key, tempo and release data come from MusicBrainz and TheAudioDB. Difficulty, vocal range and the note against each song are ours. We don't reproduce lyrics.

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