Picture this: flashing disco lights, loud music blasting from speakers all around you, and a sweaty crowd with absolutely no sense of personal space. While this sounds like the perfect night for some, others might see it as their personal nightmare. If you belong to the first group, like I do, and enjoy singing karaoke, whether at a karaoke bar or alone in your room in front of an imaginary audience, sooner or later you’ll face the decision that makes or breaks the experience.
This seemingly simple, but in reality highly complex, decision is choosing the next song to sing.
So, to save you from this stressful situation, let me make things easy for you. Here are the best karaoke songs that guarantee good energy, passion, and are simply great picks that everyone knows.
Image Credit: Nikola Đuza from Unsplash
Karaoke is usually a very individual experience. Everyone enjoys different genres, and not everyone has the same vocal range or style preference. Whether you’re a belter who likes to be heard by everyone, someone who strives for a more intimate feeling as a high-falsetto singer, or a rapper who can somehow fit 30 words into two seconds, preferences vary widely. However, despite these differences, there are some songs that, at least in my experience, the vast majority can agree on and enjoy singing. I call these songs “the staple songs”, a part of every good karaoke session:
- I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston
- Wannabe - Spice Girls
- Baby - Justin Bieber
- Livin’ On a Prayer - Bon Jovi
- Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
To see one of these staple songs in action, check out this classic video for I Wanna Dance With Somebody:
Moving on, these are the songs you should choose if you like a little acting in between your heartfelt singing. I find these especially fun if you have company, so you can really play off each other and get the dramatic effect just right. Here are iconic songs for iconic duos:
- Shallow - Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga
- Love the Way You Lie - Eminem ft. Rihanna
- Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys
- Gotta Go My Own Way - Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron (from High School Musical)
- Señorita - Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes
Look at the OGs perform Gotta Go My Own Way:
After a few hours of vocal powerhouse performances, you might start getting a little tired. While we’re definitely still far from done, a short recovery break is needed. These are some more chill songs where you can sit down, take it slower, and recharge before the next burst of energy:
- Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
- Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's
- I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing - Aerosmith
- The One That Got Away - Katy Perry
- Someone Like You - Adele
Get right into it with this lyrics video of Someone Like You:
We’ve all had moments where we’ve wanted to yell our heart out at somebody and maybe even curse the person who raised them. Too dramatic? Instead of going down that road, we’re obviously choosing the more responsible and healthy alternative: expressing our emotions through songs that already do it for us. These are my favourite crash-out songs:
- Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson
- Happier Than Ever - Billie Eilish
- Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus
- Mr. Brightside - The Killers
- Complicated - Avril Lavigne
The music video for Complicated is so teenage-dirtbag coded:
We’ve all heard it: 2026 is the new 2016. But what songs were we actually listening to back then? I looked up the charting hits from ten years ago and added a few songs I personally associate with that year. Here are six 2016 throwback songs:
- We Don’t Talk Anymore - Charlie Puth ft. Selena Gomez
- Love Yourself - Justin Bieber
- 7 Years - Lukas Graham
- Don’t Let Me Down - The Chainsmokers ft. Daya
- Stitches - Shawn Mendes
- Despacito - Luis Fonsi ft. Daddy Yankee
Or my personal favourite Beauty And A Beat, which was released 4 years before, but still worth mentioning:
If none of these options is for you and you’d much rather sing songs from your favourite musicals, and you’re a theatre kid at heart, then these might be more your style:
- Mamma Mia - from Mamma Mia!
- Hopelessly Devoted to You - from Grease
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow - from The Wizard of Oz
- Never Enough - from The Greatest Showman
- Hakuna Matata - from The Lion King
This is the Hopelessly Devoted clip...check it out:
Lastly, here are some honourable mentions worth including:
- Don’t Look Back in Anger - Oasis
- Zombie - The Cranberries
- Vienna - Billy Joel
- Love on the Brain - Rihanna
- That’s What I Like - Bruno Mars
Alright, those were the top karaoke songs everyone knows and (hopefully) loves. Keep these in mind before your next private concert in your room or whenever you might need them. It never hurts to be prepared for an impromptu karaoke session.
