The best karaoke songs have very little to do with how good the original is. A brilliant song with a four-octave range and a ninety-second guitar intro is a terrible karaoke song. A slightly silly one with a chorus everybody already knows is a great one. Karaoke is a group activity that happens to involve one person holding a microphone, and the songs that work are the ones that let the room help.
So this list is not a ranking of great music. It is a list of good karaoke songs, sorted by who is about to sing them.
What makes a good karaoke song
Three quick tests decide almost everything.
Does the room know the chorus? If people can shout along, the singer is never alone up there, and the pressure drops by half.
Is the range forgiving? Songs that sit in a comfortable middle, or that are half spoken anyway, are kind to amateurs. Songs built around one enormous high note are a public trap.
Does it start fast? A long instrumental intro is thirty seconds of standing in silence while everyone watches you wait. The best karaoke songs get to the words quickly.
Easy karaoke songs for beginners
For the first song of the night, the reluctant friend, or anyone who insists they cannot sing. Every one of these lives in a narrow range and has a chorus the room will carry.
1. Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond. The crowd does the "bah bah bah" for you. Practically a group song with a soloist attached.
2. Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash. Low, slow and steady. Almost impossible to get badly wrong.
3. Take Me Home, Country Roads, John Denver. Everyone knows the chorus, including people who claim not to.
4. Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison. Relaxed tempo, and the "sha la la" is pure crowd work.
5. These Boots Are Made for Walkin', Nancy Sinatra. Half spoken, all attitude. Perfect for a confident non-singer.
6. Wonderwall, Oasis. A narrow melody and a room that will sing the chorus louder than you.
7. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), The Proclaimers. The "da da da" sections are a group activity whether you like it or not.
8. Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Cyndi Lauper. Bright, short, and the energy matters more than the notes.
Karaoke songs for women
A mix of comfortable picks and a couple of showpieces for when the night is warmed up.
9. Jolene, Dolly Parton. Sits lower than people expect and the story carries it.
10. Before He Cheats, Carrie Underwood. A performance song. Act it out and nobody checks your pitch.
11. Man! I Feel Like a Woman!, Shania Twain. The opening shout alone wins the room.
12. I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor. Builds slowly, so you can find your feet before the big chorus.
13. Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson. Quiet verses, then a chorus everybody screams with you.
14. Dancing Queen, ABBA. Better with two or three friends on stage, which makes it ideal for a group of women.
15. Valerie, Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse. Upbeat, forgiving range, and the room will dance.
16. Rolling in the Deep, Adele. Save this one for later in the night. It is hard, but the stomping rhythm helps.
Karaoke songs for men
Most male karaoke disasters come from picking a song pitched for a tenor. These mostly are not.
17. Friends in Low Places, Garth Brooks. Low, conversational, and the whole room joins the chorus.
18. Mr. Brightside, The Killers. Fast and wordy rather than high, which is the right kind of hard.
19. Creep, Radiohead. Quiet verses that suit a nervous singer, then one big moment to commit to.
20. Suspicious Minds, Elvis Presley. Comfortable range, and the Elvis impression is optional but encouraged.
21. Wagon Wheel, Darius Rucker. Easy melody and a sing-along chorus.
22. Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's. Gentle and short on the high notes. Good for a quieter room.
23. Uptown Funk, Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. More rhythm than melody. Energy beats accuracy here.
24. Sweet Child o' Mine, Guns N' Roses. Only if you are brave, and only after midnight. The room will forgive you.
Funny karaoke songs
The songs that win the room without anyone having to sing well. Commit completely or do not bother.
25. Barbie Girl, Aqua. Best as a duet with a deep-voiced friend doing Ken.
26. Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice. Every adult in the room knows more of the words than they want to admit.
27. Never Gonna Give You Up, Rick Astley. The ultimate in-joke, and the melody is surprisingly kind.
28. All Star, Smash Mouth. Low effort, high recognition.
29. My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion. Funny precisely because it is impossible. Lean into the key change.
30. Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler. Get someone in the audience to do the "turn around" lines.
31. Baby Got Back, Sir Mix-a-Lot. Spoken, rhythmic, and reliably the loudest reaction of the night.
32. MMMBop, Hanson. Nobody knows the verses. Everybody knows the chorus. That is the joke.
Karaoke songs for groups
When three, five or ten people want the mic at once. These are the most popular karaoke songs for a reason: they turn a performance into a room-wide event.
33. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen. Split the parts. The operatic section works best with as many people as possible.
34. Don't Stop Believin', Journey. Too high for one person, perfect for a crowd.
35. Livin' on a Prayer, Bon Jovi. The key change at the end needs backup. Get it.
36. Wannabe, Spice Girls. Assign the Spice parts in advance for maximum chaos.
37. Africa, Toto. Slow build, then a chorus everyone sings.
38. Hey Jude, The Beatles. The ending goes on for minutes and that is exactly the point.
39. Love Shack, The B-52's. Call and response built in.
40. Piano Man, Billy Joel. The perfect closer. Arms around shoulders, everyone swaying.
What about duets?
Duets are the safest format in karaoke, because nobody is ever alone on stage. They deserve their own list: our guide to karaoke duets has 25 of them, split into classics, friends, couples and comedy.
The most popular karaoke songs are not always the best choice
There is a trap in only singing the classics. The tenth Bohemian Rhapsody of the evening gets a polite reaction, while the one person who picks something unexpected gets the loudest cheer of the night. Use the most popular karaoke songs as a safety net, not a playlist. Once the room is warm, the surprising choice wins.
How to choose your karaoke song in ten seconds
Pick something you have sung along to in a car, not something you love listening to. Those are different lists, and only the first one is useful. Check the first line before you commit: if you cannot remember how the verse goes, the chorus will not save you. And when in doubt, go low and go loud. Volume and confidence cover more mistakes than accuracy ever will.
Karaoke without picking a song at all
The hardest part of karaoke is often choosing. Scrolling a catalogue of ten thousand songs while the room waits is where a lot of nights stall. Word karaoke skips that step completely: a word appears, whoever grabs the phone sings any song containing it for fifteen seconds, and the group votes. That is how Grab The Phone Karaoke works, and our list of karaoke words shows which ones get the biggest reactions. It is also the gentlest way in for anyone who thinks they cannot sing, because fifteen seconds is over before the fear arrives.
If you are hosting the whole evening, these karaoke party ideas cover the room, the running order and the awkward first five minutes.
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