Best Karaoke Songs
The best karaoke songs sit inside an average vocal range, have a chorus the room can take over, and give you something to do between choruses. "Mr. Brightside", "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Valerie" are the three safest picks in any bar on earth.
Picked for what happens in the room, not for what sounds best on record. A karaoke song is judged entirely by how many people join in on the second chorus.
By Emilis, who builds and plays Aux Battles
Every track hand-picked, with the reason beside it written by someone who plays the game. Album art and clean or explicit flags come from Spotify.
If you only play one
The Killers - Mr. Brightside (2004)
It survives a bad singer better than anything else in the book, because the room takes it over by the second line.
Think you'd pick better? Start a room on "Song You'd Crush at Karaoke", everyone submits a song, and your friends vote blind.
Filter
Clean and explicit are Spotify's own markings on the track, not our judgement, so the flag matches what a school or club system will see.
- 01
The Killers - Mr. Brightside
2004
Nobody needs the screen. The verses sit in a narrow range so any voice survives them, and the room takes over at "jealousy" whether you wanted help or not.
Clean - 02
Journey - Don't Stop Believin'
1981
Genuinely difficult to sing and it does not matter. The chorus arrives three and a half minutes in, by which point the entire bar is carrying it for you.
Clean - 03
Mark Ronson - Valerie
2007
The Amy Winehouse version, which is the one everyone knows. Mid-tempo, conversational, and forgiving of a voice that has not warmed up yet.
Clean - 04
ABBA - Dancing Queen
1976
The only song here that works equally well sung badly by one person or shouted by nine. The key is high, so drop the octave and let the room take the top line.
Clean - 05
Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer
1986
The key change is a trap and everyone walks into it anyway. Worth it: nothing else gets a room pointing at each other quite like the last chorus.
Clean - 06
Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance with Somebody
1987
A warning as much as a recommendation. Do not attempt the runs. Sung straight it is the most joyful four minutes available in a karaoke bar.
Clean - 07
Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way
1999
Built for four people who cannot sing, which is the ideal karaoke condition. The lyrics make no sense and the room has never once cared.
Clean - 08
Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time
1998
Almost entirely delivered in a low, half-spoken register, so it is one of the easiest big pop songs here. The recognition on the first piano stab does the rest.
Clean - 09
Outkast - Ms. Jackson
2000
The best rap option for a group: the hook is easy and the verses split cleanly between two people. Andre's verse is the one to claim.
Explicit - 10
Alanis Morissette - You Oughta Know
1995
For when the point is not singing. The melody is barely a melody, the delivery is everything, and nobody has ever left this song feeling worse.
Explicit
Think you'd pick better? Start a room on "Song You'd Crush at Karaoke", everyone submits a song, and your friends vote blind.
- 11
Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
2004
The chorus is one held note away from unsingable, which is exactly why a room joins in to help. Max Martin built it to be shouted rather than sung.
Clean - 12
Robyn - Dancing On My Own
2010
The one that turns a bar into a moment. Emotional enough to justify a rough performance, which takes all the pressure off the singing.
Clean - 13
Toto - Africa
1982
Everyone knows the chorus and nobody knows the verses, so it does exactly what a karaoke track needs to: build towards a payoff the room already owns.
Clean - 14
Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline
1969
The three-note answer in the chorus is the most reliable audience participation in recorded music. You are not really singing, you are conducting.
Clean - 15
Frank Sinatra - My Way
1969
The closer. Slow, low and impossible to rush, so a tired voice at 1am handles it better than anything up-tempo.
Clean - 16
Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
1978
The safe Queen pick, where "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the trap. It starts slow enough to find your footing, and by the first "having a good time" the room is doing the work.
Clean - 17
Spice Girls - Wannabe
1996
Five parts for five people, and the half-rapped opening verse is the one everybody fights over. Nobody in the history of karaoke has sung it well, which is the point.
Clean - 18
The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
1988
The "da da da" section is a gift: you do not need to know a single word to join in. Best with a room that is already slightly too loud.
Clean - 19
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Want to Have Fun
1983
Sits in a comfortable range, and the chorus is so well known that the room arrives the second you do. A reliable first song for anyone nervous.
Clean - 20
Oasis - Wonderwall
1995
Narrow range, slow tempo and a crowd that knows every word, including the ones the singer forgets. Its reputation as a cliche is exactly what makes it work.
Clean
If you liked this
- 21
Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
1997
The spoken "Let's go, girls" opener is half the performance, and it sounds right in any voice. The verses barely move, so all the energy goes into the chorus.
Clean - 22
Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
1978
The slow opening is the only hard part, and it is short. Once the beat arrives the song becomes a group statement, which takes the pressure off whoever holds the mic.
Clean - 23
Taylor Swift - Shake It Off
2014
A chorus that is mostly one note, a spoken middle section, and a room that knows every word. About as low-risk as modern pop gets at karaoke.
Clean - 24
Dolly Parton - 9 to 5
1980
Chugging, conversational and in a comfortable key. Dolly famously wrote the rhythm tapping her nails together, and it still sounds like a song built to be sung along with.
Clean - 25
Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary
1971
The spoken "nice and easy" intro buys you thirty seconds to settle, and then the song asks for commitment rather than range. Rooms reward commitment.
Clean - 26
Village People - Y.M.C.A.
1978
Nobody is listening to the verses; everyone is waiting to spell with their arms. The least vocally demanding crowd-pleaser in the book.
Clean - 27
Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u
2021
The newest song here that everyone in their twenties knows cold. Half the verse is spoken, and the chorus is built to be shouted rather than sung.
Explicit - 28
Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart
1983
A secret duet: one person takes the "turn around" lines, the other takes the big chorus, and the Jim Steinman drama covers any weak notes.
Clean - 29
Elton John - Don't Go Breaking My Heart
1976
The friendliest duet in the catalogue, originally with Kiki Dee. Short lines, lots of back and forth, and nothing above a comfortable range.
Clean - 30
Lady Gaga - Shallow
2018
A duet with a warning attached. The verses are easy and the long held note in the bridge is not, so decide in advance who is attempting it.
Clean - 31
Lizzo - Truth Hurts
2017
Half rapped, half sung, and entirely about attitude. The opening line alone gets a room on side before you have sung a note.
Explicit - 32
Elton John - I'm Still Standing
1983
Mid-tempo, confident and a title the room shouts back at you. A good closer for someone who wants to leave on a high rather than a ballad.
Clean
Settle it properly
Lists are one person's opinion. Put the same question to your friends instead. Everyone submits their answer to
"Song You'd Crush at Karaoke"
and the room votes blind on whose pick was best. Free, no account, about four minutes.
Start the BattleWhat makes a karaoke song work
Three things, and none of them is whether the song is good. First, range. Anything spanning more than about an octave and a half will expose an untrained voice inside two lines, which is why the biggest vocal performances make the worst karaoke.
Second, universal knowledge of the chorus. The moment the room joins in is the moment you stop being watched, so a hook that is common property does half the work for you.
Third, momentum. Long instrumental gaps are the enemy. A song that leaves you standing there for eight bars with nothing to do is where confidence goes to die.
Songs to avoid
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is the classic mistake. Six minutes, four sections, an opera passage nobody can cover, and a room that has lost interest by minute three. It works in a car and fails on a stage.
"Hallelujah" and "Creep" both look easy on paper and are not. Both live or die on control at low volume, which is the one thing a bad PA and a talking crowd will never give you.
Anything released in the last three months is a trap too. Karaoke runs on shared memory, and a song the room does not know is a solo performance whether you wanted one or not.
The best karaoke duets
The best karaoke duet is "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", because the lines are short, the parts alternate quickly and neither singer is ever left alone for long. "Total Eclipse of the Heart" works as a secret duet, with one person on "turn around" and the other on the chorus.
"Shallow" is the duet everyone picks and most people regret. The verses are easy; the held note in the bridge is not. Decide before the song starts who is attempting it, so nobody is surprised on stage.
For three or more, "I Want It That Way", "Wannabe" and "Don't Stop Me Now" all split cleanly between voices. Group songs beat solos whenever nobody in the group can actually sing.
How does this prompt play in real games?
Across 7 real rounds since 21 August 2026, players rated the songs submitted to "Song You'd Crush at Karaoke" 3.78 out of 5 on average, above the 3.05 average across every prompt. Close variants: "Best Song for a Karaoke Grand Finale" scored 4.05 over 3 rounds and "Karaoke" scored 3.07 over 3 rounds.
Every version of this prompt we have data for
- "Song You'd Crush at Karaoke"3.78 avg · 7 rounds
- "Best Song for a Karaoke Grand Finale"4.05 avg · 3 rounds
- "Karaoke"3.07 avg · 3 rounds
Aggregate results from real Aux Battles rounds since 21 August 2026. Ratings are 0.5 to 5 stars, given blind by the players in each room; the average across every prompt played three or more times is 3.05. No player or room is identified, and only prompts with three or more finished rounds are counted.
Best Karaoke Songs, answered
What is the best karaoke song for someone who cannot sing?
"Mr. Brightside" by The Killers. The verses stay inside a narrow range, the delivery is closer to shouting than singing, and the crowd takes the chorus. "Sweet Caroline" works for the same reasons.
What should you not sing at karaoke?
Anything that depends on vocal control at low volume ("Hallelujah", "Creep"), anything over five minutes ("Bohemian Rhapsody"), and anything released too recently for the room to know the chorus.
What is the easiest karaoke song?
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers, closely followed by "Y.M.C.A.". Both have sections where you barely need to sing at all, a chorus the whole room knows, and nothing that exposes a voice. "Mr. Brightside" is the easiest rock pick.
What is the best karaoke duet?
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" by Elton John and Kiki Dee. The lines are short, the parts alternate quickly, and neither singer is left alone for long. "Shallow" is more popular and much harder, because of the held note in the bridge.
What is a good karaoke song for a group?
"I Want It That Way" splits neatly between four people, "Ms. Jackson" between two, and "Don't Stop Believin'" needs a crowd anyway. Group songs beat solos when nobody in the group can actually sing.
More lists like this
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