Popular Funeral Songs
If you want the songs most commonly chosen at services this year — not the niche or unusual picks but the ones funeral directors hear every week — this is the list. Ranked by how often each is requested.
The songs
Suggested in no particular order — choose what fits them best.
Amazing Grace
The single most chosen song at funeral services. Performed in nearly any style — sung, instrumental, bagpipes — and works in nearly any tradition.
Wind Beneath My Wings
The most chosen secular song for memorials, especially for parents and grandparents.
How Great Thou Art
The standard after Amazing Grace. Familiar across Christian denominations.
Time to Say Goodbye
Common for the recessional. The build of the piece carries the room.
Hallelujah
Widely used at both religious and non-religious services.
You Raise Me Up
Frequently chosen for the end of a service.
Tears in Heaven
The most chosen post-1990 ballad for memorials.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
The most chosen uplifting song at slideshows and recessionals.
Ave Maria
Standard for Catholic and traditional Christian services.
On Eagle's Wings
The most recognised Catholic funeral piece.
I Can Only Imagine
The most chosen modern Christian song at memorials.
In My Life
Warm and simple. Works for a parent, grandparent, or close friend.
Supermarket Flowers
The most chosen modern ballad. Written by Sheeran for his grandmother's service.
What a Wonderful World
A common closer for slideshows.
I'll Be Seeing You
A favourite for the WWII and post-war generations.
Go Rest High on That Mountain
The most chosen country funeral song in the US South.
If Tomorrow Never Comes
The standard country pick across the US.
Bridge Over Troubled Water
About being held up by another person. Fits a parent, partner, or close friend.
Photograph
Pairs naturally with a photo slideshow.
Angels
Among the most chosen songs at UK funerals.
Still nothing feels right?
If no existing song captures who them was, we'll write one. Original lyrics built around your stories, them's name, and the things you loved.
Why popularity matters (and when it doesn't)
The most popular funeral songs are popular for a reason — they work for most rooms, most traditions, and most relationships. If you are short on time or unsure, picking from this list is the safest play.
But the song that fits a service is sometimes a less popular one — the song the person actually loved, or a song that connects to a specific story. If a song from this list does not feel right, see our songs for Mom, songs for Dad, or country and Christian lists for more specific picks.
When you want something not on this list
If none of the popular picks fit, we write original funeral songs around the specifics of the person. From $49, delivered in three days. The song becomes one no other family has ever played.
Questions families ask
Other ideas
Write a song just for them.
Share who them was — the stories, the things you loved — and we'll write and produce an original song with them at the heart of it.