2016 Top Funeral Tunes
- ‘My Way’ tops the charts after a break in 2014.
- Wiz Khalifa, Rihanna and Adele tracks are new entrants for the Contemporary Pop #FuneralMusic charts.
- Game of Thrones theme could make future charts as UK consider it for their funeral.
Co-op Funeralcare has today released its 2016 funeral music charts, based on a study of over 30,000 funerals in the UK.
The charts, which first launched in 2002 and have been released bi-annually since, see Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ top of the funeral pops, knocking off Monty Python’s ‘Always look on the bright side of life’, now placed at number eight.
The full #FuneralMusic top funeral tunes for 2016 is as follows.
| No. | Song name | Artist | Movement since last chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | My Way | Frank Sinatra | Up 4 places |
| 2 | Time to say goodbye | Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman | Up 12 places |
| 3 | Over the rainbow | Eva Cassidy | Up 15 places. |
| 4 | Wind beneath my wings | Bette Midler | New entrant |
| 5 | The lord is my shepherd | Psalm 23/ Crimond | Down 3 places |
| 6 | We’ll meet again | Vera Lynn | New entrant. |
| 7 | All things bright and beautiful | Traditional | Down 1 place |
| 8 | Always look on the bright side of life | Monty Python | Down 7 places |
| 9 | Abide with me | Traditional | Down 6 places |
| 10 | Unforgettable | Nat King Cole | New entrant. |
Kate Thornton, Broadcaster and former Smash Hits Editor commented:
“There’s a lot of surprises on the chart, and it’s a real chart with a difference but it’s good to see that people are putting so much thought and personality into what will be their swansong, as a way of making loved ones smile, shed a tear or laugh out loud.
“I’ve been agonising over what song I’d choose, but the one I keep going back to is my favourite song of all time, ‘Love and Affection’, by Joan Armatrading, simply because it’s beautiful and a lovely open letter to love in all its guises.”
A further study conducted by Co-op Funeralcare among UK adults, reveals the popular TV series Game of Thrones’ theme song may make it into funeral charts, with 1 in 20 UK adults voting it as a song they would consider for their own funeral.
Humour is a key consideration for UK adults when choosing their funeral music. Over two fifths (42%) said they ‘want to raise a laugh’ amongst guests at their funeral.
This holds true as 1 in 10 UK adults said they would consider having ‘another one bites the dust’ (Queen) at their own funeral. 1 in 20 said they would have ‘going underground’ (the Jam) and a further 1 in 15 said they’d opt for ‘Highway to hell’ (ACDC). Others said they would consider ‘stayin alive’ (The Bee gees) and ‘disco inferno’ (Trammps).
When delving further into specific music genres, new entrants to Contemporary Pop funeral music charts include Wiz Khalifa’s ‘See you again’ dedicated to the late Paul Walker, now placed at number 3, Adele’s ‘Hello’ (from the other side) now placed at number 7 and Rihanna’s ‘Diamonds’ now placed at number 8.
The full Contemporary Pop top funeral tunes.
| No. | Artist | Track |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robbie Williams | Angels |
| 2 | Westlife | You raise me up. |
| 3 | Wiz Khalifa | See you again |
| 4 | Westlife | Flying without wings. |
| 5 | Ellie Goulding | How long will I love you |
| 6 | Westlife | I’ll see you again. |
| 7 | Adele | Hello |
| 8 | Rihanna | Diamonds |
| 9 | Sam Smith | Lay me down |
| 10 | Boyzone | No matter what. |
Just outside of the top 10 is David Bowie’s ‘Ashes to Ashes’, Pharrell Williams’ ‘Happy’ and Justin Bieber’s ‘love yourself’.
David Collingwood, Head of Funeral Operations said:
“Funerals are very much about personal choice and reflecting the personality, hobbies and interests of a person. More so than ever we’re seeing people pre-plan their funeral music and in the last 12 months, 42% of our funeral directors and arrangers have received ready-made pre-planned funeral playlists.
“Personalisation doesn’t stop with the music; hearses, flowers, coffins and memorials can all be uniquely personalised to ensure a funeral reflects the unique personality of a person.
“Whilst ‘My Way’ is back at number one, it’s really interesting that the passing of celebrities and artists is having an effect on the music charts. Wiz Khalifa’s track ‘See you again’ dedicated to the late Paul Walker has made it into the Contemporary Pop charts whilst, the late David Bowie’s ‘Ashes to Ashes’ has also been requested by clients in the last 12 months.”
Oasis have stolen the show in the Indie group charts, with four of their tracks including ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Don’t look back in anger’, ‘Live forever’ and ‘Champagne Supernova’ securing places.
Liverpool FC’s ‘You’ll never walk alone’ is top of the sport category having overtaken the Match of the Day theme tune and popular TV Soap Coronation Street’s theme tune is top of the funeral TV charts.
All the charts and other key findings:
Rock Top Funeral Tunes 10:
| No. | Song name | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stairway to heaven | Led Zeppelin |
| 2 | Bat out of hell | Meatloaf. |
| 3 | Live forever | Queen |
| 4 | Wish you were here | Pink Floyd. |
| 5 | Highway to hell | ACDC |
| 6 | Another one bites the dust | Queen |
| 7 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen |
| 8 | Don’t wanna miss a thing | Aerosmith. |
| 9 | Knocking on heaven’s door | Guns and roses |
| 10 | Spirit in the sky | Norman Greenbaum. |
Sport Top 10:
| No. | Song name | Artist | Movement since last chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | You will never walk alone | Gerry and the Pacemakers | Up 1 place |
| 2 | Theme tune | Match of the day | Down 1 place. |
| 3 | Soul Limbo / Cricket Theme tune | Booker T and MG | Non mover |
| 4 | The Chain | Fleetwood Mac | Up 2 places |
| 5 | I am forever blowing bubbles | West Ham United | Up 3 places. |
| 6 | Z Cars Theme | Everton FC | New entrant |
| 7 | Glory Glory | Tottenham Hotspur | New entrant |
| 8 | Grandstand theme | BBC | Up 2 places |
| 9 | World in Union | Dame Kiri Te Kanawa | Down 5 places. |
| 10 | Dance of the Knights | Sunderland FC | New entrant |
Indie Top 10:
| No. | Song name | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chasing Cars | Snow Patrol |
| 2 | Wonderwall | Oasis |
| 3 | Don’t look back in anger | Oasis. |
| 4 | Arabella | Arctic Monkeys. |
| 5 | Live Forever | Oasis |
| 6 | Hymn for the weekend | Coldplay. |
| 7 | One day like this | Elbow |
| 8 | Yellow | Coldplay |
| 9 | Iris | Goo goo dolls |
| 10 | Champagne Supernova | Oasis. |
TV/Film Top 10:
| No. | Song name | Artist | Movement since last chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coronation Street | Theme tune | Up 4 places. |
| 2 | Last of the Summer Wine | Theme tune | Up 2 places |
| 3 | Only Fools and Horses | Theme tune | Up 1 place |
| 4 | Always look on the bright side | Monty Python | Down 3 places. |
| 5 | Eastenders | Theme tune | Up 3 places |
| 6 | My heart will go on | Celine Dion | Down 5 places. |
| 7 | Emmerdale | Theme tune | Up 1 place |
| 8 | Going home | Hovis theme tune | New entry |
| 9 | Dad’s Army | Theme tune | New entry |
| 10 | Bring me sunshine | Morecambe and Wise | Down 4 places. |
Hymns Top 10:
| No. | Song name | Artist | Movement since last chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lord is my Shepherd | Psalm 23 / Crimond | Non mover |
| 2 | Abide with me | Traditional | Non mover. |
| 3 | All things bright and beautiful | Traditional | Non mover |
| 4 | How great thou art | Traditional | Non mover |
| 5 | Amazing grace | Traditional | Non mover. |
| 6 | Old rugged cross | Traditional | Up 1 place |
| 7 | Jerusalem | Traditional | Down 1 place. |
| 8 | Morning has broken | Traditional | Non mover |
| 9 | The day though gavest lord ended | Traditional | Non mover |
| 10 | Ave Maria | Traditional | Non mover. |
New Country Top 10:
| No. | Song name | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I will always love you | Dolly Parton |
| 2 | Islands in the stream | Dolly Parton and Kenny Rodgers. |
| 3 | Country roads | Jon Denver |
| 4 | I love you because | Jim Reeves |
| 5 | Annie’s song | Jon Denver. |
| 6 | Over the rainbow | Eva Cassidy |
| 7 | Ring of fire | Johnny Cash |
| 8 | My best friend | Don Williams |
| 9 | If tomorrow never comes | Garth Brooks. |
| 10 | Blowin’ in the wind | Bob Dylan |
Classical Top 10:
| No. | Song name | Artist | Movement since last chart | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Time to say goodbye | Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman | Up 2 places . | |
| 2 | Nimrod | Elgar | Down 1 place | |
| 3 | Nessun Dorma | Lucianno Pavarotti | Up 3 places | |
| 4 | Cannon in D | Pachelbel | Down 2 places. | |
| 5 | Four Seasons | Vivaldi | Down 1 place | |
| 6 | Adagio | Bizet/Albinoni | Non mover | |
| 7 | Ave Maria | Various artistes | Down 2 places. | |
| 8 | Moonlight Sonartz | Beethoven | New entry | |
| 9 | Pie Jesu | Faure | Down 1 place | |
| 10 | The Lark Ascending | Ralph Vaughan Williams | New entry. | |
Top Ten Funeral tunes RnB Top 10.
| No. | Song name | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I’ll be missing you | Puff Daddy |
| 2 | Dance with my father again | Luther Van Dross. |
| 3 | One sweet day | Boys 2 Men |
| 4 | I will always love you | Whitney Housten |
| 5 | Fly | R Kelly |
| 6 | Halo | Beyoncé |
| 7 | Turn back the hands of time | R Kelly |
| 8 | Bye Bye | Mariah Carey |
| 9 | World’s greatest | R Kelly |
| 10 | Running | Beyoncé. |
Jazz Top 10 Funeral Tunes.
| No. | Song name | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | What a wonderful world | Louis Armstrong |
| 2 | Moonlight serenade | Glenn Miller. |
| 3 | Stranger on the shore | Aka Bilk |
| 4 | Smile | Nat King Cole |
| 5 | In the mood | Glenn Miller |
| 6 | A place in the sun | Stevie Wonder. |
| 7 | Fly me to the moon | Frank Sinatra |
| 8 | Sitting on the dock of the bay | Otis Reading |
| 9 | Mr Bojangles | Robbie Williams |
| 10 | Come fly with me | Frank Sinatra. |
Other stats:
- Pop is now the most requested music genre.
- Over half (54%)of funeral directors and arrangers stated that hymns are declining in popularity the quickest.
- Almost two thirds, (59%) of Co-op’s funeral directors and arrangers have had requests for music to be played via digital devices including smart phones, tablets and laptops with further tenth (11%) saying they expect to see more of these types of requests in the future.
- More than a fifth of people who have actually arranged a funeral say they were given explicit instructions from their loved one on what music they wanted, while almost 30% plan on giving our family a CD with our favourite songs on it.