A recent study has identified Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” as the most popular wedding song of all time, featuring in 24.20% of wedding playlists on Spotify. The findings, published by the wedding discovery platform Breezit, reveal the enduring appeal of this 1987 classic, which appeared 484 times across 2,000 wedding-themed playlists.
The study, which analysed playlists curated for various wedding occasions—including “Wedding dancefloor,” “Wedding party,” “Walking down the aisle,” and “First dance songs”—examined a total of 49,091 songs to compile a comprehensive ranking of wedding music.
Following Houston’s iconic anthem, ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” claimed the second spot, with 394 appearances and a presence in 19.70% of the analysed playlists. This 1976 hit was most frequently featured under the “Wedding dancefloor” category, highlighting its reputation as a go-to song for getting guests on their feet.
Taking third place is Usher’s “Yeah!” featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, which was included in 19.50% of the playlists. Released in 2004, it found favour mainly in the “Wedding dancefloor” and “Wedding party” categories.
Other notable tracks include “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers, which occupies fourth place with an 18.80% appearance rate, while “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire rounds out the top five with 18.45% of playlists featuring this timeless classic. The Killers’ track amassed a total of 376 appearances in the selected playlists.
The top 10 most popular wedding songs, according to the study, are as follows:
| Rank | Song | Percentage of Playlists |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) | 24.20% |
| 2 | Dancing Queen | 19.70% |
| 3 | Yeah! (feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris) | 19.50% |
| 4 | Mr. Brightside | 18.80% |
| 5 | September | 18.45% |
| 6 | I Gotta Feeling | 17.95% |
| 7 | Marry You | 17.70% |
| 8 | Crazy In Love (feat. Jay-Z) | 17.45% |
| 9 | Shut Up and Dance | 16.80% |
| 10 | Low (feat. T-Pain) | 16.55% |
“I Gotta Feeling” by the Black-Eyed Peas came in sixth place, appearing in 17.95% of playlists and making a strong showing in “Wedding party” categories. Bruno Mars’ “Marry You” followed closely in seventh, with a significant presence in playlists for “Walking down the aisle” and “First dance” moments.
Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love,” featuring Jay-Z, secured eighth place, with 17.45% of playlists, while “Shut Up and Dance” by WALK THE MOON and “Low” by Flo Rida rounded out the top ten, both featuring prominently in dance-themed playlists.
The study also highlighted other popular wedding tracks, such as Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.”
Arturas Asakavicius, co-founder and CEO of Breezit, emphasised the importance of music in wedding celebrations: “It’s fascinating to see which songs are still hailed as wedding classics, even years after their initial release. Certain songs have become intertwined with the celebration of a wedding, making them timeless classics for many couples’ big day.”
This information was provided by the wedding venue discovery platform, Breezit.