Funeral music


lady with bus in the back ground

Funeral music & songs

Funeral songs play a major part in a funeral service. Changing trends in funeral music from hymns to contemporary songs is a good example of this. Whether it’s a tear-jerker, rock anthem, upbeat or quirky song, demand for this type of funeral music is increasing. Chosen carefully, the right funeral song can be a personal reminder to family and friends of happy times but with so many different songs to choose from, where do you start? To help, here is a list of the UK’s top 10 funeral songs, classical pieces and more unusual options.

In this guide, you will find the results of a survey conducted by The Co-operative Funeralcare showing some of the most popular pieces of funeral songs and funeral music.

Top 10 funeral songs

  • My Way - Frank Sinatra / Shirley Bassey
  • Time to Say Goodbye - Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli
  • Wind Beneath My Wings - Bette Midler
  • Over the Rainbow - Eva Cassidy
  • Angels - Robbie Williams
  • You Raise Me Up - Westlife / Boyzone / Josh Grobin
  • You’ll Never Walk Alone - Gerry and the Pacemakers
  • We’ll Meet Again - Vera Lynn
  • My Heart Will Go - On Celine Dion
  • Unforgettable - Nat King Cole

Top 10 classical funeral songs

  • Nimrod from Enigma Variations - Elgar
  • Canon in D - Pachelbel
  • Ave Maria - Schubert
  • Nessun Dorma - Puccini
  • Pie Jesu from Requiem - Faure
  • The Four Seasons - Vivaldi
  • Adagio - Albinoni / Bizet
  • Air on a G String - Bach
  • Largo from Xerxes - Handel
  • Clare de Lune - Debussy

Unusual funeral music

  • Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Eric Idle
  • Ying Tong Song - Spike Milligan
  • Bat Out of Hell - Meatloaf
  • Spirit in the Sky - Doctor and the Medics
  • Match of the Day - TV Theme
  • One Foot in the Grave - TV Theme
  • Countdown - TV theme
  • Last of the Summer Wine - TV Theme
  • Dr Who - TV Theme
  • Top Gear - TV Theme
  • The X Files - TV Theme
  • Red Dwarf - TV Theme
  • Six Feet Under - TV Theme
  • The Muppets ‘It’s Time to Face the Music’ - TV Theme

Rock & modern funeral songs

  • Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
  • Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve
  • Who wants to live forever - Queen
  • Highway to Hell - AC/DC
  • Lay me down - Sam Smith
  • Another one bites the dust - Queen
  • Knocking on heavens door
  • My Immortal - Evanescence
  • Halo - Beyonce
  • I'll be missing you - P Diddy
  • Wonderwall - Oasis
  • Yellow - Coldplay
  • One day like this - Elbow 


Did you find this information helpful?