Celebration of life songs to honor someone you love
Songs for a gathering that remembers a whole life, not only the loss of it. Some are bright enough to make people smile, some are quiet, and some carry a slideshow. Each comes with a line on why it works and anything worth knowing before you play it.
31 songs · Updated October 2026
Uplifting, for a life well lived
A celebration of life gives you permission to be glad they were here. These songs are warm and bright without pretending nobody is sad.
What a Wonderful World
Louis Armstrong · 1967
Gratitude for ordinary things — trees, sky, people shaking hands — sung by a voice that sounds like it has seen plenty and still means it. Few songs suit so many different lives.
Best for · Opening the gatheringListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)Over the Rainbow
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole · 1993
One man and a ukulele, folding “Over the Rainbow” into “What a Wonderful World.” It is gentle and hopeful at once, and it rarely leaves a dry eye without making anyone feel worse.
Best for · SlideshowListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)Here Comes the Sun
The Beatles · 1969
George Harrison's song about the relief of a long winter ending. At a celebration of life it says that the hard part is not the whole story, and it sounds like a morning.
Three Little Birds
Bob Marley & The Wailers · 1977
Simple reassurance that things will be all right, with a reggae lilt that makes people sway. Right for someone easygoing who would not want a room full of long faces.
Best for · Closing the gatheringListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)My Way
Frank Sinatra · 1969
A man looking back on his life with no apologies. Perfect for someone stubborn, independent and proud of it — though for a gentler person the swagger can feel like it belongs to somebody else.
Smile
Nat King Cole · 1954
Charlie Chaplin wrote the melody; Nat King Cole's recording made it a song about keeping your chin up when your heart hurts. Short, tender, and easy for an older crowd to love.
Spirit in the Sky
Norman Greenbaum · 1969
A stomping, fuzz-guitar song about going somewhere good when you die. It's a cheerful pick that suits a rock fan or someone with a sense of humor about the whole business.
Best for · Walking outListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)
Every song on this list was written about somebody else's life.
From A$39 · Approve every lyric · Ready in 3–8 minutes
Gentle tributes
Quieter songs for the moment when the room is ready to feel it. These are the ones that get played most often at memorial services.
I Will Remember You
Sarah McLachlan · 1995
A promise to keep someone close after they're gone, sung softly enough to sit under a reading or a moment of silence. The most-requested contemporary memorial song for good reason.
Best for · Moment of reflectionListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)Tears in Heaven
Eric Clapton · 1992
Clapton wrote it with Will Jennings after the death of his four-year-old son. It is very raw, and it fits best where the loss came too early.
See You Again
Wiz Khalifa · 2015
Recorded with Charlie Puth as the farewell to Paul Walker at the end of Furious 7. A tribute to a friend more than a family member, and one of the few memorial songs younger guests will know every word of.
Best for · A friendListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)Wind Beneath My Wings
Bette Midler · 1988
From the film Beaches: thanks to the person who held everyone else up without asking for credit. Choose it for the quiet one in the family who did the carrying.
Angel
Sarah McLachlan · 1997
McLachlan wrote it about addiction, not grief, but it has become one of the most-played memorial songs because it sounds like rest. Worth knowing the history if the loss was related.
Gone Too Soon
Michael Jackson · 1991
Michael Jackson dedicated it to Ryan White, the teenager whose fight with AIDS changed how America talked about the disease. A short, graceful lament for a life cut off early, and a less obvious pick than most here.
Hallelujah
Jeff Buckley · 1994
Jeff Buckley's version of the Leonard Cohen song is beautiful and much loved at memorials, but the verses are about love, desire and doubt rather than loss. Play the melody, or know the words before you choose it.
For the photo slideshow
A slideshow needs songs that look back and build over three or four minutes. Two or three of these back to back will carry most photo collections.
In My Life
The Beatles · 1965
John Lennon remembering the places and people that made him, and deciding the one he loves now matters most. Just over two minutes, so pair it with something longer.
Best for · SlideshowListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)Memories
Maroon 5 · 2019
Built on the melody of Pachelbel's Canon, it's a toast to the people who aren't here anymore. Contemporary without being jarring, and easy to time photos to.
Best for · SlideshowListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)Photograph
Ed Sheeran · 2014
Ed Sheeran on keeping someone close through the pictures you have of them. It began as a love song about distance, but it fits a slideshow almost too well.
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Green Day · 1997
An acoustic look back that wishes everyone well and doesn't regret the ride. The main title reads badly on a printed program — list it by the part in parentheses.
Best for · Younger guestsListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)Landslide
Fleetwood Mac · 1975
Stevie Nicks on change, getting older and wondering what comes next. Soft and reflective, and right for someone who loved the music of their own youth.
Dancing in the Sky
Dani and Lizzy · 2013
Imagines the person free and happy somewhere beyond reach, and wonders what it's like there. A modern favorite for slideshows, especially when the loss was sudden.
Best for · SlideshowListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)
Hymns and faith
For someone whose faith was part of who they were. The old hymns let everyone join in; the newer songs say the same hope in a contemporary voice.
Amazing Grace
Judy Collins · 1970
John Newton's eighteenth-century hymn, sung by Judy Collins almost unaccompanied with voices joining behind her. Known by nearly everyone, believers or not.
Best for · Sing-alongListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)How Great Thou Art
Elvis Presley · 1967
Elvis took gospel seriously, and this is where you hear it: the hymn builds from hushed to enormous. Right for someone who loved both the King and the church.
It Is Well with My Soul
Audrey Assad · 2016
Horatio Spafford wrote the hymn after losing his four daughters at sea; it is peace that has been fought for, not assumed. Audrey Assad's version is spare and calm.
I Can Only Imagine
MercyMe · 2001
Bart Millard wrote it after his father died, wondering what it will be like to stand before God. One of the most-played contemporary Christian songs at memorial services.
Best for · Memorial serviceListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)
Matt Redman · 2011
A modern worship song whose last verse looks ahead to the end of a life and keeps singing anyway. Familiar to many churchgoers, so the congregation will join in.
You Raise Me Up
Josh Groban · 2003
Thanks to whoever lifted you when you couldn't stand on your own — a person, or God, depending on how you hear it. It builds to a big finish, so give it a moment to itself.
Country
Country music has always been good at plain-spoken goodbyes. These are the country funeral songs people request most, and none of them is maudlin.
Go Rest High on That Mountain
Vince Gill · 1994
Vince Gill started it after Keith Whitley died and finished it after losing his own brother. A blessing for someone whose work on earth is done, and the country memorial song.
Best for · Memorial serviceListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)I Hope You Dance
Lee Ann Womack · 2000
A list of hopes for how to live — take chances, stay curious, don't sit out. At a celebration of life it becomes the lesson the person taught by example.
Best for · Closing the gatheringListen on Spotify (opens in a new tab)Live Like You Were Dying
Tim McGraw · 2004
A man gets hard news and decides to spend the time he has well: skydiving, forgiving, loving more. Perfect for someone who did exactly that.
Holes in the Floor of Heaven
Steve Wariner · 1998
The idea that rain is someone up above watching over the family's big days. Comforting and sentimental, and a strong choice when there are grandchildren in the room.
If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away
Justin Moore · 2011
Wishing heaven were close enough for a visit, to sit and talk with the people who are already there. Gentle, homespun and easy to sing along to.
Or make the one that's missing
Every song on this list was written about somebody else's life.
A tribute song can be written from your memories of them — their name, their habits, the stories the family tells — to play at the gathering or to keep. You approve every line, then hear two finished versions before you pay.
Measure Twice
For a dad · Father's Day · AcousticFrom A$39 · Hear two versions before you pay · Usually ready in 3–8 minutes
Choosing
How to pick the right one
Plan for three moments, not one song
Most gatherings have a place for music as people arrive, during the slideshow, and at the close. A bright song for the start, two longer ones for the photos, and something warm to leave on is a simple shape that works.
Read the whole lyric before you print it
Several familiar memorial songs mean something other than they sound. “Hallelujah” is about desire, “Angel” about addiction, and Green Day's farewell song has a main title that reads badly on a program. None is wrong, but choose them knowing.
Their favorite beats the right lyric
The song they sang in the car will mean more to the room than a perfect tribute in a genre they never played. If what you want to say isn't in any of their songs, that's the gap a song written about them fills.
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