After wedding guests eat dinner, listen to heartfelt speeches, and watch the couple of honor share their first dance, they usually spend the second half of the reception on the dance floor. To signal the change of atmosphere, from traditional and formal to lighthearted and upbeat, a curated playlist—either from a DJ or live band—is responsible for setting the mood and bringing the energy. While many of these set lists feature the couple’s genre preferences and song selections, there are a few classic tracks that play time and time again at wedding receptions. 

In a new study that Breezit—an online search tool that allows users to find vendors for weddings or events—conducted, there’s one particular song that’s been a sought-after pick for to-be-weds. After analyzing 2,000 wedding-themed playlists on Spotify (with a total of 49,091 songs), researchers discovered that “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston is the most popular wedding song of all time, with the track included in 24.2 percent of the evaluated wedding-related playlists on Spotify. The 1987 ballad appeared 484 times across the list of playlists, which the researchers chose based on keywords, like “wedding dance floor,” “wedding party,” “walking down the aisle,” and “first dance songs.”

According to the study, there were many other songs that topped the charts. In second place came the 2000 single “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, which was added to 394 of the 2,000 playlists (19.7 percent)—particularly ones that fell under the “wedding dance floor” category. The third most popular song of all time, based on the accumulated data, is “Yeah!” by Usher, featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, another early-2000s hit, which was included in 19.5 percent of the wedding-themed Spotify playlists, primarily under “wedding dance floor” and “wedding party playlist.”

Other classics appeared on the list, too: “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers secured the fourth ranking, showing up on 18.8 percent of the playlists that the researchers assessed. The 2003 track almost tied with the 1978 song ”September” by Earth, Wind, & Fire, which had an 18.45 percent appearance—especially for playlists geared toward the dance floor. The next five most popular included “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, “Marry You” by Bruno Mars, “Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé, “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon, and “Low” by Flo Rida, which appeared on 17.95 percent, 17.7 percent, 17.45 percent, 16.8 percent, and 16.55 percent of the examined Spotify playlists, respectively.

Arturas Asakavicius, co-founder and CEO of Breezit, noted that these findings are evidence of these tunes' everlasting appeal since they were all released at least a decade ago. “Music plays an incredibly important role in wedding celebrations, and it’s fascinating to see which songs are still hailed as wedding classics, even years after their initial release,” Asakavicius said. “Wedding playlists can help create lasting memories, capturing both the joy of the dance floor and the romance of walking down the aisle. Certain songs have become intertwined with the celebration of a wedding, which is why some have become timeless classics for many couples’ big day.”