‘My way’ tops funeral song playlist

SunLife’s latest Cost of Dying report reveals that Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ is the song most likely to be played at a funeral.
SunLife has been studying funerals since 2004, and the Cost of Dying report is the longest-running and most in-depth study into the UK funeral industry. The latest report reveals that the most commonly played funeral song is ‘My Way’, followed by ‘Time To Say Goodbye’ followed by Eva Cassidy’s version of ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’.

However, when SunLife asked 2,000 people what sort of music they would like at their own funeral it found that ‘Time To Say Goodbye’, ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ and ‘Angels’ were preferred over The Sinatra song.

According to the report, just 26% of people actually make their preference for a funeral song known – in almost three-quarters of cases (74%) the funeral song is chosen by someone else – most often the person organising the funeral.

The most common ‘send-off’ music played at funerals is a hymn, not a song. ‘Abide With Me’ is played at one in 20 of all funerals, even though 75% of people surveyed said they do not want hymns played at their funeral.

Ian Atkinson, marketing director at SunLife said: “While most of us (73%) have made no funeral plans, if asked directly about what type of music we’d like, the majority (81%) do have a preference, and overwhelmingly, that preference is for songs and other music over hymns. However, if we don’t tell loved ones what we want, it would appear that hymns become the default option.”

Top 15 songs played at funerals

1. My Way – Frank Sinatra
2. Time To Say Goodbye – Andrea Bocelli And Sarah Brightman
3. Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Eva Cassidy
4. You’ll Never Walk Alone
5. We’ll Meet Again – Vera Lynn
6. Unforgettable – Nat King Cole
7. Wind Beneath My Wings – Bette Midler
8. Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life – Eric Idle
9. Simply The Best – Tina Turner
10. Angels – Robbie Williams
11. Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel
12. Green, Green Grass of Home – Tom Jones
13. Sailing – Rod Stewart
14. Fields of Gold – Eva Cassidy
15. Smile – Nat King Cole (Charlie Chaplin)

Top 15 songs we’d choose for our own funeral

1. Time To Say Goodbye – Andrea Bocelli And Sarah Brightman
2. Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Eva Cassidy
3. Wind Beneath My Wings– Bette Midler
4. Angels– Robbie Williams
5. My Way– Frank Sinatra
6. Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life – Eric Idle
7. You Raise Me Up – Westlife
8. I Will Always Love You – Whitney Houston
9. My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion
10. Unforgettable – Nat King Cole
11. Supermarket Flowers – Ed Sheeran
12. You’ll Never Walk Alone
13. Highway To Hell – AC/DC
14. Everybody Hurts – Rem
15. Your Song – Elton John