Frank Sinatra’s My Way loses top spot in funeral music request chart
The new frontrunner is a song famously recorded by a group from Liverpool.
Gerry and the Pacemakers’ emotional melody You’ll Never Walk Alone has hit the top spot in Co-op Funeralcare’s annual music chart of the most popular songs at funerals.
The song has been played at an estimated 9,500 funerals over the past year, taking over from perennial favourite, Frank Sinatra’s My Way, said the Co-op.
It spent four weeks at number one in 1963, and was covered by Michael Ball, Sir Captain Tom Moore and the NHS Voices of Care Choir last April to raise money for charity.
The anthem is also famously the team song for Liverpool Football Club.
The Co-op also reported that The Greatest Showman’s rousing theatrical showstopper This Is Me enters its top 10 chart for the first time, saying it proves that for many, sad downbeat and melancholic songs could be falling out of favour.
Among the more controversial requests received by Co-op Funeralcare colleagues are W.A.P by Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion, Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys, F*** Forever by Babyshambles, Ha Ha You’re Dead by Green Day, and Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead from The Wizard of Oz.
Restrictions imposed on funerals due to the pandemic meant the way music was played at funerals changed in some instances, with pre-recorded music the most popular.
“The songs we choose for a funeral all hold unique and personal meaning for ourselves and loved ones but naturally some songs remain more popular than others and we’re delighted to unveil this year’s music chart.
“Each element of a funeral is a very personal choice and we’re encouraging the nation to be more open about their funeral wishes, music is a really simple and comforting place to start.”
“It’s a beautiful melody which carries such deep meaning.”
“Right up until his passing, his priority was always to make sure that no-one should feel alone or helpless no matter their age or life circumstance, and that’s one of the reasons he started to walk his laps of our garden last year.
“That’s what a powerful song can do as well, which is why I’m comforted to know that my father’s collaboration with Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir is continuing his legacy of hope at funerals across the UK when families and loved ones face loss and grief, a feeling that my family knows only too well over the past year.”
