Adele‘s tear-jerking global hit Someone Like You is now the 22nd most played song at British funerals – according to this year’s charts.
NME reports that the track has entered the Co-operative Funeralcare’s chart of the top music played at funerals, which was topped by Frank Sinatra’s My Way for the seventh year in a row. The track was requested at a whopping 15 per cent of funerals in the UK, based on requests made at 30,000 services over the last 12 months.
Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli’s rendition of Time to Say Goodbye and Bette Midler’s Wind Beneath My Wings were second and third on the list respectively.
The study also found that pop music has replaced traditional hymns at two-thirds of British funerals. In 2005, hymns accounted for 41 per cent of funeral music requests, but in the past 12 months, that figure has slumped to 30 per cent. Only 4 per cent of mourners requested classical music.
Top 20 songs requested at UK funerals in 2012:
1. Frank Sinatra – My Way
2. Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli – Time to Say Goodbye
3. Bette Midler – Wind Beneath My Wings
4. Eva Cassidy – Over the Rainbow
5. Robbie Williams – Angels
6. Westlife – You Raise Me Up
7. Gerry & the Pacemakers – You’ll Never Walk Alone
8. Vera Lynn – We’ll Meet Again
9. Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On
10. Nat King Cole – Unforgettable
11. Tina Turner – The Best
12. Whitney Houston/Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You
13. Monty Python – Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
14. Luthor Vandross – Dance With My Father
15. Louis Armstrong – Wonderful World
16. Daniel O’Donnel – Danny Boy
17. Eva Cassidy – Fields of Gold
18. Righteous Brothers (and various) – Unchained Melody
19. Westlife – Flying Without Wings
20. Eva Cassidy – Songbird
