65 First Dance Songs: From Classic To Right Now

Wading through first dance songs to find the right one for our wedding was easy. At some point shortly after we’d started dating, my normally not sappily romantic husband had suggested we should have a song, and it should be Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” In retrospect, I think he was trying to circumvent the part where we ended up stuck with a song that he hated. In any event, we picked it early and stuck with it. So when it came to picking first dance songs, we were ready to go.

What is funny is that, looking back, our pre-planned first dance song wasn’t the one that really ended up feeling like our song from our wedding. The song we danced to at our wedding that will forever bring me to tears is Nina Simone’s version of “I Loves You Porgy.” I’d suggested we put Etta James “At Last” into that particular slot on the playlist (and I stand by that choice as always a classic), but David suggested that “I Loves You Porgy” was similar in vibe, but less popular. And it turns out that these lyrics will bring you to tears on your wedding day: “If you can keep me, I wanna stay here / with you forever, I’ve got my man.”

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How To Pick First Dance Songs

When picking a first dance song it’s important to think about the vibe you want: upbeat, sappy, classic? How do you want to start this party? But it’s also important to consider a few other things, namely, length of the song, tempo, and words. First up, think about how long the song is. Three minutes is a long time to dance while everyone is looking at you, and six minutes will feel like an ice age. Beyond that, think about what style of dance you’ll feel comfortable doing in front of a crowd, and what kind of song will lend itself to that. We picked Stevie Wonder because we knew that we wanted to do something a little more upbeat, rather than sway and rock for many long seconds while everyone watched. And finally, while I don’t think you should overthink the words for every dance song on your playlist, first dance songs are the one place where you do probably want to go read all of the lyrics and make sure they say what you think they say.

So while I’m personally partial to a classic for first dance songs, if you want to go beyond Etta James, Sam Cooke, and Stevie Wonder, there are tons of good options. But narrowing down a selection from the seemingly endless options of first dance songs does take some time. So to help you get to the fun part, we’ve whittled down a list of sixty-five of our favorites, from the classics to… Beyoncé. Because Beyoncé is basically a new classic, amiright?

65 Best first dance songs

1. 1. Andra Day: “Forever Mine“
   2. James Vincent McMorrow: “Higher Love“
   3. Beyoncé: “XO“
   4. Midland: “Make a Little“
   5. Des’ree: “I’m Kissing You“
   6. Diana Ross (& Lionel Richie): “Endless Love“
   7. Rihanna: “Love on the Brain“
   8. Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers: “Islands in the Stream“
   9. Aqualung: “Brighter Than Sunshine“
   10. Whitney Houston: “My Love Is Your Love“
   11. Ryan Adams: “When the Stars Go Blue“
   12. Cyndi Lauper: “Time After Time“
   13. Sade: “By Your Side“
   14. Chris Stapleton: “Tennessee Whiskey“
   15. Luther Vandross: “Here and Now“
   16. Joe Cocker: “You Are So Beautiful“
   17. Christina Perri: “A Thousand Years“
   18. Brian McKnight: “Back at One“
   19. Sarah Bareilles: “I Choose You“
   20. Eric Clapton: “Wonderful Tonight“
   21. John Legend: “All of Me“
   22. The Righteous Brothers: “Unchained Melody“
   23. Alanis Morissette: “Head Over Feet“
   24. Elton John: “Your Song“
   25. Keane: “Somewhere Only We Know“
   26. Michael Bublé: “Everything“
   27. Ingrid Michaelson: “Can’t Help Falling in Love“
   28. Ray LaMontagne: “You Are the Best Thing”
   29. Coldplay: “Green Eyes“
   30. Landon Pigg: “Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop“
   31. Rilo Kiley: “I Never“
   32. Beyoncé: “Halo“
   33. Van Morrison: “Into the Mystic“
   34. U2: “All I Want Is You“
   35. Band of Horses: “No One’s Gonna Love You“
   36. David Gray: “This Year’s Love“
   37. The Zombies: “This Will Be Our Year“
   38. The Beatles: “When I’m Sixty-Four“
   39. Stevie Wonder: “You Are the Sunshine of My Life“
   40. Old Crow Medicine Show: “Wagon Wheel“
   41. Ray Charles: “Hallelujah (I Just Love Her So)“.
   42. James Brown: “I Got You (I Feel Good)“
   43. Lauryn Hill: “I Can’t Take My Eyes off of You“
   44. Marvin Gaye: “Let’s Get It On“
   45. Al Green: “Let’s Stay Together“
   46. Nina Simone: “Feeling Good“
   47. Nat King Cole: “Let’s Face the Music and Dance“
   48. The Wombats: “Let’s Dance to Joy Division“
   49. Chantal Kreviazuk: “Feels Like Home“
   50. Patty Griffin: “Heavenly Day“
   51. Norah Jones: “Turn Me On“
   52. The Beach Boys: “Wouldn’t It Be Nice“
   53. The Beatles: “All You Need Is Love“
   54. Etta James: “At Last“
   55. Journey: “Faithfully“
   56. Sam Cooke: “You Send Me“
   57. Peter Gabriel: “In Your Eyes“
   58. Stevie Wonder: “I Just Called to Say I Love You“
   59. P!nk ft. Lily Allen: “True Love“
   60. Mary Lambert: “She Keeps Me Warm“
   61. Jason Mraz ft. Colbie Caillat: “Lucky“
   62. The Lumineers: “Ho Hey“
   63. Adele: “Make You Feel My Love“
   64. Neutral Milk Hotel: “In an Aeroplane over the Sea“
   65. Otis Redding: “That’s How Strong My Love Is“