The Biggest Movie Hits

Music and Movies go hand in hand and have been a natural combination ever since sound was first added to moving images. Whether the film is an action-packed thriller a tear-jerking drama or a side-splitting comedy, the right song at the right moment will always elevate the impact of a scene.

Movies have produced some of the biggest hits of all time, and in some cases, these soundtrack songs are now more famous than the films they came from. Sometimes it’s a perfect thematic fit with the film’s narrative. Sometimes it just sounds good. These songs are forever ingrained in the history of both music and film as a result of their popularity and greatness. Here are 50 movie soundtrack anthems.

Whitney Houston – ‘I Will Always Love You’ (The Bodyguard)

Written and originally recorded in 1973 by American singer-songwriter Dolly Parton, Whitney Houston‘s version peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a then-record-breaking 14 weeks. When the 1974 recording of the song reached number one on the country charts, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to record the song. Parton was interested until Presley’s manager, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded. Parton refused.

BJ Thomas – ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head’ (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)

This song was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the “Sundance Kid” (Robert Redford), who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The single topped the US chart and won an Oscar for Best Original Song. Ray Stevens (The Streak) was first offered the opportunity to record it for the film but turned it down. Bob Dylan is supposed to have been approached for the song, but he reportedly declined too.

Berlin – ‘Take My Breath Away’ (Top Gun)

The main love theme from Tom Cruise’s Top Gun movie, “Take My Breath Away” was written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock and was performed by the American new wave band Berlin who formed in Los Angeles in 1978. The second single from the Top Gun soundtrack album, following Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone”, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1986. Berlin disbanded right after reaching global success. The song was first offered to The Motels, who much later released their original demo.

Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes – ‘Up Where We Belong’ (An Officer and a Gentleman)

Written by Jack Nitzsche, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Will Jennings and recorded by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes for the 1982 film. Cocker and Warnes were awarded the Grammy for Best Pop Performance and Nitzsche, Sainte-Marie, and Jennings won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Huey Lewis & the News – ‘The Power of Love’ (Back to the Future)

The ultimate feel-good ’80s movie pop anthem, Huey Lewis was hired to come up with a couple of tunes for Back to the Future, the song became the band’s first number-one hit in the US. McFly (Michael J. Fox) and his band play a hard rock version of the song for a Battle of the Bands audition, at which a judge played by Huey Lewis tells Marty’s group that they are “just too darn loud.”

Kenny Loggins – ‘Footloose’ (Footloose)

Co-written with Dean Pitchford and recorded by American singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins, it was released in January 1984 as the first of two singles by Loggins from the 1984 film of the same name. Kenny Loggins’s early soundtrack contributions date back to A Star Is Born in 1976 and he is known as the King of the Movie Soundtrack after he experienced a string of soundtrack successes.

Bette Midler – ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’ (Beaches)

The song was first recorded by Australian singer Kamahl in 1982 for a country and western album. A heartbreaking ballad performed by Midler at the end of Beaches, in this instance singing about the importance of lifelong friendships. The song won Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – ‘You’re the One that I Want’ (Grease)

Written and produced by John Farrar, and released in 1978 as the second single from Grease. As a songwriter and producer, Farrar worked with Olivia Newton-John from 1971 to 1989. He wrote her US number-one hit single: “Have You Never Been Mellow” (1975), “Hopelessly Devoted to You” (1978), and “Magic” (1980). The song is one of the best-selling singles in history to date, having sold over 4 million copies in the United States and the United Kingdom alone, with estimates of more than 15 million copies sold overall.

The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s in His Kiss) – Cher (Mermaids)

It took Cher over 25 years to score a Number 1 song by herself. Written and composed by Rudy Clark (Who also wrote “Got My Mind Set on You” a number 1 hit for George Harrison), the Shoop Shoop Song was first released as a single in 1963 by Merry Clayton.

Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers (Ghost)

This 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret was first written as a theme for the prison film Unchained (1955) hence the song title. While not specially recorded for the movie it came from, “Unchained Melody” will forever be associated with Ghost. In the film the song appears both in instrumental and vocal form, the latter being the version recorded by Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers in 1965.

La Bamba – Los Lobos (La Bamba)

A cover of a classic Mexican folk song to promote a biopic of the late Richie Valens. The song is best known for a 1958 adaptation by Ritchie Valens, a Top 40 hit in the US charts. Los Lobos interestingly knocked another movie theme tune off the top to get to Number 1, Madonna‘s Who’s That Girl, managing two weeks there in the summer 1987.

Night Fever – Bee Gees (Saturday Night Fever)

1978 was a big year for movies, especially ones starring John Travolta. Months before Grease’s chart takeover, the soundtrack to his other starring role in Saturday Night Fever was having a moment. The album spent a whopping 18 consecutive weeks at Number 1 from May 1978, and its centrepiece, the Bee Gees‘ Night Fever, spent two weeks at the top.

My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion (Titanic)

The biggest film of 1998, became the highest-grossing film of all time. Featuring the mega-hit ‘My Heart Will Go On’ the only vocal track on the album, the Titanic soundtrack spent 16 weeks on the Billboard 200 and launched the career of Celine Dion. Composed by James Horner, with lyrics by Will Jennings it topped the charts in more than 25 countries and was the best-selling single of 1998. With worldwide sales estimated at more than 18 million, it is the second-best-selling single by a woman in music history and one of the Best-Selling singles of all time.

(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life – Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (Dirty Dancing)

Dirty Dancing produced several hits upon its release in 1987, including Eric Carmen’s ‘Hungry Eyes,’ Patrick Swayze’s ‘She’s Like the Wind’ and ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’ by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. The song has won several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Wilson Phillips – ‘Hold On’ (Bridesmaids)

In one of cinema’s most rousing endings, the 2011 comedy Bridesmaids gave a new lease of life to 1990’s biggest hit from American trio Wilson Phillips. In the film, the characters played by Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph fondly recall the song from their teenage years. Wilson Phillips then makes an appearance to sing the song at the wedding at the end of the film.

Michael Sembello – ‘Maniac’ (Flashdance)

Originally intended as a horror movie song, the original idea for the song came to the song’s co-writer Dennis Matkosky while watching a news report on a serial killer. It was later reworked as a song to play while Jennifer Beals trained hard at home, it became a big ’80s pop hit for Sembello. The soundtrack album of Flashdance has gone on to sell over six million copies in the US alone. In 1984, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special.

Sonny & Cher – ‘I Got You Babe’ (Groundhog Day)

Bill Murray may have grown to hate this song thanks to his character Phil constantly hearing it every time he woke up, but it’s now an iconic movie song because of his suffering. The American fantasy romantic comedy tells the story of a cynical television weatherman (Bill Murray), covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who becomes trapped in a time loop, forcing him to relive February 2 repeatedly.

Barbra Streisand – ‘The Way We Were’ (The Way We Were)

This American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford was nominated for several awards and won the Academy Awards for Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song for the theme song ‘The Way We Were’. The song topped the US chart in February 1974, when it knocked Ringo Starr‘s version of ‘You’re Sixteen’ from the top of the chart.

Billy Ocean – ‘When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going’ (The Jewel of the Nile)

Billy Ocean was recruited by Hollywood to perform the main theme tune to the adventure flick The Jewel of the Nile starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. A music video was shot in London, and features Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito as lip-synching backing vocalists. The video was initially banned on Top of the Pops because the actors were not part of the Musicians’ Union, meaning DeVito’s miming of the saxophone solo went against the rules.

Isaac Hayes – ‘Theme from Shaft (Shaft)

Future South Park star Isaac Hayes created one of Funk’s finest moments for the main theme for the 1971 drama. Hayes became the first African American to win the Best Original Song Oscar – or any Academy Award in a non-acting category. In 2000, Hayes told National Public Radio that he had only agreed to write and record the Shaft score after the film’s producer, Joel Freeman, promised him an audition for the lead role, which was taken by a then-unknown Richard Roundtree. Hayes, who also had no acting experience, never got the chance to audition but kept his end of the deal anyway.

Irene Cara – ‘Fame’ (Fame)

Before Flashdance, Irene Cara (who played the role of Coco Hernandez in the original film), was hired to record the theme tune for the 1980 musical film Fame. Set in New York City, it chronicles the lives and hardships of students attending The High School of Performing Arts, from their auditions to their freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. It was Irene’s debut single, and it won the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song. The song was later used as the theme song for the Fame television series, which aired from 1982 to 1987.

Starship – ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ (Mannequin)

Pop-rock veterans Starship provided this ’80s anthem as the main theme song to the romantic comedy Mannequin in 1987. Co-written by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond the power ballad duet featuring vocalists Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became Warren’s first single to do so. Warren has written nine number-one songs and 33 top-10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100.

Coolio – ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ (Dangerous Minds)

The 1995 movie Dangerous Minds might not have had a lasting legacy, but its main theme from rapper Coolio and singer LV very much has. Sampling the Stevie Wonder song ‘Pastime Paradise’, the huge-selling single also featured an appearance from the film’s main star Michelle Pfieffer. The song was the number one biggest-selling single of 1995 on the US Billboard chart.

Ben E King – ‘Stand By Me’ (Stand By Me)

The 1986 American coming-of-age drama film gave the Ben E King soul classic a new lease of life thanks to its use in the film. Originally released in 1961, King had written it for the Drifters, who passed on recording it. After a recording session in 1960, King had some studio time left over. The session’s producers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller asked if he had any more songs. King played it on the piano for them. They liked it and called the studio musicians back in to record it. There have been over 400 recorded versions of the song, performed by many artists, notably Otis Redding and John Lennon.

Roxette – ‘It Must Have Been Love’ (Pretty Woman)

Originally a Christmas song, (“It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)”, the festive references were removed as Swedish pop duo Roxette recorded a new version for the Pretty Woman soundtrack. Its use in the film made the song a massive international hit. The song was a massive hit in Norway, where it spent twelve weeks at number one.

Ray Parker Jr – ‘Ghostbusters’ (Ghostbusters)

Parker was approached by the film’s producers to create a theme song, although he only had a few days to do so and the film’s title seemed impossible to include in any lyrics. However, when watching television late at night, Parker saw a commercial for a local service that reminded him that the film had a similar commercial featured for the fictional business. This inspired him to write the song as a pseudo-advertising jingle. Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, stated that he was approached to write the Ghostbusters theme but declined the opportunity as he did not want to be known as a soundtrack artist.

Steppenwolf – ‘Born to Be Wild’ (Easy Rider)

Sometimes, “Born to Be Wild” is described as the first heavy metal song, and the second verse lyric “heavy metal thunder” marks the first use of this term in rock music. Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South, carrying the proceeds from a cocaine deal. Easy Rider explores the societal landscape, issues, and tensions towards adolescents in the United States during the 1960s, such as the rise of the hippie movement, drug use, and communal lifestyle. Real drugs were used in scenes showing the use of marijuana and other substances

Stealers Wheel – ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ (Reservoir Dogs)

“Stuck in the Middle with You” was released on Stealers Wheel’s 1972 eponymous debut album. Written by Scottish musicians Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan, Rafferty provided the lead vocals, with Egan singing harmony. The song is used in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 debut film Reservoir Dogs, during the scene in which the character Mr. Blonde (played by Michael Madsen) taunts and tortures bound policeman Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz) while singing and dancing to the song.

John Parr – ‘St Elmo’s Fire’ (St Elmo’s Fire)

The 1985 American coming-of-age film was directed by Joel Schumacher and stars Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Andie MacDowell and Mare Winningham. Parr was inspired to write the lyrics not by the movie (which he had not seen) but by the Canadian athlete Rick Hansen who, at the time, was travelling around the world via his wheelchair to raise awareness for spinal cord injuries.

Kenny Loggins – ‘Danger Zone’ (Top Gun)

The soundtrack to the 1986 American action drama film Top Gun, was the the best-selling of 1986, and one of the best-selling of all time. The story was inspired by an article titled “Top Guns”, written by Ehud Yonay and published in California magazine three years earlier. The band Toto was originally intended to perform the track, but legal conflicts between the producers of Top Gun and the band’s lawyers prevented this. The film producers offered the song to Loggins. Reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Danger Zone” was kept out of the number 1 spot by Peter Gabriel‘s “Sledgehammer”. It became Loggins’ second-highest chart hit, bested only by his 1984 number 1 hit “Footloose”.

John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John – ‘Summer Nights’ (Grease)

In the movie version of Grease, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John played the lead roles of Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson. Grease was certainly the word in 1978, when it ruled the charts with several massive hits from the soundtrack. This opening number between the pair and their pals is still a karaoke favourite nearly 50 years later. The song spent seven weeks at number 1. In the UK, and combined with an earlier nine-week run with “You’re the One That I Want,” the Travolta-Newton-John duet team spent 16 weeks at number 1 in 1978 in the UK.

Seal – ‘Kiss from a Rose’ (Batman Forever)

Seal wrote ‘Kiss from a Rose’ in 1987, several years before the release of his eponymous debut album from 1991 but felt embarrassed by it and threw the tape in the corner. The second single taken from the Batman Forever film soundtrack, it topped the US Billboard Hot 100. It also was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Song from a Movie in 1996. The soundtrack also gave U2 a major hit with “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”.

Tina Turner – ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’ (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome)

Written by Graham Lyle and Terry Britten (who also wrote Turner’s hit “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”), this power ballad received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. As songwriters, Lyle and Britten received the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. The 1985 Australian post-apocalyptic action film stars Mel Gibson and Tina Turner in a story of a lone roving warrior who is exiled into the desert, and encounters an isolated child cargo cult, centred on a crashed Boeing 747 and its deceased captain.

Peter Cetera – ‘The Glory of Love’ (The Karate Kid II)

The song was recorded by Cetera shortly after he left the band Chicago to pursue a solo career. Featured in the film The Karate Kid Part II (1986), it was Cetera’s first hit single after he left the band, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Cetera has said that he originally wrote and composed “Glory of Love” as the end title for the film Rocky IV (1985), but it was passed over by United Artists.

Pharrel Williams – ‘Happy’ (Despicable Me 2)

From the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, Pharrell became one of the few artists to land three separate stints at Number 1 with the same song and landed his third million-seller within a year. “Happy” was the biggest song of 2014, and sold over 1.94 million downloads to become the eighth biggest-selling singles of all time in the UK.

Survivor – ‘The Eye of the Tiger’ (Rocky III)

Sylvester Stallone, the director and star of Rocky III, enlisted Survivor to write the song after the band Queen denied him permission to use their song “Another One Bites the Dust”. “Eye of the Tiger” was written by the guitarist, Frankie Sullivan, and the keyboardist, Jim Peterik. They conceived a riff based on chord changes to mirror the timing of punches. They took the title from a line spoken by Rocky’s coach, Apollo Creed: “You had that eye of the tiger, man, the edge… You gotta get it back.” Stallone took the phrase from the 1969 film A Dream of Kings.

Christopher Cross – ‘Arthur’s Theme’ (Arthur)

This was the main theme for the 1981 film Arthur starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli. It won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981 and was a number-one hit in the US. It was written in collaboration between Cross, pop legend Burt Bacharach, and Bacharach’s frequent writing partner and then-wife Carole Bayer Sager. The line in the chorus “When you get caught between the moon and New York City” was taken from an unreleased song written by Allen and Bayer Sager. Allen came up with the line while his plane was in a holding pattern during a night arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Patrick Swayze – ‘She’s Like the Wind’ (Dirty Dancing)

Swayze and Stacy Widelitz co-wrote the song in 1984. It was originally intended for the soundtrack of Grandview, U.S.A. and was meant to be about Jamie Lee Curtis’ character in the film. During the production of Dirty Dancing in 1987, Swayze played the demo for producer Linda Gottlieb and director Emile Ardolino. The song, like the film in which it was featured, was a success, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on Adult Contemporary, and was a hit around the world. The soundtrack album was number one for 18 weeks.

Bob Seger – ‘Old Time Rock & Roll’ (Risky Business)

‘Old Time Rock & Roll’ was recorded by Seger for his tenth studio album Stranger in Town. It was also released as a single in 1979. The song gained renewed popularity after being featured in the 1983 film Risky Business. Cruise’s character, Joel Goodsen, famously lip-syncs and dances in his underwear as this song plays after his parents leave him home alone.

Gary Jules and Michael Andrews – ‘Mad World’ (Donnie Darko)

In a film full of ’80s classics, it was an inspired move to record a piano cover of Tears for Fears’ song ‘Mad World’ for the powerful finale in this film which stars Jake Gyllenhaal. Two years later, it was the UK’s surprise Christmas number one after a new single release, and it remains one of cinema’s most moving music moments.

John Parr – ‘St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)’ (St. Elmo’s Fire)

The song hit No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart on 7 September 1985, remaining there for two weeks. It was the main theme for Joel Schumacher’s film, and the first single from the soundtrack. The song was created and edited within 24 hours. The record peaked at No. 6 in the United Kingdom, Parr’s home country, and became a No. 1 hit for him around the world, and provided many awards and a Grammy nomination.

All Saints – ‘Pure Shores’ (The Beach)

Group member Shaznay Lewis and producer William Orbit wrote the song for a scene in the 2000 adventure drama film, The Beach, where co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Virginie Ledoyen swim underwater. ‘Pure Shores’ was the second best-selling single of 2000 in the UK.

Bryan Adams – ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ (Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves)

Spending a record-breaking 16 straight weeks at the top of the UK charts and seven at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” owed at least some of its ubiquity to its use in the summer 1991 blockbuster Robin Hood. The power ballad was the lead single for both the soundtrack album from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Adams’s sixth studio album, Waking Up the Neighbours (1991). The song was written in London, UK at the studio Adams was working at in 1990, and he and Mutt Lange wrote it in 45 minutes.

Bruce Springsteen – ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ (Philadelphia)

Written by Bruce Springsteen for the 1993 film Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, this was the first Hollywood big-budget, big-star film to tackle the issue of AIDS in the US. The song received critical acclaim, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song and four Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo, and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television.

Harry Nilsson – ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ (Midnight Cowboy)

Written by American folk singer-songwriter Fred Neil the song became a hit for Harry Nilsson after it was used in the film Midnight Cowboy in 1969. The film which stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight won three awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Midnight Cowboy is the only X-rated film to win Best Picture. It placed 36th on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest American films of all time.

Iggy Pop – ‘Lust for Life’ (Trainspotting)

The 1977 song performed by American singer Iggy Pop and co-written by David Bowie, featured on the album of the same name and was composed (on a ukulele) during their decadent Berlin period. The rhythm was based on the Armed Forces Network call signal which Pop and Bowie picked up on while waiting for a broadcast of Starsky & Hutch. “Lust for Life” gained renewed popularity in the late 1990s after being featured in the 1996 British film Trainspotting.

The Beach Boys – ‘Kokomo’ (Cocktail)

Written by John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Mike Love, and Terry Melcher, the song was released as a single in July 1988 and became the Beach Boys‘ first original top-20 single in 20 years and their first number-one hit in 22 years. The recording featured every current member of the group except Brian Wilson, who did not attend the sessions. The film which stars Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown and Elisabeth Shue tells the story of a young New York City business student, who takes up bartending to make ends meet.

Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (Wayne’s World)

In 1992, Mike Myers used “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the rambunctious centrepiece of the indelible opening scene of the film, Wayne’s World, which had been adapted from a Saturday Night Live sketch of the same name, and gave the song and the band behind it an unprecedented second life. Despite being bedbound, Freddie Mercury was able to watch a preview of the scene before his death on 24th November 1991, and he loved it.

Randy Newman – ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ (Toy Story)

American singer-songwriter scored hits as a recording artist including “Short People” (1977), “I Love L.A.” (1983), while other artists have enjoyed success with cover versions of his “Mama Told Me Not to Come” (1966), “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” (1968) and “You Can Leave Your Hat On” (1972). ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

Chuck Berry – ‘Johnny B Goode’ (Back to the Future)

One of the most memorable moments from Back to the Future is when Marty McFly, played by Michael J Fox, is on stage at his parents’ 1955 “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance playing “Johnny B. Goode”. Marty’s singing voice was that of Mark Campbell, a member of the soul and R&B band Jack Mack and the Heart Attack. Campbell wasn’t credited as the production crew wanted to fully make the illusion that Fox was singing, but music supervisor Bones Howe made sure Campbell got a small percentage of the soundtrack revenue as compensation.

As for Michael J Fox learning guitar, that was done via 2 methods. Fist off, Michael was taught how to play the actual song by Paul Hanson, who is a famed guitar coach in Hollywood. Michael got so good he told Robert Zemeckis he could cut to his hands playing anytime time, as he was that confident in his abilities to play the song.

Judy Garland – ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ (The Wizard of Oz)

“Over the Rainbow”, also known as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, may just be the most iconic movie song of them all. The ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg was written for the 1939 American musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz, in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role as Dorothy Gale. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and became Garland’s signature song. In 2018, it was named the “most influential film of all time” as the result of a study conducted by the University of Turin to measure the success and significance of 47,000 films from around the world using data from readers and audience polls, as well as internet sources.