Revealed: The Top 10 most unusual funeral music requests

A Top 10 with a difference has been revealed - of the most unusual music requests made for funerals.
Firestarter by The Prodigy was one of the top 10 funeral songs. Pic: Katy Blackwood.Firestarter by The Prodigy was one of the top 10 funeral songs. Pic: Katy Blackwood.
Firestarter by The Prodigy was one of the top 10 funeral songs. Pic: Katy Blackwood.

The list includes rock songs such as Highway to Hell and Another One Bites The Dust, disco-era classics Burn Baby Burn and Celebration, and even TV’s Benny Hill theme tune.

Almost 200 funeral directors were asked about any unusual trends and occurrences they’d encountered during the course of their work.

The theme tune from The Benny Hill Show was one of the more irreverent choices of funeral music.The theme tune from The Benny Hill Show was one of the more irreverent choices of funeral music.
The theme tune from The Benny Hill Show was one of the more irreverent choices of funeral music.

The Top 10 most-requested funeral songs were:

1. Celebration – Kool and the Gang

2. Firestarter – The Prodigy

3. Highway to Hell – AC/DC

The theme tune from The Benny Hill Show was one of the more irreverent choices of funeral music.The theme tune from The Benny Hill Show was one of the more irreverent choices of funeral music.
The theme tune from The Benny Hill Show was one of the more irreverent choices of funeral music.

4. Another One Bites the Dust – Queen

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5. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – Monty Python

6. Burn Baby Burn (Disco Inferno) – The Trammps

7. Don’t Stop Me Now – Queen

8. Benny Hill Theme Tune

9. Teletubbies Theme Tune

10. Deal or No Deal Theme Tune

Other popular requests which failed to make the top 10, included Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, Way Down by Elvis Presley and Ding, Dong The Witch is Dead from the film The Wizard of Oz.

Funeral directors have also seen a rise in family members opting to sing a loved one's favourite song, with 47% choosing that rather than deliver a traditional eulogy.

Paul Wilcox, chief executive of Wilcox Limousines, the UK's leading funeral vehicle coachbuilder, which carried out the survey, said: “There’s a great deal of humour attached to the songs on the list.

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"There is a wicked irony at play with some of these choices. Often at times, the music selected for a funeral is sombre, but some people choose a song that they think captures the personality of the deceased and their sense of humour, because that’s how they want their families and loved ones to remember them.”