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- Eminem, "Lose Yourself"
- Shady Interscope
1The ultimate pump up song and staple of everyone's "Gym Playlist," this 1982 hit belongs to Rocky III. One of the best-selling singles in the history of the universe, "Eye of the Tiger" was voted VH1's 63rd greatest hard rock song of all time.
Also ranks #1 on The Best Workout Songs- Also ranks #2 on The 50 Most Recognizable '80s Movie Theme Songs, Ranked
- Also ranks #2 on The Most Uplifting Songs From The '80s
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2Stayin' Alive
Bee Gees"Stayin' Alive" was the theme song from Saturday Night Fever. The Bee Gees classic of 1977 landed as #189 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.Purchase
3The anthem of 8 Mile and pretty much all of 2002, "Lose Yourself" was Eminem's first single from the movie's soundtrack. Its 23 weeks on top of the world made its mark in the Guinness Book of World Records as the "Longest Running Single at Number One for a Rap Song."
Dig Deeper This Is The Real Story Behind Eminem's '8 Mile' And How 'Lose Yourself' Happened- Also ranks #1 on The 30+ Best Rap Songs About Never Giving Up
- Also ranks #1 on Billboard's Top 100 Songs Of The 21st Century Ranked By What Fans Actually Think
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4Take My Breath Away
BerlinBerlin wrote this love song for 1986's Top Gun. Giorgi Moroder and Tom Whitlock wrote the tune for the Tom Cruise movie and got both the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.Purchase
5Coolio won the MTV VMA for Best Video from a film and the entire 1990s with "Gangsta's Paradise." Co-written by Stevie Wonder, the song was the best-selling single of 1995 thanks to the movie Dangerous Minds.- Also ranks #2 on Songs That Earned A Second Life Through Viral Trends
- Also ranks #2 on The Best Rap Songs About Making It Out of the Hood
- Also ranks #6 on 28 Of The Most Unbelievable Movie Tie-In Music Videos, Ranked
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6You've Got a Friend in Me
Donny Osmond, Rosie O'DonnellRandy Newman recorded the theme song to the entire Toy Story franchise in 1995. Pixar should be grateful to him, and co-writer Lyle Lovett, for their Oscar and Golden Globe nominations in the Best Original Song category.Purchase
71989's Best Original Song Oscar went to this Little Mermaid song. "Under the Sea" also won a Grammy in 1991 and was reprised in the 2008 Broadway musical version.- Also ranks #2 on Every Song in The Little Mermaid, Ranked by Singability
- Also ranks #3 on The Best Disney Songs Of All Time
- Also ranks #5 on The Best Disney Karaoke Songs
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8Written for The Graduate, this song is named after Anne Bancroft's character, who seduces Dustin Hoffman. In 1969, "Mrs. Robinson" won a Record of the Year Grammy Award.Purchase
9"Live and Let Die" is the theme song from the James Bond movie of the same name. In 1973, Paul McCartney & Wings reunited with former Beatles producer George Martin to record the song.- Also ranks #65 on The Best Paul McCartney Songs
- Also ranks #142 on The Best Songs Of All Time, Ranked
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10Happy
"Happy" was such a hit from the movie Despicable Me 2 (2013) that even Weird Al's parody of it, "Tacky," went viral. Pharrell's song was nominated for a 2014 Academy Award and became the world's first 24-hour music video.Purchase
11Written for the main characters of the 2018 movie, A Star is Born, Lady Gaga teams with co-star Bradley Coooper (yes, he sings on the track).
- Year: 2018
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12Let It Go
"Let It Go" did not just make Idina Menzel and John Travolta go viral at the Oscars, but it made the Frozen soundtrack an absolute hit. This 2014 Academy Award-winning Disney song has led to a pop version by singer and actress Demi Lovato.Purchase
13Will Smith's song "Men in Black" played in Will Smith's movie Men in Black during the end credits. Smith garnered a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best Rap Solo Performance.- Also ranks #4 on 28 Of The Most Unbelievable Movie Tie-In Music Videos, Ranked
- Also ranks #10 on The Best Songs with Superhero References
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14Pocahontas: Colors of the Wind
London Symphony Orchestra, John Williams"Colors of the Wind" was written by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken for Pocahontas. This 1995 movie theme song won Best Original Song at the Oscars, the Golden Globes, and the Grammys.Purchase
15What would the '90s have been without R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly?" One of his biggest hits of all time, you can listen to this single on the soundtrack of Space Jam (1996).- Dig Deeper Classic Songs That Youngsters Don't Know Came From Movies
- Also ranks #21 on The 38 Best Songs About Flying
- Also ranks #46 on The Best R&B Songs Of The '90s, Ranked
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16Everything Is Awesome
"Everything Is Awesome," or as it often written, "Everything Is AWESOME!!!" comes from The Lego Movie (2014). You can thank Tegan and Sara, as well as The Lonely Island, for performing this Mark Mothersbaugh-produced gem that the International Business Times called a parody of "creeping fascism."Purchase
17Barbie's Ryan Gosling shows off his pipes in Mark Ronson's and Andrew Wyatt's homage to 80s power ballads and 50s musicals. Guns and Roses guitarist Slash plays on the song for the 2023 film.
- Year: 2023
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18Love Me Like You Do
Ellie GouldingEllie Goulding recorded and released this steamy song for Fifty Shades of Grey in 2015.Purchase
19Public Enemy wrote this hit for Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. As the 1989 movie's theme song, "Fight the Power" was included in Time magazine's list of the All-TIME 100 Songs.- Also ranks #5 on The Best Songs About Government
- Also ranks #6 on The Best Raps About America
- Also ranks #21 on The 30+ Best Rap Songs About Never Giving Up
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20Peaches
Jack Black (credited as Bowser)Jack Black sings his heart out as Bowser in this ode to the pinkest princess in the land. It charted on Billboard's Hot 100, a first for the longtime musical comedian, and became a cultural touchstone for 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
- Year: 2022
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21Try Again
AaliyahAaliyah's "Try Again" was written for 2000's Romeo Must Die. The Jet Li movie spawned this song, which was the first in history to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 solely based on radio airplay.Purchase
22I'll Never Love Again
I'll Never Love AgainAlongside the film version of the track, Lady Gaga's "I'll Never Love Again" (featuring Bradley Cooper) was featured in A Star Is Born (2018).
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23Independent Women, Part 1
Ten Masked Men2000's Charlie's Angels not only starred three of the world's sexiest women, but its theme song was performed by the world's other three sexiest. Destiny's Child released "Independent Women, Part 1," and it became the 18th most successful song of the entire 2000s.Purchase
24Safe and Sound
Taylor Swift and T-Bone Burnett wrote a song with The Civil Wars for The Hunger Games (2012). The result? "Safe and Sound," a single so popular that it garnered a Golden Globe nomination in 2013 for Best Original Song.Purchase
25Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar (you read that correctly) for "Hard Out Here for a Pimp." After it won Best Original Song for the movie Hustle and Flow in 2005, host Jon Stewart reminded audiences at home to keep score: "Three 6 Mafia: one. Martin Scorsese: zero."- Also ranks #19 on The Best Rap Songs About Poverty
- Also ranks #49 on The Best-Ever Oscar Winners for Best Original Song
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26Falling Slowly
The Frames"Falling Slowly" comes from Once, the 2007 Irish musical movie about friends writing songs together. Songwriters / actors Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2008.Purchase
27"Exit Music (For a Film)" was indeed for a film. Radiohead wrote this song to be played for the end credits (hence exit music) for Romeo + Juliet, the 1996 DiCaprio-Winslet version of Shakespeare.Purchase
28Earned It
The Canadian dark R&B producer The Weeknd wrote and released this song as a single for the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack.Purchase
29Save Me
Aimee MannThis Aimee Mann tune scored an Oscar nomination for Best Song in 1999. You can see it sung by the ensemble in a musical segment of Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia.Purchase
30Miss Misery
Elliott SmithElliot Smith wrote "Miss Misery" for Good Will Hunting. When it got an Academy Award nomination in 1998, producers had to convince Smith to play the song at the ceremony.Purchase
31Eyes Open
In 2012, "Eyes Open" made a splash on the soundtrack "The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond." It was Taylor Swift's highest Billboard Pop Songs chart debut until "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."Purchase
