Every karaoke night has its unshakable regulars, the songs that get requested no matter the crowd or the city. What’s easy to forget is that several of these anthems barely made a dent when they first came out. Some charted low, some didn’t chart at all, and a few were quietly written off by their own labels before finding a second life years later.
The gap between a song’s debut and its eventual karaoke immortality is often stranger than expected. A movie soundtrack, a TV finale, or just the slow churn of radio rotation turned commercial afterthoughts into the tracks everyone fights over the microphone for. Here are ten songs that took the long way to becoming staples.
1. Take On Me – a-ha
Long before it became one of the most recognizable synth-pop songs ever recorded, “Take On Me” was a genuine commercial dud. The band rushed to release “Take On Me” as a single in the United Kingdom but the single flopped. A second attempt with a different producer didn’t fare much better either.
Warner Brothers’ main office in the United States decided to invest in the band, and gave them the opportunity to re-record the song, but when it was re-released in the United Kingdom, the record label’s office in London gave them little support, and the single flopped for the second time. It took a third release, paired with a groundbreaking music video, to finally make it a hit. Today it’s a karaoke go-to precisely because everyone remembers the falsetto leap, even if almost nobody can actually nail it.
2. Mr. Brightside – The Killers
The Killers’ signature song wasn’t an instant smash by any measure. Originally released on September 29, 2003, it achieved only minor success and became more popular upon its re-release in 2004, peaking at number 10 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Even that peak took months of slow climbing rather than an explosive debut.
What makes the song’s story remarkable is how it kept growing decades after release. “Mr Brightside” is now the U.K.’s biggest-ever single which didn’t reach No. 1, having notched 408 weeks on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, almost eight full years. That kind of staying power, built on streaming and pub karaoke sessions rather than chart glory, is exactly why it remains a first-round pick at any karaoke bar.
3. Kiss From a Rose – Seal
Few songs have a more dramatic flop-to-classic arc than this one. Seal himself has described the original 1994 release bluntly, recalling that it went into the charts at No. 60 and dropped to No. 80-something the next week, and that was the end of it. It was over.
The song only survived because director Joel Schumacher fell in love with it and pushed to feature it in Batman Forever. The song was re-released a year later in 1995 as part of the Batman Forever film soundtrack, helping it top the charts in the United States and Australia. It went on to sweep the Grammys, and now it’s one of those slow, dramatic ballads that karaoke singers request when they want to show off some range.
4. Piano Man – Billy Joel
It’s strange to think of “Piano Man” as an underperformer, given how ingrained it is in bar culture, but the numbers tell a modest story. Billy Joel introduced himself to the Billboard Hot 100 with “Piano Man,” which hit No. 25 in April 1974. That’s a respectable showing, but nowhere near the chart-topping stature the song has taken on in the public imagination.
The song’s cultural weight grew steadily rather than instantly. Joel’s first major hit and his signature song peaked at only #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in April 1974, though in 2016 the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry for its cultural, historic, or artistic significance. Its narrative structure and communal “la la la” chorus make it one of the most requested singalong numbers in karaoke rooms everywhere.
5. Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
Journey’s most enduring anthem was a solid hit in its own era, but not the chart-topping juggernaut its later reputation might suggest. It peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981, a strong showing but far from the dominance it enjoys today in karaoke culture.
The song’s second life came decades later, propelled by its use in television finales and a wave of covers that reintroduced it to younger audiences. “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey consistently ranks as the number one karaoke song worldwide, its combination of universal familiarity, singalong chorus, and emotional build making it nearly impossible to fail. Few songs illustrate the gap between initial chart performance and lasting cultural weight quite like this one.
6. Torn – Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Imbruglia’s breakout single became an enormous hit across much of the world, but its American reception was noticeably cooler than its reputation now implies. The song became a massive presence on UK and European charts and radio, yet it never achieved the same commercial dominance in the United States, where it settled far outside the top tier of the Hot 100.
That regional mismatch is part of why the song feels almost rediscovered whenever it turns up at karaoke nights in America. Its emotional, mid-tempo structure gives singers room to actually connect with the lyrics rather than just shout a chorus, which is a big part of its enduring appeal decades after its original release.
7. It’s Raining Men – The Weather Girls
This disco-pop celebration didn’t set the American charts alight when it first arrived in the early 1980s, landing well outside the upper reaches of the Hot 100. It found a stronger foothold on dance charts and in clubs, particularly within LGBTQ+ nightlife, long before mainstream radio caught on.
Its slow-building popularity through club culture and later television and film placements eventually turned it into a bona fide karaoke anthem, especially for group performances. The song’s theatrical energy and easy-to-shout hook make it a natural fit for singers who want a crowd-pleaser rather than a technical showcase.
8. I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) – The Proclaimers
When The Proclaimers first released this song in the late 1980s, it made a modest impression in the UK and largely passed under the radar elsewhere. It wasn’t until it was featured prominently in a Hollywood film several years later that American audiences embraced it in a big way.
That secondary boost transformed the song from a regional favorite into an international karaoke staple, particularly for duets. Its repetitive, easy-to-remember chorus makes it forgiving for singers who might not have Billy Joel-level pipes but still want to bring the whole room into the performance.
9. Wonderwall – Oasis
Oasis’s most famous song is often assumed to have been a massive hit everywhere from day one, but its American chart performance tells a more complicated story. It underperformed significantly on the US charts relative to its eventual cultural footprint, even as it became a defining single of the Britpop era back home.
Its slow climb into ubiquity came largely through radio longevity, acoustic covers, and its adoption as the go-to song for anyone learning guitar. That same simplicity, four chords and a melody almost everyone can hum, is exactly why it remains one of the most requested acoustic-style karaoke numbers decades after its original release.
10. The Chain – Fleetwood Mac
Unlike most songs on this list, “The Chain” was never even released as a single in most markets when Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours came out in 1977, meaning it had no real chance at conventional chart success. It existed almost entirely as an album deep cut for years, appreciated by fans but far from a mainstream hit.
Its later adoption as sporting event and broadcast theme music, most notably in motorsport coverage, introduced the song to entirely new generations of listeners. That unusual path from album filler to instantly recognizable anthem is part of why it now shows up in karaoke rooms as a song people are surprised, and delighted, to see on the list.
What ties these ten songs together isn’t genre or era, it’s the pattern of underestimation followed by rediscovery. A movie soundtrack, a re-release, a television moment, or simply the passage of time gave each of them a second chance that their original release never promised. That’s probably the most honest lesson karaoke machines have quietly been teaching us for years: commercial performance and staying power are not the same thing at all.
