The Most Popular Movie Music

The Most Common Movie Songs

While many of the most commonly used songs are instantly recognisable classics, others may be less familiar, but have still clocked up an impressive number of movie appearances. And while we chose not to include it in our ranking, the song which appeared more than any other was actually ‘Happy Birthday to You’, which kind of makes sense when you think about it!

1

U Can’t Touch This

- MC Hammer

The number one song was one which everybody knows, though you might struggle to put your finger on any movies that MC Hammer’s signature hit, “U Can’t Touch This” has actually appeared in. However, it’s shown in as many as 15 movies over the years, including Tropic Thunder, Into the Wild, Grown Ups 2 and The Festival.

2

Under Pressure

- Queen & David Bowie

In second place was another well-known song, “Under Pressure” by Queen & David Bowie, which has been featured in 14 films, including Happy Feet Two, Minions, Sing and It’s Kind of a Funny Story.

3

Push It

- Salt-N-Pepa

Three songs were tied for third place, on 13 songs each, starting with Salt-N-Pepa’s 1987 hit “Push It”, which has featured in movies such as 10 Things I Hate About You, Love, Rosie, and recent releases such as Booksmart and What Men Want.

4

Spirit in the Sky

- Norman Greenbaum

Going all the way back to 1969, Norman Greenbaum’s one hit wonder “Spirit in the Sky” has also featured in 13 movies over the years, including blockbuster superhero movies such as Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as other big films such as Oceans’s Eleven, Wayne’s World 2 and The Longest Yard.

5

It Takes Two

- Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock

It Takes Two by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock is considered one of the best hip-hop songs of all time and has been sampled countless times over the years, but it’s also cropped up in a number of movies too, including Iron Man 2, The Proposal, Sisters, The Disaster Artist and Spies in Disguise.

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The Most Common Movie Songs Ranked

Rank	Song	Artist	Number of Appearances

The Most Common Movie Artists

1

Bob Dylan

Excluding music composers such as Alan Silvestri and Danny Elfman (who have composed hundreds of songs for some of the world’s biggest movies), the artist with the most movie appearances was actually Bob Dylan, with 123. With almost 60 years in the business, notable uses of Dylan tracks on film include “The Man in Me” in The Big Lebowski, “Hurricane” in Dazed & Confused, “Knockin’ on Heavens Door” in Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, the list goes on and on!

2

Elvis Presley

Dylan was followed by another icon of music, Elvis Presley, who had 119 soundtrack appearances, including many in his own movies such as Blue Hawaii, Jailhouse Rock and Viva Las Vegas.

3

David Bowie

In third place was David Bowie, whose songs have appeared in the likes of Clueless, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and, of course, Labyrinth, which Bowie himself starred in.

The Most Common Movie Artists Ranked

Rank	Artist	Number of Appearances

Rank	Artist	Number of Appearances

The Most Common Movie Composers

1

Alan Silvestri

The names of the most common movie composers may not be as instantly recognizable as those of mainstream artists, but you will almost definitely have heard the works of the likes of Alan Silvestri, who has scored the likes of the Back to the Future series, Forrest Gump and several of the films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the highest-grossing movie of all time, Avengers: Endgame.

2

Danny Elfman

The piece of music that you’ll best know from Danny Elfman is the theme for The Simpsons, but he’s also worked on countless films, especially with directors Tim Burton and Sam Raimi, such as Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Raimi’s Spider-Man series.

3

Brian Tyler

Brian Tyler is another prolific composer, known for his work on films such as The Expendables trilogy, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Crazy Rich Asians, but he also re-recorded the iconic fanfare that appears at the start of all Universal Pictures movies.

The Most Common Movie Composers Ranked

Rank	Composer	Number of Appearances

Rank	Composer	Number of Appearances