Highest-Earning Songs All Time

Highest-Earning Songs of All Time:

Surprisingly, there aren’t many resources out there listing royalties earned by songs. There are variations of a top-ten list that have floated around since at least 2014 (see sources at bottom of page) but that’s about it. This page lists twelve songs which have earned $30 million or more and then lists high-selling songs which may be in that bracket as well. Songs with royalty information are listed by songwriters and not the performers. Songs with numbers of copies sold are listed by the performers. Note that earnings and number of copies sold are often estimates. Check other lists based on charts, sales, and airplay here. Songs with Royalties of $30 Million or More: “Happy Birthday to You” by the Hill Sisters (1893). Earnings: $70 million “White Christmas” (1942) by Irving Berlin (1942). Earnings: $66 million, copies sold: 52 million “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Phil Spector (1964). Earnings: $65 million “Yesterday” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney (1965). Earnings: $60 million “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey & Walter Afanasieff (1994). Earnings: $60 million, copies sold: 16 million “Unchained Melody” by Alex North, Hy Zaret (1955). Earnings: $55 million “Stand by Me” by Ben E. King, Elmo Glick, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller (1961). Earnings: $50 million Santa Claus Is Coming to Town by Haven Gillespie & Fred J. Coots (1934). Earnings: $50 million “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells (1944). Earnings: $45 million “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney (1979). Earnings: $40 million “Every Breath You Take” by Sting (1983). Earnings: $35 million “(Oh) Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison & Bill Dees (1964). Earnings: $30 million Other High-Selling Songs But Royalties Unknown: “Shape of You” performed by Ed Sheeran (2017). Copies sold: 42 million “Despacito” performed by Luis Fonsi with Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber (2017). Copies sold: 38 million “Candle in the Wind 1997” performed by Elton John (1997). Copies sold: 33 million “In the Summertime” performed by Mungo Jerry (1970). Copies sold: 31 million “Silent Night” written by Joseph Mohr (1818). Copies sold: 30 million “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” performed by Bill Haley & His Comets (1955). Copies sold: 25 million “I Will Always Love You” performed by Whitney Houston (1992). Copies sold: 24 million “Something Just Like This” performed by The Chainsmokers with Coldplay (2017). Copies sold: 23 million “It’s Now or Never” performed by Elvis Presley (1960). Copies sold: 22 million “Perfect” performed by Ed Sheeran & Beyoncé (2017). Copies sold: 22 million “We Are the World” performed by U.S.A. for Africa (1985). Copies sold: 20 million “If I Didn’t Care” by the Ink Spots(1939). Copies sold: 19 million “Yes Sir, I Can Boogie” performed by Baccara (1977). Copies sold: 18 million “My Heart Will Go On” performed by Celein Dion (1997). Copies sold: 18 million “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” performed by Bryan Adams (1991). Copies sold: 15 million “You’re the One That I Want” by Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta (1978). Copies sold: 15 million “Wind of Change” performed by the Scorpions (1991). Copies sold: 14 million “Sweet Mother” performed by Prince Nico Mbarga (1976). Copies sold: 13 million Sukiyaki” performed by Kyu Sakamoto (1963). Copies sold: 13 million “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” performed by Gene Autry (1949). Copies sold: 12.5 million “I Want to Hold Your Hand” performed by The Beatles (1963). Copies sold: 12 million Time to Say Goodbye” performed by Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman (1995). Copies sold: 12 million “Y.M.C.A.” performed by the Village People (1978). Copies sold: 12 million Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Lists Based on Charts, Sales, and Airplay” AllTopEverything.com “Top 10 Best-Selling Songs of All Time” CelebrityNetWorth.com (3/12/2014). “The 10 Richest Songs of All Time” by Brian Warner CelebrityNetWorth.com (12/23/2021). “Want to Make a Ton of Money for the Rest of Your Life? Write ONE Hit Christmas Song” by Brian Warner MusicGrotto.com (4/26/2023). “20 Best-Selling Songs of All Time” by Liam Flynn TheRichest.com (11/5/2015). “12 of the Highest Earning Songs of All Time” by Shondell StarsInsider.com (7/12/2023) “The highest-earning songs of all time” Y95.5 Yarmouth, NS, Canada (1/28/2022). “What are the Top 10 Highest Earning Songs of All Time?” First posted 9/14/2023.

Songwriters Hall of Fame: Towering Song Award

Songwriters Hall of Fame Towering Song Award, 1995-2015

As explained via an archived page from the Songwriters Hall of Fame on The Way Back Machine: “The Towering Song Award is presented each year to the creators of an individual song that has influenced our culture in a unique way over many years.” There is no obvious link on the website about the award or any indication that the award still exists. Click here to see other awards and Hall of Fame inductees for songs. 1995: “As Time Goes By” (written by Herman Hupfeld) 1996: “Happy Birthday to You” (written by Patty S. Hill & Mildred J. Hill) 1997: “How High the Moon” (lyrics by Nancy Hamilton and music by Morgan Lewis) 1998: “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” (written by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé) 1999: “Fly Me to the Moon” (written by Bart Howard) 2000: “All of Me” (written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons) 2000: “You Are My Sunshine” (recorded by Jimmie Davis) 2001: “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” (lyrics by Beth Slater Whitson and music by Leo Friedman) 2002: “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” (written by George M. Cohan) 2003: “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (written by George Cory and Douglass Cross) 2004: “What the World Needs Now is Love” (lyrics by Hal David and music by Burt Bacharach) 2005: “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) 2006: “When the Saints Go Marching In” (lyrics by Katharine Purvis and music by James Milton Black) 2008: “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” (lyrics by Jack Norworth and music by Albert Von Tilzer) 2009: “Moon River” (lyrics by Johnny Mercer and music by Henry Mancini) 2010: “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (written by Paul Simon) 2011: “It Was a Very Good Year” (written by Ervin Drake) 2012: “Stand by Me” (written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) 2013: “A Change Is Gonna Come” (written by Sam Cooke) 2014: “Over the Rainbow” (lyrics by E.Y. Harburg and music by Harold Arlen) 2015: “What a Wonderful World” (written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss) Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Lists Based on Charts, Sales, and Airplay” AllAccess.com (5/20/2015). “‘What A Wonderful World’ To Receive Towering Song Award At Songwriters Hall Of Fame Gala” (5/20/2015) Way Back Machine (2013). “Songwriters Hall of Fame: Towering Song” Wikipedia.org (2020). “Songwriters Hall of Fame: Towering Song” First posted 4/10/2020; last updated 2/1/2024.

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller: Top 50 Songs

l to r: Mike Stoller, Elvis Presley, and Jerry Leiber; image from rollingstone.com

Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller Top 50 Songs

Songwriter and record producer Jerry Leiber was born Jerome Leiber on 4/25/1933 in Baltimore, MD. He died on 8/22/2011. Mike Stoller, his songwriting partner and also a producer, was born 3/13/1933 in Belle Harbor, New York City, NY. They were one of the songwriting teams to work in the legendary Brill Building, known for housing some of pop music history’s most famous songwriters and publishers in the 1950s and ‘60s. Three of their songs – “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Stand by Me” – are featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999. For a complete list of their DMDB honors, check out the separate DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia pages for Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Many of these songs have been recorded multiple times. Only the highest-ranked version in Dave’s Music Database is included in this list. The recording artist is noted in parentheses. Songs which hit #1 on these charts are noted: United States Billboard Hot 100 pop chart (US), Cashbox (CB), Hit Records (HR), Radio & Records (RR), Billboard adult contemporary (AC), Billboard R&B chart (RB), Billboard country chart (CW), UK pop chart (UK), Canadian pop chart (CN). DMDB Top 1%: 1. Elvis Presley “Hound Dog” (1956) #1 US, CB, RB 2. Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock” (1957) #1 US, CB, RB, CW, UK, CN 3. Ben E. King “Stand by Me” (1961) #1 RB, UK, CN 4. Wilbert Harrison “Kansas City” (1959) #1 US, CB, HR, RB, CN DMDB Top 5%: 5. The Drifters “On Broadway” (1963) 6. The Drifters “There Goes My Baby” (1959) #1 CB, RB 7. The Coasters “Yakety Yak” (1958) #1 US, CB, HR, RB 8. Elvis Presley “Don’t” (1957) #1 US, CB, CN 9. Sean Kingston “Beautiful Girls” (2007) * #1 US, UK, CN, AU 10. The Coasters “Searchin’” (1957) #1 RB 11. Ben E. King “Spanish Harlem” (written by Leiber with Phil Spector, 1960) 12. The Coasters “Charlie Brown” (1959) #1 CN 13. Warren G with Nate Dogg “Regulate” (1994) ** 14. The Coasters “Young Blood” (1957) #1 RB 15. The Clovers “Love Potion No. 9” (1959) 16. The Coasters “Poison Ivy” (1959) #1 RB DMDB Top 10%: 17. The Coasters “Along Came Jones” (1959) 18. Elvis Presley “She’s Not You” (1962) #1 UK 19. Peggy Lee “Is That All There Is?” (1969) #1 AC 20. The Coasters (as the Robins) “Smokey Joe’s Café” (1955) 21. Michael McDonald “I Keep Forgettin’” (1982) #1 RR DMDB Top 20%: 22. The Drifters “Dance with Me” (1959) 23. Elvis Presley “Loving You” (1957) 24. Elvis Presley “Treat Me Nice” (1957) 25. Ruth Brown “Lucky Lips” (1957) 26. Elvis Presley “Bossa Nova Baby” (1963) 27. Elvis Presley “Love Me” (1956) 28. Johnny Cash with June Carter Cash “Jackson” (Leiber – credited to his wife Gaby Rogers – with Billy Edd Wheeler, 1967) 29. The Shangri-Las “Past, Present and Future” (by 1966) 30. The Monkees “D.W. Washburn” (1968) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 31. The Coasters “Run Red Run” (1959) 32. The Coasters “One Kiss Led to Another” (1956) 33. The Coasters “What About Us” (1959) 34. Elvis Presley “Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello” (1962) 35. Maria Muldaur “I’m a Woman” (1974) 36. Cheech & Chong “Framed” (1976) 37. Ruth Brown “Jack O’ Diamonds” (1959) 38. The Coasters “Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)” (1961) 39. The Drifters “Fools Fall in Love” (1957) 40. LaVern Baker “Saved” (1961) 41. Elvis Presley “King Creole” (1958) 42. LaVern Baker with Jimmy Ricks “You’re the Boss” (1961) 43. Elvis Presley “You’re So Square, Baby I Don’t Care” (1957) 44. Jay & the Americans “Only in America” (1963) 45. Ben E. King “I Who Have Nothing” (1963) 46. The Coasters “The Idol with the Golden Head” (1957) 47. The Coasters “Down in Mexico” (1956) 48. The Coasters “Shoppin’ for Clothes” (1960) 49. Brook Benton “Do Your Own Thing” (1968) 50. The Boys in the Band “How ‘Bout a Little Hand for the Boys in the Band” (1970) * contains sample of “Stand by Me” ** contains sample of “I Keep Forgettin’” Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Jerry Leiber DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Mike Stoller Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” Paste Magazine Jerry Leiber: 1933-2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s bio for Leiber and Stoller Rolling Stone Songwriter Jerry Leiber Dies at 78 First posted 8/23/2011; updated 8/8/2023.

50 years ago: Ben E. King charted with “Stand by Me"

Stand by Me Ben E. King

Writer(s): Ben E. King/Elmo Glick/Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller (see lyrics here) First Charted: May 8, 1961 Peak: 4 US, 3 CB, 2 GR, 6 HR, 16 RR, 10 AC, 14 RB, 13 UK, 11 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 7.0 radio, 492.2 video, 550.41 streaming

Awards (Ben E. King): Click on award for more details. Awards (U2 & Bruce Springsteen): Awards (Playing for Change):

About the Song: Regarding “one of the great pop songs of all time,” LW Ben E. King said he modified “Stand by Me” from Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers’ “Lord, I’m Standing By” TC but that his end result was completely different. “All the romantic bits came from me.” KL He wrote “Stand by Me” while he was still the lead singer for the Drifters, but their manager said, “not a bad song, but we don’t need it.” RS500 It didn’t resurface again until King went solo. During the recording sessions for “Spanish Harlem,” producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller asked King if he had any more songs since they had some studio time left over. He played a piano version of “Stand by Me.” WK They did an arrangement on the spot, creating the song’s distinctive percussion by turning a snare drum over and stroking the springs against the drum skin. TC The way the arrangement builds throughout, with more instruments added at each stage, was “pure Leiber-Stoller.” MA Author Alan Lewis said the songwriting pair “exemplify Tin Pan Alley rock ‘n’ roll,” LW a reference to the famed songwriting out of New York in the early part of the 20th century. Critic Greg Shaw said, “They were the true architects of pop/rock.” LW “Stand by Me” also offered a glimpse of the kind of work to come from Motown’s Holland-Dozier-Holland and Phil Spector, a Leiber-Stoller protégé. MA Twenty-five years later, the song proved its timelessness. In the mid-‘80s, director Rob Reiner was working on a film and needed a song for the title sequence. He went through his old records and settled on “Stand by Me” not just for the opening, but for the name of his movie. KL It didn’t just make for a bit of nostalgia, though; the song re-entered the top 10 on the pop charts and made its first appearance on the adult contemporary charts. It was also used in a Levi Jeans ad, helping it to top the UK singles chart, WK where it originally peaked at #27 in 1961. The song has been covered multiple times. Personal favorites include a live version from 1987 featuring U2 with Bruce Springsteen and a version recorded in 2008 by a collaboration of artists around the world under the Playing for Change banner. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Ben E. King DMDB Encyclopedia entry for U2 DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Bruce Springsteen DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Playing for Change TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 367. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 321. LW Alan Lewens (2001). Popular Song – Soundtrack of the Century. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 113. MA Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New York, NY; New American Library. Page 51. RS500 RollingStone.com “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” WK Wikipedia.org First posted 7/8/2012; last updated 11/23/2022.