The Best Karaoke Songs for Singers and Non-Singers Alike

Singing karaoke can be exhilarating. It can also be incredibly stressful. Many would-be singers have spent nights anxiously flipping through a karaoke bar’s enormous book of options in search of the perfect song: something too popular could provoke eye-rolls, while a deep cut could cause your friends’ gazes to drift down to their phones. Meanwhile, many classic karaoke tunes are just not meant to be sung by commonfolk—there are few fates worse than sitting through a voice-cracking, off-tune attempt at an ambitious power ballad like Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing.”

But karaoke shouldn’t be anxiety-inducing, as long as you know where to start. Here’s a beginner’s guide to choosing the best karaoke songs, whether you have the voice of an angel or a Tethered; whether you want to sing alone or in a group.