20 Great Songs to Use for CPR

With 104 beats per minute (BPM), the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” has long been considered the gold standard of songs that help you perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Basically, you time your compressions on the person’s chest to the beat of the music.

But it’s not your only option: In fact, any song between 100 and 120 BPM will work just as well. These 20 classics from various genres fit the bill, according to First Response Training International, New York–Presbyterian Hospital, and the American Heart Association. Read on for a fun fact about each one.

1. “22” // Taylor Swift
2. “Baby Shark” // Pinkfong
3. “Crazy in Love” // Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z
4. “Dancing Queen” // ABBA
5. “Eye of the Tiger” // Survivor
6. “Fast Car” // Tracy Chapman
7. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” // Cyndi Lauper
8. “Hips Don’t Lie” // Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean
9. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” // Whitney Houston
10. “I Will Survive” // Gloria Gaynor
11. “Just Dance” // Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis
12. “MMMBop” // Hanson
13. “Not Like Us” // Kendrick Lamar
14. “Pocketful of Sunshine” // Natasha Bedingfield
15. “Respect” // Aretha Franklin
16. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” // Nirvana
17. “TiK ToK” // Kesha
18. “Uptown Funk” // Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars
19. “Wannabe” // Spice Girls
20. “Work It” // Missy Elliott

“22” // Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift mentioned four of her close friends in the liner notes of this song: Ashley Avignone, Dianna Agron, Claire Kislinger, and Selena Gomez.

“Baby Shark” // Pinkfong

Pinkfong’s “Baby Shark” is very kid-friendly, but other versions of the song—whose origins are a mystery—feature shark attacks.

“Crazy in Love” // Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z

Beyoncé and Jay-Z danced to “Crazy in Love” for their first dance at their wedding in 2008.

“Dancing Queen” // ABBA

Queen Elizabeth II reportedly had an affinity for ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.” “I always try to dance when this song comes on because I am the Queen, and I like to dance,” she once said at a dinner at Windsor Castle. (The intel came from British radio personality Chris Evans, who heard it from a friend in attendance.)

“Eye of the Tiger” // Survivor

“Weird Al” Yankovic parodied “Eye of the Tiger”—famous as the theme from 1982’s Rocky III—as “Theme From Rocky III (The Rye or the Kaiser).” The song imagines a retired Rocky as the owner of a local deli.

“Fast Car” // Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman’s breakthrough came during Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday concert at London’s Wembley Stadium in 1988. She actually performed twice: once as scheduled and again to fill time while organizers sorted out some technical difficulties.

“Girls Just Want to Have Fun” // Cyndi Lauper

The woman who played Cyndi Lauper’s mother in the music video for “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was Lauper’s actual mother.

“Hips Don’t Lie” // Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean

“Hips Don’t Lie” was inspired by Shakira’s process of determining when she and her musicians can stop tinkering with a song in the studio: If her hips are moving, the song is ready. If not, there’s more work to be done. In short, hips don’t lie.

“I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)” // Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston’s 1987 hit topped Billboard’s 2023 list of the 500 best pop songs of all time. (ABBA’s Dancing Queen came in second place.)

“I Will Survive” // Gloria Gaynor

“I Will Survive” was initially released as a B-side. The A-side track was Gaynor’s cover of “Substitute” by The Righteous Brothers.

“Just Dance” // Lady Gaga feat. Colby O’Donis

According to Lady Gaga, “Just Dance” only took about 10 minutes to write. 

“MMMBop” // Hanson

Zac Hanson, the youngest of the band’s three brothers, once explained that an “MMMBop” is a length of time—a short one. “The whole song’s about the fact that almost everything in your life will come and go very quickly,” he said in 2017.

“Not Like Us” // Kendrick Lamar

“Not Like Us” is one of five songs by (or featuring) Kendrick Lamar to top the Billboard charts. The list includes “Humble.” and “Squabble Up,” plus “Like That” with Future and Metro Boomin and “Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift.

“Pocketful of Sunshine” // Natasha Bedingfield

Natasha Bedingfield recorded a version of “Pocketful of Sunshine” in Simlish, the language used in The Sims.

“Respect” // Aretha Franklin

“Respect” was written and first recorded by Otis Redding, but Aretha Franklin’s version originated some of its most enduring elements—including “Sock it to me” and the spelling out of the word respect.

“Smells Like Teen Spirit” // Nirvana

Kurt Cobain got the title from a message that punk rocker Kathleen Hanna once Sharpied on his bedroom wall: “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit.” He didn’t realize she had been referring to deodorant until after the song was released.

“TiK ToK” // Kesha

Kesha wrote “Tik Tok” about her time living in a Laurel Canyon house with too many roommates to keep track of. (The Eagles recorded Hotel California in that same house.)

“Uptown Funk” // Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars

“Uptown Funk” wasn’t the only ubiquitous 2010s song to name-check Michelle Pfeiffer: Vance Joy also referenced the actress in “Riptide.”

“Wannabe” // Spice Girls

A 2014 study named “Wannabe” the catchiest song ever, based in part on how quickly listeners could recognize it.

“Work It” // Missy Elliott

The section of “Work It” that plays in reverse began as an accident. “The engineer happened to hit something, and it just went backward,” Missy Elliott told Billboard in 2018. It still matched the beat, so she told the engineer to keep it in so she could “write around it.”

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