Let’s be honest, anyone can sing, you only need a little confidence and if you really want to be good, then practice and you’ll be surprised at how much you can accomplish with your voice. That said, some songs are easier to sing than others, which applies whether you are a karaoke expert or a professional singer.
If you want to know which songs are some of the hardest songs to sing, even if it’s just out of curiosity, then this article will show you just that.
If you are learning to sing and you are looking for a challenge, keep in mind that these songs often require a wide vocal range and voice strength, so remember to warm up your vocal cords, do some exercises and maintain proper breathing in order to avoid strain and damage.
Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ
It’s very difficult not to think of Freddy Mercury when talking about the hardest songs to sing, and honestly, there are a lot of songs that could have been in here but for the sake of popularity and impact, we chose Bohemian Rhapsody.
Queen was always at the top of the industry with some of the best vocal work in history, not just because of Mercury but every other member’s voice as well.
Still, Mercury often brought power, range, and feeling in ways that it will never be reproduced by other people.
Bohemian Rhapsody goes soft, strong, high, low, chest voice, falsetto, you name it, so if you want to sing this song make sure you have a lot of experience or a lot of confidence!
Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU
Another iconic voice makes it to this list, there is no way you haven’t listened to this song and the beautiful voice of Whitney Houston.
This song was originally by Dolly Parton and it was released in 1973, and it wasn’t until 1992 that Houston recorded her version for The Bodyguard.
Her voice just showcases feeling at its highest point, with professional technique and most importantly, she was able to make the song her own despite already being a success long before she took on the mic.
Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G-YQA_bsOU
This is a song that builds up a story from softness and quietness to an explosion backed by incredible instruments.
Folk is often a genre that has mellow and sweet vocals filled with emotion but people sometimes forget that there are some truly spectacular vocal performances in this genre that showcase their true potential.
If you wanted a hard folk song, here you go, “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
Adele – Rolling in the Deep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYEDA3JcQqw
Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” is a song that got a lot of attention after it came, took Adele right into the spotlight mainly due to her impressive voice.
This song has a magic all over, and the evidence is in its 2 billion streams on Youtube as one of the most popular songs on the platform
Frank Sinatra – My Way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQzdAsjWGPg
Frank Sinatra has one of the most recognizable voices in the world, and “My Way” which was released in 1969, was a big success internationally.
Even though it has been covered by many singers over the years, that doesn’t mean it’s easy at all. This time the problem isn’t so much the high notes, it’s about the hard low notes, but of course, Sinatra makes it seem easy.
Nirvana – Where Did You Sleep Last Night?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEMm7gxBYSc
It might sound strange at first since, despite all the talent and magic surrounding Nirvana, it’s not like Kurt Cobain was a professional singer who studied years of opera or anything but the way he uses his voice and the unique tone and feels to it is almost impossible to recreate, especially on a song like this one.
The “cool” voice cracks, the raspy voice, and the sheer strength on those higher notes near the end are just pure Kurt Cobain magic.
You can sing this song, but you have to make it your own and that would mean almost singing a different song, and if that happens, you know you have yourself a hard song to sing.
Sia – Chandelier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjPBrBU-™
While the whole song shows incredible prowess from Sia, you might go to a karaoke and do fairly well in the first part, but once you get to the chorus things get hard.
It’s not just about the range, it’s about how well she moves around those high notes.
Singing high notes can already prove difficult as it’s a lot harder to have a strong voice and keep the proper breathing in check, but the way Sia handles it, just proves she deserves this spot.
Shakira – Hips Don’t Lie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUT5rEU6pqM
This is a funny one because Shakira has a good voice but her main thing is how she purposely cracks her voice in a cool way staying on key and using a lower voice than most female singers.
It’s a very unique type of voice perfectly showcased in the song “Hips Don’t Lie”, and it’s very hard because most people that try to imitate Shakira, sound like they are either making a bad impression or making fun of her.
So if you want to sing a song from Shakira, try to give your own spin on things instead of trying so hard to be exactly the same, although that is good advice for any song on this list.
Christina Aguilera – Hurt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwCykGDEp7M
This 2006 hit is one of the most challenging Christina Aguilera tracks, it’s complicated on every level but for her, it seems so natural, carried by the strength of the lyrics and her heart poured into the performance as no one else can,
She is one of the most experienced singers from the 2000s and arguably a better singer than other pop stars at the moment.
Aerosmith – Dream On
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89dGC8de0CA
This band knows how to write power ballads, but it all becomes even more intense thanks to Steven Tyler’s vocals.
This song was a part of their debut album, released in 1973, and it was immediately a hit.
While we could talk about the great intro, and the backing strings, the real talk of this song is the crazy falsettos that scream “dream on” like there is no tomorrow.
Muse – Verona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN1OtIJu_Bk
This is one of their latest releases and Matt Bellamy doesn’t disappoint with its near opera voice in this song.
Bellamy has an impressive range and has absolute control over every note, and despite being on a Rock band, he never lets the genre dictate the style of his voice, which made him forge a path that took his voice to new heights with every album.
Trying to sing Muse’s song is not an easy task, and the difficulties can be compared to singing Queen, which is a band that has greatly influenced them over the past decade.
Conclusion
There is a lot of talent out there in the world so of course there are a lot more hard songs to sing, but among those, you can expect these will make any experienced singer get nervous at the idea of trying to sing one of these songs.
Remember that if you want to be a singer, make sure you try some easier songs first that are closer to your vocal range and don’t turn into an impossible challenge that ends up hurting your voice.
If you are a karaoke lover, then there is really no need to be a perfectionist, if you want to impress your friends with a hard song and your confidence to sing it, go right ahead, Bohemian Rhapsody is right there for you to sing it!
