Music Lovers Say These Are The Most Annoying Songs Of All Time

We’re sure that Pharrell Williams meant well when he unleashed his ode to positivity in the mid-2010s. But his sugary, smiley retro-soul hit is more likely to inspire rage than joy after the umpteenth listen. Yes, recorded for the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, “Happy” would be enough to turn the impossibly perky Minions into Scrooges. In 2017 it appeared on newspaper USA Today‘s list of the seven most annoying hit songs ever.

Tones and I topped the charts around the world with her monster hit “Dance Monkey.” Its golf-themed video also racked up more than 1 billion views on YouTube. This is despite the fact that the Australian songstress born Toni Watson possesses what we could charitably describe as a unique voice.

Starship claimed in their mid-1980s smash that they built the city in question on rock and roll. But some critics, including Stephen Thompson of radio news service NPR, argue that the track actually signalled the death of the genre. Starship used to be a credible outfit named Jefferson Airplane before embracing the mainstream with the corniest of radio-friendly anthems. 

Siblings Richard and Fred Fairbrass, alongside an unrelated and more hirsute member, took “I’m Too Sexy” all the way to the U.S. number-one spot in the early 1990s. Despite its laughable lyrics (“I’m too sexy for my hat/What do you think about that?”) the track continues to be embraced by pop fans young and old. In fact, none other than Taylor Swift borrowed the hook for her 2018 smash, “Look What You Made Me Do.”

Vanilla Ice claimed that the nagging bassline from his annoying super-sized hit “Ice Ice Baby” was completely different to that featured in Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure.” The courts, on the other hand, didn’t agree. Yes, the rapper was forced to hand over a significant sum of money to the two musical giants for borrowing the hook without permission. 

Bobby McFerrin is an acclaimed soul singer who unfortunately just happens to be best-known for his most irritating hit. The entirely a cappella “Don’t Worry Be Happy” was no doubt designed to cheer people up on its release in 1988. But even McFerrin himself has become sick of its impossibly chirpy sound. In 2011 readers of Rolling Stone magazine placed it seventh on a list of the worst songs of its decade.

Meghan Trainor’s debut single “All About That Bass” was intended to be a body-positive anthem. But it proved to be a rather tone-deaf one which alienated everyone fond of make-up and cosmetic procedures as well as those who were naturally slim. To be fair, even Trainor once admitted that her mom is now totally sick of it.

Flo Rida has built a career on rapping over well-worn samples of catchy pop hits. Yet debut single “Right Round” somehow managed to make Dead or Alive’s ‘80s classic “You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record)” sound pedestrian. Guest star Ke$ha doesn’t sound particularly enthusiastic on her vocal contribution, either.

“I get knocked down, but I get up again.” Chumbawamba’s one-hit wonder can sound positively anthemic when you’ve had a few beers in your local bar, but perhaps not so much the morning after. The British collective had previously been a cult concern more concerned with political activism than the charts. But “Tubthumping” means they will now be forever known for a rowdy drinking anthem.

We could have easily included Sir Mix-a-Lot’s ode to the derriere, “Baby Got Back,” in this list. But why go for the original when you can opt for the inferior copy? Still, Nicki Minaj very nearly repeated the chart-topping success of its obvious inspiration, which just proves that Americans really do appear to like big butts and they cannot lie.

Kid Rock has always been one to wear his influences firmly on his sleeve. But the rocker took things to new levels in 2008 when he straight-up lifted the guitar hook from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” Still, enough people bought into all the nostalgia to make “All Summer Long” a smash across the world.

You have to give props to Toni Basil. The one-hit wonder not only lent her chirpy vocals to one of the most cheerleader-friendly pop hits of all time, but she also choreographed its famous pom-pom-shaking routine, too. Of course, that doesn’t make “Mickey” and its seemingly never-ending chants any less annoyingly insistent. In something of a backhanded compliment website Stereogum once declared it “one of the great obnoxious crowd-rockers of the early New-wave era.”

Before Eminem and just after Vanilla Ice there was Snow. The Caucasian rapper scored a massive hit in 1993 with the reggae-tinged “Informer,” a track penned while he was incarcerated in a detention center. Despite its bad-boy origins the track was seen by many as a middle-class kid pretending to be street.

The star-studded charity single may always be well-intentioned, but they’re seldom played again once money has exchanged hands. Just take USA for Africa’s “We Are the World,” the Stateside answer to Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” for example. Even the likes of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen couldn’t prevent the track from descending into pomposity.

“Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh) is actually a well-produced song which makes effective use of the dancehall “riddim” that dominated 2003. Unfortunately it also contained a vocal which many felt was distinctly off-key. Lumidee reportedly claims that she was sabotaged by a different backing to the version to which she recorded.

Remember the days when Justin Bieber was a squeaky-voiced clean-cut teen? The Canadian appeared to become the world’s number-one pin-up overnight thanks to this longing piece of teen-pop. But two Chicago high school students proved its annoying qualities when they raised money for charity by playing “Baby” over the school’s P.A. system until their $1,000 goal was reached.

It’s hard to remember a time when Ed Sheeran wasn’t in the charts. The most ubiquitous man in pop began his reign in 2011 with “The A Team.” Sadly not an ode to B.A. Baracus and co., the acoustic ballad was instead an arguably patronizing ode to a homeless woman forced to sell her body to survive.

Okay, so we didn’t mind hearing “My Heart Will Go On” over the end credits of Titanic. Its histrionic sound kinda suited all the melodrama of James Cameron’s epic. But we don’t want to hear Celine Dion’s lung-busting vocals and those pesky pan pipes anywhere near a real-life wedding or funeral ever again. In fact, website Newstalk revealed that in one particular poll the song was voted as the most annoying choice of musical eulogy.

Sure, the highly unfashionable Nickelback may be something of an easy target. But we couldn’t compile an all-time annoying song list without including at least one post-grunge contribution from the mullet-haired Chad Kroeger and co. The nostalgic and cliché-ridden “Photograph” sums up perfectly why the Canadians are often so pilloried.

Has there ever been a more aptly-titled pop hit in recent times? Bruno Mars spends most of “The Lazy Song” admitting he wants to do little more than stare at the TV with his hands down his pants. And its basic reggae-pop production and childlike melodies suggests he had a similar workshy attitude when he hit the studio, too. In 2011 music publication NME placed it first on its list of the 25 most annoying songs ever.

James Blunt has repeatedly shown on social media that he can take a joke. So we’re sure he won’t take too much offense at his mid-‘00s slush-fest appearing on this list. In fact, even the man himself has admitted that “You’re Beautiful” is annoying. The track topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic despite the air of desperation that surrounded its lyrics.

Forget Miley’s “Party in the USA.” The first song from the Cyrus clan to get lodged in the brain whether you liked it or not was undoubtedly “Achy Breaky Heart.” Good old Billy Ray had everyone heading to their nearest line-dancing bar in the early 1990s with this ridiculously-titled smash. It was also the only track from the country genre to appear in Rolling Stone’s worst songs of the decade top ten.

“Mambo No.5” was first recorded by Cuban bandleader Dámaso Pérez Prado back in the late 1940s. But it was a German act, Lou Bega, who took its addictive brass hooks all the way to the top of the charts a half-century later. We don’t remember Prado singing about bedding a bevy of ladies named Monica, Rita, and Erica, though. In 2014 it featured in an NPR article on the worst songs of all time.

Los Del Rio’s “Macarena” took a while to worm its way into the pop-culture landscape. Although the summer anthem was originally recorded in 1992 it took a further four years to become something of a global phenomenon. The Spanglish hit’s success was also buoyed by a dance routine that even your grandma could replicate.

Somehow the biggest rock frontman of the early ‘00s was a baseball cap-sporting 30-something who repeatedly stomped around the stage like a teen. Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst was in particularly sulky mode on the surprise U.K. number one “Rollin’” in 2001. And its nu-metal sound hasn’t aged particularly well, either.

There’s a reason why so many applauded Jarvis Cocker when he famously gatecrashed Michael Jackson’s performance at the 1996 BRIT Awards. The King of Pop was fully leaning into his Jesus complex at the time with an ode to saving the world after all. “Earth Song” may have been well meaning but “What about elephants? Have we lost their trust?” was just one of its many lyrical clunkers.

It’s almost hard to believe that the man behind Motown Records is related to both members of wild-haired, wild-living duo LMFAO. Yes, Berry Gordy is Redfoo’s father and Sky Blu’s grandfather. There’s certainly nothing remotely soulful about this ode to hedonism, which dominated the airwaves during the EDM scene’s heyday.

Aqua’s ode to every young girl’s favorite doll sold nearly 2 million copies in the U.K. alone! Little wonder then that Mattel tried to sue the band for breach of copyright. But proving how annoyingly infectious “Barbie Girl” is, the toy company later chose the song to soundtrack one of its commercials! In 2011 Rolling Stone readers voted the novelty tune as the worst song of the 1990s.

It seems slightly mean to include “Friday” in this list. After all, Rebecca Black was only in her early teens when the incredibly catchy but impossibly inane song went viral for all the wrong reasons. Still, the star has had the last laugh. Rebecca is now reportedly worth $500,000 dollars thanks to the song everyone loves to hate. You may remember that department store Kohl’s furthered the agony when it chose the track for its Black Friday campaign in 2011.

Who needs Alvin and the Chipmunks when Akon is around? The studio trickery on his biggest mid-2000s hit essentially produced the kind of high-pitched noises that we previously thought only dogs could hear. GQ Australia magazine certainly wasn’t a fan, having placed it at number six on its 2019 poll of the all-time most annoying songs.

Like many novelty pop hits, PSY’s “Gangnam Style” had its very own easy-to-copy dance routine. In fact, you couldn’t switch on the TV in 2013 without seeing someone riding around on an imaginary horse. Thankfully, the likes of BTS and Girls Generation have since proved that there’s a little more substance to the K-Pop scene.

We have the folk scene of the late 19th century to thank for this annoying earworm which had everyone throwing it down as if they were at a hoedown back in the mid-1990s. That’s right: “Cotton Eye Joe” actually derives from a Deep South traditional. But Swedish outfit Rednex chose to update its sound by simply slapping a techno beat on it.

You couldn’t turn on the radio at the end of 1999 without hearing this colorful but highly irritating Europop smash from Eiffel 65. The Italian trio even managed to get under the skin of the Grammy Awards voters. Yes, believe it or not “Blue” picked up a nod in the category of Best Dance Recording.

Ylvis’ “The Fox” wasn’t designed to be the kind of global smash that burrows its way into your ears for months on end. Vegard and Bard Ylvisaker originally penned the track for a chat show in their native Norway. But the cacophony of animal noises soon took on a life of its own, hitting the charts across the world. At least the pair are aware of its faults, telling newspaper Evening Standard, “We were only doing it for a joke.”

From 2 Unlimited to Doop, you can always rely on the Dutch for a bit of annoyingly infectious Europop. But the Vengaboys took things to new heights, or perhaps new lows, with “We Like to Party.” How long would you have been able to stay aboard the Vengabus if this is the kind of music to which you were subjected?

It’s one of the great unanswered questions of the early 21st century. Who really did let the dogs out? Baha Men repeatedly tried to find out with their gruff-filled one-hit wonder in 2000 to little avail and to much annoyance. Even band members Isaiah Taylor and Dyson Knight have since admitted that they initially didn’t want to record the track.

Anyone with young children will need no introduction to “Baby Shark.” In fact, anyone who has ears will be familiar to the ridiculously infectious campfire song which became an unlikely hit in the late 2010s. A whole host of versions have driven listeners up the wall. But it’s Pinkfong’s production that’s inspired more people to start singing “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo” whether they like it or not.

The Black Eyed Peas are serial offenders when it comes to annoying earworms. Who can forget their take on Dirty Dancing’s “I’ve Had the Time of My Life?" But this mid-2000s smash is arguably their nadir. A Global Gathering poll also voted its lyrics, which included “My humps, my lovely lady lumps,” as the worst ever to “grace” a dance song.

Many people love the original instrumental that appeared on the soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop: less so the headache-inducing cover from the moped-riding purple amphibian. Crazy Frog’s “Axel F” felt inescapable in the mid-2000s. Not only was the track a monster viral hit, it also seemed to blare out of every other kid’s mobile phone ringtone! In 2017 The Sun newspaper described it not just as the most annoying song ever but also the most annoying noise!