As the memories keep coming from movie's you've experienced, the songs keep getting better and more impactful in those movies! Let's roll the clips for another 10!
#170--"Not Gon' Cry" by Mary J. Blige (from the movie Waiting to Exhale--1995)
The entry at #170* is one of four songs from the popular "Waiting To Exhale" Soundtrack from 1995 to make our list. "Not Gon' Cry" was written and produced by Babyface for Mary J. Blige for the movie. It is heard in the scene where Bernadine (played by Angela Bassett) is furious at her husband and burns all of his clothes.
Waiting to Exhale, starring Whitney Houston, Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon, finds four friends who get together often to listen to each other's problems, mostly about finding a good man.
Blige has nine Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards and twelve Billboard Music Awards on her mantle, the rewards from 15 career albums, four that went to #1.
Besides this smash, Mary J. has also enjoyed big hits with "Family Affair", "Be Without You", "Runaway Love" and "I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By".
The song reached #2 overall and #1 on the R&B chart in the United States and Blige was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards with the "Waiting to Exhale" Soundtrack winning the American Music Award for Best Soundtrack. "Not Gon' Cry" has gone Platinum.
Waiting to Exhale made $82 million at the box office.
#169--"Run To You" by Whitney Houston (from the movie The Bodyguard--1992)
Jud Friedman and Allan Rich wrote this song for Whitney Houston, who recorded it for the movie The Bodyguard, which stars Houston and Kevin Costner. This song is one of 63 from female solo artists in our list.
The movie is about a former U.S. Secret Service agent who is hired as a bodyguard (Costner) to protect actress Rachel Marron, played by Houston, from an unknown stalker.
Costner became a big star beginning with his Field of Dreams in 1989, and he's given us outstanding performances in The Untouchables, Bull Durham, JFK, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Dances with Wolves, for which he won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director.
"Run To You" reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in Canada, #9 in Ireland, #10 on the AC chart in the United States (#31 overall) and #15 in the U.K. It is one of two songs from the movie nominated for both Best Original Song at the Academy Awards and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television at the Grammy Awards, and is among The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.
Houston captured American Music Awards in a sweep of honors for Favorite Pop/Rock Album, Favorite Adult Contemporary Album and Favorite Soul/R&B Album.
The Bodyguard was a blockbuster, grossing over $411 million.
#168--"My Favorite Things" by Julie Andrews (from the movie The Sound of Music--1965)
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote "My Favorite Things" for the popular 1959 musical The Sound of Music. When Julie Andrews landed the part of Maria in the movie version in 1965, she took both the song and the film to another level.
Andrews sings "My Favorite Things" to the children on a particularly stormy and stressful night to calm their nerves, and both the impact and the rapport not only Maria (but Andrews) has with the children is evident onscreen.
Andrews is joined by Christopher Plummer, Peggy Wood, Richard Haydn, Charmian Carr and Eleanor Parker in the cast for The Sound of Music.
Maria, though devoted and eager to please, has a tough time focusing on her studies to become a nun at Nonnberg Abbey. Her wise Mother Abbess, brilliantly played by Wood, advises Maria that she must go out in the world to discover her true calling, and gets Maria a position as the new governess for the seven children of retired naval office Captain Georg von Trapp.
Von Trapp runs his household in the same manner in which he is accustomed to in the military with rigid rules for the children. This of course conflicts with the free-spirited Maria, who believes the children should be given more leeway, love and playtime. Maria teaches the children about music and singing, and eventually Captain von Trapp warms to Maria and he himself sings for the first time in years.
By this point in the film, The Sound of Music is already one of the top musicals in history. But set in 1938 in Saltzburg, Austria right before the evil spread of Nazism, the movie portrays the real effects of fascism on Austrians, and becomes a sounding alarm for all-time of its dangers. With this added complex plot, The Sound of Music rises far above the musical genre and is elevated into the stratosphere of being one of the top motion pictures in history.
Andrews has graced us with her presence for over eight decades now, winning the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001 and made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth in 2000. She made her Broadway debut in 1954 in The Boy Friend, and made an immediate impression because she was invited to audition for the part of Eliza Doolittle in the Broadway version of My Fair Lady two years later, which Julie won on her third reading.
Although "My Favorite Things" did not chart at the time, it has received considerable airplay each Christmas season, becoming one of The Top 200 Christmas Songs of the Rock Era*!
The soundtrack album is one of the most successful in history with over 20 million copies sold, having been issued in English, German, Italian, Spanish and French. Having reached #1 in the era of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, it remained in the Top 10 for 109 weeks, more than any soundtrack ever and on the Billboard 200 for a total of 238 weeks. "The Sound of Music" Soundtrack remained at #1 in the U.K. for 70 weeks. In 2018, the U.S. Library of Congress selected the soundtrack for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
The Sound of Music rose to #1 after four weeks, became the top movie of 1965 and by November of 1966 was the highest-grossing film of all-time, surpassing Gone with the Wind. The Sound of Music broke box office records in 29 countries and achieved the unprecedented feat of being in theatres for four-and-a-half years during its initial run. The all-time classic now has grossed over $286 million.
The movie ran away with five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director and nominated for five others (including one for Wood as Best Actress in a Supporting Role) and won Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture and Best Actress for Andrews. In 2001, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittensBright copper kettles and warm woolen mittensBrown paper packages tied up with stringsThese are a few of my favorite things
Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudelsDoorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodlesWild geese that fly with the moon on their wingsThese are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashesSnowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashesSilver-white winters that melt into springsThese are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bitesWhen the bee stingsWhen I'm feeling sadI simply remember my favorite thingsAnd then I don't feel so bad
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittensBright copper kettles and warm woolen mittensBrown paper packages tied up with stringsThese are a few of my favorite things
Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudelsDoorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodlesWild geese that fly with the moon on their wingsThese are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashesSnowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashesSilver-white winters that melt into springsThese are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bitesWhen the bee stingsWhen I'm feeling sadI simply remember my favorite thingsAnd then I don't feel so bad
#167--"I Believe In You And Me" by Whitney Houston (from the movie The Preacher's Wife--1996)
This Whitney Houston remake of a Four Tops song was written by Sandy Linzer and David Wolfert. Houston recorded the cover for the movie The Preacher's Wife, which she starred in opposite Denzel Washington.
Hollywood often misses the boat with the way it gives out awards, and Washington should have won his first Best Actor award for The Pelican Brief. So they had to do a makeup award for Denzel when they gave it to him for Training Day. Washington has also been fantastic in Glory, Malcom X, The Hurricane, Philadelphia, Crimson Tide, Remember the Titans and others. Denzel was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025.
One of six songs of 1996 to make The Top 200*, "I Believe In You And Me" reached #4 overall and #2 Adult Contemporary and won a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The song has sold over one million copies.
#166-"Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin (from the movie Cocktail--1988)
Bobby McFerrin wrote this next great cinema tune that he recorded for the 1988 movie Cocktail, starring Tom Cruise with Bryan Brown, Gina Gershon and Elisabeth Shue. The movie follows the life of Brian Flanagan (played by Cruise), a recently discharged soldier in the army, who finds that his return home doesn't lead to the immediate financial success he hoped for. The struggling business student takes a job as a bartender in order to get by.
Doug Coughlin (played by Brown) befriends Flanagan and eventually gets him to drop out of business school to become partners of their own trendy nightclub. A woman (a photographer played by Gershon) is attracted to Cruise and that leads to a downward spiral in the relationship between Flanagan and Coughlin and Flanagan must learn to set his priorities and discover his true path in the world.
Cruise has of course gone on to be one of the highest-grossing actors of all-time, with his films making a staggering $12 billion worldwide. Consider the cinematic moments and memories Cruise has given us--Risky Business, Vanilla Sky, Jack Reacher, Top Gun, Rain Man, The Last Samurai, War of the Worlds, Top Gun: Maverick, Minority Report, Jerry Maguire, and his best two, A Few Good Men and The Firm, both of which rank among our Top 20 for all-time.
"Don't Worry, Be Happy" was the first a cappella song to hit #1 in the U.S., a position it maintained for two weeks. The song also topped the Canadian chart and reached #2 in the U.K.
McFerrin won Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards. It has sold over one million units and in 2024, the U.S. Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
The "Cocktail" Soundtrack reached #1 in Canada, Australia and New Zealand and #2 in the U.S. and sold over 4 million copies.
Cocktail grossed $170 million worldwide.
[Whistling]
Here's a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don't worry
Be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry
Be happy
Don't worry
Be happy now
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
(Be happy)
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
(Be happy)
Ain't got no place to lay your head
Somebody came and took your bed
Don't worry
Be happy
The landlord say your rent is late
He may have to litigate
Don't worry
(Ha ha ha ha ha ha)
Be happy
(Look at me)
(I'm happy)
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Let me give you my phone number)
(When you worried call me)
(I make you happy)
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ain't got no cash
Ain't got no style
Ain't got no gal to make you smile but don't worry
Be happy
'Cause when you're worried your face will frown
And that will bring everybody down so don't worry
Be happy
Don't worry
Be happy now
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
(Be happy)
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
(Be happy)
Now there
This song I wrote
I hope you learned it note for note like good little children
Don't worry
Be happy
Listen to what I say
In your life expect some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don't worry
Be happy
Be happy now
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
(Be happy)
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
(Be happy)
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
(Don't do it)
(Be happy)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Put a smile on your face)
(Don't bring everybody down like this)
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(It will soon pass)
(Whatever it is)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(Don't worry)
(Be happy)
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(I'm not worried)
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
(I'm happy)
#165--"For You I Will" by Monica (from the movie Space Jam--1996)
Legendary songwriter Dianne Warren wrote Song #165* for Monica for the 1996 live-action/animated movie Space Jam, starring basketball legend Michael Jordan. Jordan is brought out of retirement by Looney Tunes characters to help them win a basketball game against invading aliens who are bent on enslaving the characters as amusement park attractions.
If you're not aware of what Warren has accomplished, you should be. In the last 40 years, she has written classics like "Because You Loved Me" and "Love Can Move Mountains" for Celine Dion, "Un-Break My Heart" for Toni Braxton, "Nothing's Gonna' Stop Us Now" for Starship, "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" for Aerosmith and "Look Away" for Chicago, as well as "How Do I Live" for LeAnn Rimes, "If You Asked Me To", "Water From The Moon" and "Nothing Broken But My Heart" for Celine, "Live For Loving You" for Gloria Estefan, "Love Will Lead You Back" for Taylor Dayne, "Don't Turn Around" for Ace of Base, "Rhythm Of The Night" for DeBarge, "When I See You Smile" for Bad English, "Solitaire" for Laura Branigan, "There You'll Be" for Faith Hill, "Saving Forever For You" for Shanice, "Who Will You Run To" for Heart, "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "Just Like Jesse James" for Cher, "I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me" for Expose, I Turn To You" for Christina Aguilera, "Set The Night To Music" for Roberta Flack & Maxi Priest, "How Can We Be Lovers", "When I'm Back On My Feet Again" and "Time, Love And Tenderness" for Michael Bolton, "I Get Weak" for Belinda Carlisle", "I Didn't Know My Own Strength" for Whitney Houston and "I Could Not Ask For More" for Edwin McCain. And that just scratches the surface.
"For You I Will" rose to the Top Five in the U.S., the Netherlands and New Zealand and has gone Platinum. The soundtrack album went to #2 and has sold over 6 million copies in the United States alone.
Space Jam scored a box office gross of $90.5 million.
#164--"Listen" by Beyonce (from the album Dreamgirls--2007)
Beyonce wrote this cinema tune in 2006 with Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven for the 2007 movie Dreamgirls.
In the movie, Beyonce plays Deena Jones, a singer loosely based on Diana Ross, leader of the Dreams (Supremes). Jamie Foxx plays an overbearing manager who controls not only their professional but their personal lives, much the way Motown boss Berry Gordy did. Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noki Rose and Sharon Leal co-star.
Beyonce, who ranked #15 in Inside The Rock Era's 2014 list of The Top 100 Female Singers of the Rock Era*, started out with Destiny's Child, which also landed a spot in that ranking at #25. She took flight as a superstar ever since she began her solo career in 2002, with her first album Dangerously in Love has now sold over 11 million copies worldwide.
Foxx earned Best Actor honors at the Academy Awards for his outstanding portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 movie Ray. Foxx has also played in Collateral, Ali, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man: No Way Home.
"Listen" reached #2 in the Netherlands, #3 in Italy, #6 in Ireland, #8 in the U.K. and #10 in Switzerland and has sold over one million copies in the United States and over 2.5 million worldwide.
The album went to #1 in the U.S. and has sold over one million units as well. The soundtrack received a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack.
Dreamgirls grossed $155 million at the box office. The film earned Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, Best Supporting Actor for Murphy and Best Supporting Actress for Hudson and nominations for Best Actress for Beyonce and Best Original Song for "Listen". Dreamgirls also scored Academy Award wins for Best Actress (Hudson) and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing as part of eight nominations that included Best Supporting Actor (for Murphy), Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Original Song for "Listen".
#163--"Earned It" by Weeknd (sic) (from the movie Fifty Shades of Grey--2014)
Abel Tesfaye, Stephan Moccio, Jason Quenneville and Ahmad Balshe co-wrote "Earned It" for the Weeknd (sic) for the 2014 movie Fifty Shades of Grey, which stars Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle and Marcia Gay Harden.
"Earned It" reached #3 in the United States, #4 in the U.K. and Top Five nearly everywhere in the world and won the Grammy for Best R&B Performance. The song was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the Grammys and "Earned It" was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. It has gone over the 10-million mark in sales in the U.S. alone and 14 million worldwide.
The "Fifty Shades of Grey" Soundtrack went to #1 in Canada, Australia and Germany and was a Top 5 album in early every country in the world, selling over two million units worldwide. It was nominated for Best Soundtrack at both the American Music Awards and the Grammys.
#162--"Kiss" by Prince (from the movie Under the Cherry Moon--1986)
We go to the 1986 movie Under the Cherry Moon, one of an amazing six entries that Prince has in The Top 200*--a song he wrote both the lyrics and music for and produced.
Under the Cherry Moon fell short of the blockbuster Purple Rain, which was a lot to live up to. Prince and Jerome Benton star as gigolos Christopher Tracy and Tricky. Christopher is a piano player at the Venus de Milo nightclub in Nice and at night, searches for rich woman that will net them big sums of money from marriage.
Prince was blessed with an amazing vocal range that featured wild high-pitched screams. He played multiple instruments, often providing all the backing instruments on entire albums. For instance, Prince played all 27 instruments on his debut album For You in 1978. Until his death in 2016 at the age of 57, Prince recorded 39 albums and sold over 100 million copies.
"Kiss" was a global hit, going #1 in the U.S., #2 in Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand, #3 in Switzerland, #4 in Canada, #6 in the U.K., #8 in Finland and #10 in Norway and topping 1.5 million in sales.
Prince's album Parade served as the soundtrack to the film, reaching #1 in the Netherlands, #2 in Switzerland, #3 in the U.S. and Finland, #4 in the U.K., #5 in Sweden, #6 in Germany and #7 in New Zealand. It has sold over one million in the United States and over two million worldwide.
Under the Cherry Moon grossed just $10 million.
#161: "Only The Young" by Journey (from the movie Vision Quest--1985)
Keyboardist Jonathan Cain, vocalist Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon of Journey wrote this for the group to record for the 1985 movie Vision Quest.
Vision Quest (which was released under the title Crazy for You in the United Kingdom and Australia) starred Matthew Modine, Linda Fiorentino and Michael Schoeffling. Modine is a high school wrestler (Louden Swain) who has the goal (a "vision quest" in Native American terms) of dropping from 190 pounds to 168 pounds so he can take on Brian Schute, a three-time state champion from a rival high school.
This personal goal is not only at odds with his coach and teammates but his own health. Along the way, Swain falls in love with an aspiring artist (Fiorentino) on her way to San Francisco, who takes up room and board at Swain's house. Madonna made her movie debut as a singer in the film.
Cain began his career with the Babys, fortunately having survived a 1958 fire at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago which claimed the lives of 92 students and three nuns. Jonathan appeared on the albums Union Jacks and On the Edge for the Babys before being plucked from that band by supergroup Journey.
He contributed immediately to Journey on the album Escape, writing and playing piano on "Don't Stop Believin'", featuring one of the all-time best opening piano riffs, and also writing "Faithfully". Cain was with Journey for 13 albums, also joining up with former Babys members John Waite and Ricky Phillips, Journey guitarist Neal Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo to form Bad English.
"Only The Young" reached #9 overall and #3 on the Mainstream Rock chart and sold over 500,000 copies.
Vision Quest made $13 million.
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