Getting your dance on is one of the most fun parts of a wedding reception, and what’s more important than the music? According to FiveThirtyEight, when they surveyed wedding DJs, these songs came up most often on the “Do Not Play” list:
| SONG | MOST COMMON ARTIST* | SHARE OF WEDDINGS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicken Dance | 23.1% | |
| 2 | Cha-Cha Slide | DJ Casper | 22.5 |
| 3 | Macarena | Los Del Rio | 17.6 |
| 4 | Cupid Shuffle | Cupid | 16.5 |
| 5 | YMCA | Village People | 15.4 |
| 6 | Electric Boogie (Electric Slide) | Marcia Griffiths | 12.6 |
| 7 | Hokey Pokey | 10.4 | |
| 8 | Wobble | V.I.C. | 7.1 |
| 9 | Happy | Pharrell Williams | 5.5 |
| Shout | Isley Brothers | 5.5 | |
| 11 | Love Shack | The B-52’s | 4.9 |
| 12 | We Are Family | Sister Sledge | 4.4 |
| 13 | Blurred Lines | Robin Thicke | 3.8 |
| Celebration | Kool & The Gang | 3.8 | |
| Cotton Eye Joe | Rednex | 3.8 | |
| Dancing Queen | ABBA | 3.8 | |
| Don’t Stop Believin’ | Journey | 3.8 | |
| Single Ladies | Beyoncé | 3.8 | |
| Sweet Caroline | Neil Diamond | 3.8 | |
| Turn Down for What | DJ Snake, Lil Jon | 3.8 | |
| Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) | Silentó | 3.8 | |
| 22 | Hot in Herre | Nelly | 2.7 |
| Mony Mony | Billy Idol | 2.7 | |
| 24 | All About That Bass | Meghan Trainor | 2.2 |
| Baby Got Back | Sir Mix-A-Lot | 2.2 | |
| Booti Call | Blackstreet | 2.2 | |
| Gangnam Style | Psy | 2.2 | |
| Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) | Big & Rich | 2.2 | |
| Stayin’ Alive | Bee Gees | 2.2 | |
| Sweet Home Alabama | Lynyrd Skynyrd | 2.2 | |
| Uptown Funk | Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars | 2.2 | |
| Wagon Wheel | Nathan Carter | 2.2 | |
| What Do You Mean? | Justin Bieber | 2.2 | |
| 34 | All of Me | John Legend | 1.6 |
| Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen | 1.6 | |
| Brown Eyed Girl | Van Morrison | 1.6 | |
| Call Me Maybe | Carly Rae Jepsen | 1.6 | |
| Footloose | Kenny Loggins | 1.6 | |
| Get Low | Lil Jon | 1.6 | |
| Hey Ya! | Outkast | 1.6 | |
| Hotline Bling | Drake | 1.6 | |
| I Will Survive | Gloria Gaynor | 1.6 | |
| My Heart Will Go On | Celine Dion | 1.6 | |
| SexyBack | Justin Timberlake | 1.6 | |
| Shake It Off | Taylor Swift | 1.6 | |
| Sugar | Maroon 5 | 1.6 | |
| Total Eclipse of the Heart | Bonnie Tyler | 1.6 | |
| You Shook Me All Night Long | AC/DC | 1.6 |
Many couples opt to leave out songs with certain dances, songs with awkward or inappropriate lyrics. For many couples, banning a simple song is not enough, people are also opting to ban an artist completely. The most common artist that was banned in the case of this survey was Justin Bieber, being banned from approximately 6% of weddings!
