Everyone loves a good karaoke solo showcase — a chance to get the spotlight (and song selection) entirely for yourself and show the world, or at least the room, what you can do. But there’s something about sharing a karaoke duet that’s a particularly special, maybe even downright holy experience. Sharing the microphone(s) allows you to be part of something bigger than yourself, bonding you to both your karaoke partner and the song you’re both singing in new and profound ways. It turns an individual sport into a team one, and when the performance goes well, it makes the triumph that much richer. (And when it doesn’t… well, at least you’ve got someone to share the L with.)
To honor this sacred experience, we here at Billboard have put together a list for our picks for the 100 greatest karaoke duets — the 100 songs you and your most trusted empty-orchestra collaborator should consider turning to when it’s your turn to collectively take the stage. The list spans from the first half of the 20th century to the first few months of this year, and accounts for everything from bantering showtunes to rock power ballads to hip-hop two-handers to pop diva teamups to Disney love songs. Our only hard rules for a song’s inclusion was that it had to have two distinct and memorable vocal parts (nobody’s solely playing backup on any of these songs) and it had to have only those two main vocal parts (we’re not talking about “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” here).
Check out our ranked list of picks below, which we try to helpfully categorize for you (and also let you know which part you should go for if you get first crack at the mic). Use them wisely, and let both your karaoke nights and your personal relationships become that much richer as a result.
