The 47 best party songs ever made

Okay, there’s a hell of a lot of Diana Ross tunes that could make this list. That woman knows how to party. But as soon as the intro opens to I’m Coming Out, you simply cannot help but hit the dance floor. The best is when you go for the extended version, and find yourself in the midst of the intro for about 11 minutes. But whichever version you go for, this is the party song, in every way. She wants the world to know, people. 

Unless you were living under a rock this year, you’ve most definitely heard the sweet sounds of Charli XCX pumping out of a speaker somewhere or other. Partying is her whole brand (she’s in the party b-b-bumpin’ that beat, after all), and the whole idea is drying your eyes, hitting the club and dancing the whole night long. Can there be a more perfect song for a party? We think not. 

There is something beautiful about seeing a room of people screaming ‘I’mma ruin you, c*nt’ at the top of their lungs. Because this potty-mouthed banger, by problematic fave Azealia Banks, is guaranteed to get people jumping and yelling at any party. With its instantly recognisable bumping house backing track, filthy lyrics and unbeatable vocals from Banks, this track goes off every time. And then there’s the bridge, a sultry, slowed down section with a menacing feel, that launches us straight into the deliciously shouty chorus. Over ten years after it’s release this song is still relevant, a timeless bop.

Bollywood strings, twangy surf guitar, a killer chorus and a video which features Britney as an air hostess: so, three great things and something you really don’t want to see when your 737 suddenly loses altitude. ‘Toxic’ was rejected by Kylie (what was she thinking?) and ended up as Britney’s peak: a sonic mish-mash with a lyric about addiction, it neatly previewed what lay ahead. 

From its first invincible beat, this dance anthem from french house duo Daft Punk creates an invisible forcefield that basically anchors you to the dancefloor – we don’t know how they do it! From the synths to the hypnotizing thump of the beat, every minute of this 2000s tune is pure euphoric bliss, daring us all to stop dancing. One. More. Time.

As long as the good times keep going, so will the party, and nothing lights up a dance floor quite like a little disco (mirror ball included). So find yourself a drink and a partner—or rather, bring your laughter, too—and toast the good times with this 1980 megahit.

Eventually, every teenager reaches the age of feeling too cool to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ on his or her big day. In 2003, 50 Cent filled the natal-celebration void with ‘In Da Club’. The now-iconic opening verse, ‘Go shorty / It’s your birthday / We gonna party like it’s your birthday’ makes “In Da Club” an obvious choice for any party that serves shots instead of fizzy drinks.

‘If you didn’t come to party, don’t bother knockin’ on my door,’ the diminutive Minneapolis genius declared in one of the earliest blockbuster hits of his purple reign. Like Orwell’s 1984 and Kubrick’s 2001, Prince’s ‘1999’ is less a sell-by date than a declarative prediction made timeless by persuasive art. It isn’t possible to party like it’s 1999 every single time – hey, we’re only human – but this song will get even the dullest wedding disco popping. 

Bop bop-bedop bop-bedop-bedop pow! If there’s a more indelible drum sample than that one that leads off this 1990 marvel, we’ve yet to hear it. The tune that follows is a clinic in new-jack-swing excellence, a classic caveat-emptor tale concerning an irresistible femme fatale (‘cut’, as it were, ‘like an Afro’), set to a staccato shuffle beat and crowned with that heavenly Ricky Bell hook. Yep, pure dance-floor venom.