R&B Songs To Play At Your Wedding
2020
You’re finally planning your wedding. You have the best venue, a kicking DJ, and a professional wedding planner. But what about R&B songs for your wedding? Is it too much? No. You know it’s you, girl. Your wedding. That bass line, those smooth vocals. Yes. Your wedding reception is going to be epic. Be ready to party with our list of the 150 best R&B Wedding Songs. Your wedding party is going to get down.
What is Rhythm & Blues?
Rhythm and blues is the grandchild of jazz, gospel, and blues. Originally soul and rock & roll were an offshoot of R&B. R&B is a genre of smooth pop music that is entirely centered on the vocalist’s smooth voice and stunning vibrato.
Now, R&B also includes funk, hip-hop, rap, and soul. If it makes you want to move your hips, chances are its rhythm and blues. If you want folks to get out of their chairs, stop gossip about your Great Aunt Ruth, and hit the dance floor, R&B is a must!
Why Play R&B At Your Wedding?
I mean, if you want to play ABBA be our guest. (Snooze Fest) The better question is why wouldn’t you play R&B at your wedding? Weddings are about love. Real love. Nothing says that better than smooth, silky vocals of Luther Vandross. The spoken words of Barry White, reassuring us that we are loved. Oh, don’t forget the Sisters of Soul starting with the Queen: Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys.
The roots of R&B in Soul is apparent not just in the beats and bass lines, but in the emotion expressed. Those lyrics, girl. You know it. Your friends are getting the chill vibe, the love vibe.
What are the Best R&B Songs For Dancing?
If you want to get folks on the dance floor, these are sure to do it. Our list includes some recent hits along with classics in a variety of tempos and eras. Pick your favorites to include in your wedding. You can use them for your wedding reception, first dance, and father-daughter dance.
10 Most Popular R&B Songs Right Now
(Ranked by downloads)
- Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
- Live Out Your Love – Kem feat. Toni Braxton
- Happy – Pharrell Williams
- Lie To Me – Kem
- Over Now – Calvin Harris
- Gotta Move On – Toni Braxton feat. H.E.R.
- All Of Me – John Legend
- Like That – Doja Cat feat. Gucci Mane
- Celebration – Kool and The Gang
- Hey Ya! – OutKast
10 Popular Contemporary R&B Songs
(Ranked by downloads)
- Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) – Beyoncé
- Rock Steady – The Whispers
- Shothouse / Clean up Woman – Bigg Robb feat. Toia Jones
- Ask of You – Raphael Saadiq
- Lord’s Prayer – Sir Charles Jones
- Halo – Beyoncé
- She… – Stokley
- Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll – Vaughan Mason And Crew
- Bounce Back – Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble
- It’s Not the Same – The Manhattans
10 Popular Soul R&B Songs
(Ranked by downloads)
- All Of Me – John Legend
- September – Earth Wind & Fire
- I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) – Whitney Houston
- Rise Up – Andra Day
- Do It – Chloe x Halle
- Cupid Shuffle – Cupid
- Wake Up – Ledisi feat. Sa-Roc
- Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers
- Where I Am – Ledisi
- Purple Rain – Prince
150 Best R&B Songs For Your Wedding Reception
As you know, there are so many great R&B songs perfect for weddings from the walk down the aisle to the dance party to the bouquet toss. Hopefully, this list gives you some great ideas and conjures up good memories, too.
We selected a generous cross-section of R&B songs for your wedding. If you have a song that should be on our list, be sure to share it in the comments. Please also let us know which song from our list that you would remove in its place.
R&B wedding song list curated by Matthew Campbell
Last Updated: August 29, 2020
Listen to our R&B wedding songs playlist on Spotify.
Other R&B song lists to read:
Hot New Songs Delivered Monthly!
I’d definitely replace Stand By Me with Wonderful World by Sam Cooke. It reminds me of that great scene in Witness with Harrison Fod.
Hi Bridget. Thanks for your recommendation. However, “Stand By Me” is a very popular wedding song. It was even played at the recent Royal Wedding!
I have some more suggestions for you to add to the list.
“No Way” – Toni Braxton
“All I Do Is Think Of You” – Troop
“Can’t Get Enough of You” – Mary J. Blige
“Find Myself in You” – Brian McKnight
Thank you Jasmine. All great songs. We will consider adding them on our next update.
Thank you for the suggestions.
Awesome Paulette. Glad you like them and thanks for stopping by.
Most perfect! Love that years are on them too. Thank you
Glad you like it. Thanks for stopping by and please tell your friends.
Can you please remove R.Kelly from the list?
Hi Eve. Thank you for your feedback.
I really like this list! It’s like a journey through R&B from the 60s to modern-day, basically covering a few generations. At a wedding, you can easily see the grandparents singing along to the Tempts and Miracles, etc., and the kids today enjoying Ella Mai and so forth. There are some recent songs I hadn’t heard of that I will be checking out as well. Thanks again for posting this!
Awesome D.D. Thanks for the feedback. We do update this list a couple of times a year. Be sure to check back!
Please add Anita Baker “You Bring Me Joy”
Thanks for sharing this list, it’s great! I found just the song I was searching for.
Awesome Camilla. Glad we were able to be a source for you.
Add john legend so high
Thank you! Great song! John Legend has many songs that could be added/subtracted from this list.
got a suggestion… ed sherran perfect. not sure if i spelled his name right
Thanks, Donald. We will be adding the version with Beyonce shortly!
This was perfect!! Thanks for this!!!
Thanks for stopping by Rachelle and the kind words.
Thank you so much you’re heaven sent …
Thank you, Winnie, for stopping by. Glad we could help.
What a blast of old and new
Thanks Jeffrey. Glad you enjoyed.
This was very helpful thanks alot
Thanks for stopping by Chaquita and the Kudos.
Thank you for compiling. I’m getting married May 27, 2017 – this list is very helpful. Thank you!
Thanks for stopping by Maria. Congrats on your wedding and glad we could help!
Who sang you and I written by stevie wonder in the 1970s
You and I (We Can Conquer the World) was written and sung by Stevie Wonder
There were other versions of the song. You can see the other releases on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_and_I_(We_Can_Conquer_the_World)
Totally Awesome List!
Celebrating our 50th Anniversary in May 2015.
Thank you!
Great suggestion. We will add it to the list.