1. Top 10 richest songs

2. #10 – The Christmas Song Mel Torme – 1944 Earned $19 million
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …”
19 years old and Jewish at the time the song was written
Wrote 250 songs during his career; this one was his “annuity”

3. #9 – oh pretty woman Roy Orbinson & Bill Dees - 1964
Earned $19.75 million
Most famous use was in the movie “Pretty Woman”
Up until his death in 2012, Bill Dees was earning $100,000 -$200,000 per year in royalties

4. #8 – every breath you take
Sting
Earned $20.5 million
Spent 8 weeks at #1 on Billboard Hot 100
#25 on Billboards list of top 100 songs of all time
When Sean “Puffy” Combs forgot to ask permission
with “I’ll Be Missing You” 1997 – Sting got 100% of
the royalties

5. #7 – santa claus is coming to town
Haven Gillespie & Fred J Coots- 1934
Earned $25 million
A day after the song debuted 100,000 copies of the sheet music was sold; 400,000 within a few months

6. #6 – stand by me Ben E King, Jerry Leiber, & Mike Stoller - 1961
Earned $27 million
The song topped the charts in 1986 when the movie
by the same name was released

7. #5 – unchained melody Alex North & Hy Zaret - 1955
Earned $27.5 million
Covered by 650 artists
Most famous version is by The Righteous Brothers
Notably used in the movie “Ghost”

8. #4 – yesterday John Lennon & Paul McCartney - 1965 Earned $30 million
Even though Paul wrote and sang 100% of the song, Paul and John agreed to share credit 50/50 for all their songs
2nd most played song in radio history
Covered by over 2200 musicians
Yoko Ono continues to earn royalties as John’s sole heir

9. #3 – you’ve lost that lovin’ feelin
Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, & Phil Specter
Earned $32 million
The most played song in radio history
Covered by more than 2200 artists around the world
The song experienced a massive revival in 1986
with the movie Top Gun

10. #2 – white christmas Irving Berlin - 1940 Earned $36 million
Written by a Jewish immigrant from Russia
Bing Crosby’s version is the most famous with over
100 million copies sold worldwide

11. #1 – happy birthday The Hill Sisters - 1893 Earned $50 million
Wrote the song to sing to their kindergarten class on birthdays
Still earns $2 million/year
$25,000 must be paid to use in a movie
or television show
Copyright expires in 2030