By Z. Rice
Reserve your karaoke rooms – Star Trek’s turning 60 today, September 8th, 2026! Honor this cultural milestone with voices raised in celebration, like you’re heading out to Eden (yea brother), row row rowing your boat, enraptured by a subspace rhapsody, or crooning on the holodeck. Don’t sing? No problem! Bring your Vulcan lyre or Ressikan flute and play along.
There’s only one guardrail – songs must be mainstream enough to show up in karaoke books. Some songs connect to characters, some to episodes, and some to broader Star Trek themes. And in the spirit of IDIC, feel free to add your own (just be sure and share them in the comment section)!
Seen in Trek
- Faith of the Heart – Rod Stewart – Enterprise
- Blue Skies – Frank Sinatra – Nemesis/Picard
- Magic Carpet Ride – Steppenwolf – First Contact
- Sabotage – Beastie Boys – Kelvin Universe
- Someone to Watch Over Me – Ella Fitzgerald – Voyager
Space Themed
- Rocket Man – Elton John
- Intergalactic – Beastie Boys
- Across the Universe – Beatles
- Space Oddity – David Bowie
- Starman – David Bowie
- ET – Katy Perry
Star Trek: The Original Series
Spock
- Need You Now – Lady A (Pon Farr)
- Without You – Harry Nilson, Rent (Pon Farr)
- My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion (Katra)
- If I Only Had A Brain – Wizard of Oz (You know why)
Kirk
- Heartbreaker – Pat Benetar
- I’m Too Sexy (for my shirt!) – Right Said Fred
- Womanizer – Britney Spears
Red Shirts
- Red – Taylor Swift
- 99 Red Balloons – Nena
- Lady in Red – Chris De Burgh
- Another One Bites the Dust – Queen
- Knocking on Heaven’s Door – Guns N’ Roses
- Only the Good Die Young – Billy Joel
- (Don’t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Oyster Club
General
- Drunk In Love – Beyonce – (Naked Time)
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Data
- Mr. Roboto – Styx
- Bring me to Life – Evanescence
Sub Rosa
- Light my Candle – Rent
- Ghost – Justin Bieber
- Light My Fire – The Dors
Picard
- Blinding Lights – The Weeknd (Chain of Command)
- Lights – Journey (There are 4!)
- In My Life – Beatles (Inner Light)
Locutus
- Somebody That I Used to Know – Gotye
- Monster – Imagine Dragons
Troi
- Hooked on a Feeling – Blue Swede
- Can’t Fight This Feeling – REO Speedwagon
- Flashdance What a Feeling – Irene Cara
Lwaxana
- You Don’t Own Me – Lesley Gore
- Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) – Abba
Geordi
- I Can See Clearly Now – Johnny Nash
- Vision of Love – Mariah Carey
Riker
- [See Kirk]
General
- I wanna Dance With Somebody – Whitney Houston (“Data’s Day”)
- My Immortal – Evanescence (Q)
- It Must Have Been Love – “The Outcast” (also works for DS9 “Chrysalis”)
- Set Fire to the Rain – Adele (“Night Terrors”)
- Me Myself and I – De La Soul (“I Borg”)
- Hit Me Baby One More Time – Britney Spears (“Cause and Effect”)
- Yesterday – Beatles (“Yesterday’s Enterprise”)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Odo/Kira, Sisko/Cassdy
- Always Remember Us This Way – Lady Gaga
- Stay – Rihanna
- You Can’t Hurry Love – The Supremes
- Hopelessly Devoted to You – Grease
- How am I Supposed to Live Without You – Michael Bolton
Garak
- Smooth Criminal – Michael Jackson
- Criminal – Fiona Apple
Quark/Moogie
- Material Girl – Madonna
- Money Money Money – Abba
Dax
- The Story of My Life – One Direction
Vic Fontane (Selections)
- The Way You Look Tonight – Frank Sinatra
- Come Fly With Me – Frank Sinatra
- You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You – Dean Martin
- They Can’t Take That Away From Me – Frank Sinatra
Star Trek: Voyager
Tuvix
- Torn – Natalie Imbruglia
- I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
Paris
- Shut Up And Drive – Rihanna
Janeway
- I Did it My Way – Frank Sinatra
- Stronger – Kelly Clarkson
- Respect – Aretha Franklin
- Confident -Demi Lovato
- I Won’t Back Down – Tom Petty
- Tom’s Diner – Suzanne Vega (mentions coffee)
- You’re So Vain – Carly Simon (mentions coffee)
Janeway/Chakotay
- Someone Like You – Adele
Seven
- Only Girl in the World – Rihanna (“One”)
- Just a Girl – No Doubt
- Human – The Killers
- I Want to Break Free – Queen
General
- Underneath it All – No Doubt (the Vidiins)
- Let’s Hear it for the boy – Deniece Williams (Harry Kim)
- Love Child – The Supremes (Salamander babies!)
- A Thousand Miles – Vanessa Carlton (Delta Quadrant)
- Take Me Home Country Roads – John Denver
- Home – Daughtry
- Toxic – Britney Spears (“Demon”)
Star Trek: Discovery
- She Talks to Angels – The Black Crowes
- A Thousand Years – Christina Perri
Star Trek: Lower Decks
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper (“We’ll Always Have Tom Paris”)
- You Oughta Know – Alanis Morissette (The aftermath of every First Contact)
- Raise Your Glass – Pink (Ritos strong!)
- Under The Sea – Musical, Little Mermaid (Cetacean Ops)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Pike
- Whip My Hair — Willow Smith
Spock
- Whatta Man — Salt-N-Pepa & En Vogue
- Hot Stuff — Donna Summer
General
- A Whole New World – Aladdin
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Jayden and SAM
- I’m Coming Out – Diana Ross
- Born This Way – Lady Gaga
General
- School’s Out – Alice Cooper
- We Are Young – Fun
- Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson
Klingons
- Locked Out of Heaven – Bruno Mars (No honor, no Sto-vo-kor)
- The Warrior – Scandal
- Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga
Borg
- [Every song by Queen]
- Dancing Queen – Abba
- One – U2
- Shadows of the Night – Pat Benetar
Time Travel
- Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper
- If I Could Turn Back Time – Cher
Mirror Universe
- Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson
- Bad Girls – Donna Summer
Holodeck/Risa (Do you seek jamaharon?)
- Fantasy – Mariah Carey
- Dreams – Fleetwood Mac
- Sweet Dreams Are Made of This – Eurythmics
- Vacation – Gogo’s
- Escapade – Janet Jackson
- Over the Rainbow – Judy Garland
- Virtual Insanity – Jamiroquai
Trek Themes
- Lean on Me – Bill Withers (friendship)
- You’ve Got a Friend – Carole King (friendship)
- Holding Out for a Hero – Bonnie Tyler (Starfleet)
- Wind Beneath My Wings – Bette Midler (Warp Drive)
- Circle of Life – Elton John (Genesis Device)
- Everybody Wants To Rule The World – Tears for Fears
Keep up with all of The Beat’s Star Trek coverage here.
Cover image: Bruce Horak as General Garkog in Strange New Worlds, “Subspace Rhapsody.” Credit: Best Possible Screengrab/Paramount+
