Top 10 Songs From The Lumineers

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Our Top 10 Songs From The Lumineers list presents the best The Lumineers songs including “Ho Hey,” “Ophelia,” “Stubborn Love” and many more. Hailing out of Denver, Colorado, the wonderful state that brought us, Dan Fogelberg, John Denver, Earth Wind & Fire, and so many others, the folk-rock group known as The Lumineers first got its humble beginnings when Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites teamed up as songwriters and performers. The two began collaborating as musicians out of New York in 2005, working out the kinks as a new act as they moved from city to city. This ultimately led them to Colorado, leading them to first meet Jason Van Dyke who briefly performed with the group, then Maxwell Hughes who did the same. In 2010, cellist Neyla Pekarek joined the band after responding to their ad for a musician and performed with them for eight years. This served as perfect timing as folk-style rock gained popularity as a music style. This provided a great door of opportunity for The Lumineers to transition from stage performers doing cover songs to internationally favored recording artists.

The Company of Three

As a trio, they recorded and released two studio albums. The first was The Lumineers, which was released on April 3, 2012. It remains as the most successful album to the band’s credit as it became triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), quadruple platinum with Music Canada, and single platinum with the Australia Recording Industry Association (ARIA), Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA), and the UK’s British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It was also popular enough to become certified gold with France’s Syndicat national de l’édition phonographic (SNEP). The Lumineers’ self-titled debut album was followed up with the second recording, Cleopatra, which was released on April 8, 2016. It was also a successful seller, becoming double platinum with Music Canada, single platinum with the RIAA, and certified gold with the BPI.

Now We Are Two

After Neyla Pekarek’s departure, Welsey Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites continued as The Lumineers, now as a duo. Two additional albums were also recorded and released, starting with III, which was released on September 13, 2019, and became certified gold with Music Canada. The fourth album, Brightside, was released on January 14, 2022. In addition to the four studio albums, The Lumineers also have a total of seven extended plays (EPs) to their credit, as well as nineteen singles and music videos.

Top 10 Songs from The Lumineers

#10 – Slow It Down

“Slow It Down” was certified gold by Music Canada and was a number twenty-three hit on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart after it was released in 2012 from The Lumineers’ debut album. The musical conflict portrayed in this song can slowly bring out an emotional response as one gets caught up in the melodic wave. This genius love story of two dramatically different people struggling to make their complicated romance work simply served as a slowed-down reminder of how remarkable The Lumineers album is and why it was so successful after it was released.

#9 – Flowers in Your Hair

Playfully performed, “Flowers in Your Hair” was a single that became an easy crowd-pleasing favorite after it was released from the Lumineers’ debut album in 2012. With a hint of hippie-style folk-rock, it was enough to peak as high as number nineteen on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart and earn itself a gold certification with Music Canada and the RIAA. The message of love and maturity revolved around “Flowers in Your Hair” was a genius performance by the vocals, the cello, and the rest of the instruments that harmoniously worked together that made this song fun enough to do more than just sit and listen to.

#8 – Gloria

From the album, III, “Gloria” was a 2019 single release that peaked as high as number five on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, a number twenty-nine hit in Scotland, and a number forty-one hit in the UK. Although it didn’t chart on any of the official Canadian charts, “Gloria” became certified gold by Music Canada after reaching 40,000 copies as digital sales and streaming downloads. Schultz’s lyrical performance was beautifully matched with the simple orchestration of acoustic instruments as the tale of loneliness and support served as an upbeat lyrical tale worth listening to. It’s easy to get caught up in this song that also served as a source of inspiration, getting out

#7 – Brightside

The latest album from The Lumineers is Brightside, which was released in 2022 but its title track came out in 2021. In Canada, it became a number one hit while on the US Billboard Rock Airplay it peaked as high as number two. On the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, “Brightside” became a number thirteen hit. This dramatic love story revolving around teenagers saw the hype of young love come face to face with life’s harsh realities. Instead of dealing with it head-on, they opt to run off with the hope heartbreak will not catch up to them as they get older and become adults.

#6 – Sleep on the Floor

The popularity of “Sleep on the Floor” from The Lumineers’ album, Cleopatra, saw it become a certified platinum seller in Canada despite it only charting as high as number eighty-four on its Canadian Hot 100. On the US Billboard charts, it was a number eleven hit on the Hot Rock Songs and number twenty-four hit on the Adult Alternative Songs. “Sleep on the Floor” was beautiful and dramatic and knew how to tug at every heartstring there is, especially as the haunting piano was met with percussion and vocals. The lyrical plea to escape the downside of a dark present into a bright future made “Sleep on the Floor” a tear-jerking favorite all too easy to get caught up in the emotional presentation of this song.

#5 – Cleopatra

On the US Billboard Hot Rock Airplay chart, “Cleopatra” peaked at number three and charted as high as number eleven on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Airplay chart after it was released in 2016. From the album also named, Cleopatra, this incredible ballad revolved around the tale of a former actress who played the role of the Egyptian queen before becoming a cab driver. In Canada, it was also a number fourteen hit as well as a certified platinum seller.

The beauty behind “Cleopatra” featured the expectations of greatness usually associated among the youth before life experiences bring them back down to earth, forced to deal with situations as they come along which wasn’t much different than the actual Cleopatra experienced as queen of a nation that constantly found itself at the mercy of the Roman Empire as it continued to expand its borders in the quest of global domination at the time.

#4 – Angela

Certified platinum in Canada, 2016’s “Angela” came from the album, Cleopatra. This beautifully performed success story of a woman’s desire to leave the past behind her as part of the cluster of songs that were featured in The Ballad of Cleopatra, a composed list of songs there was merged as a musical story revolving around the tales of the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. Five songs in total make up the story, starting with “Ophelia,” then “Cleopatra,” then “Sleep on the Floor,” then “Angela,” and finally “My Eyes.” Put together in the form of a video presentation, the five-song story was first streamed on YouTube in April 2017.

As a single on its own, “Angela” became a number three hit on the US Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart, a number six hit on the US Billboard Alternative Airplay chart, and a number seven hit on the US Billboard Rock Airplay chart. On the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart “Angela” peaked as high as number fifteen.

#3 – Stubborn Love

“Stubborn Love” has been a steady favorite among the fans of The Lumineers after it was released from their debut album in 2012. On the US Billboard Rock Airplay chart, it peaked at number five, a number ten hit on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, and a number sixty-six hit on the US Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, “Stubborn Love” peaked as high as number sixteen and it was a charted hit among the nations of Belgium, Ireland, Italy, and Japan. Hey, what’s not to love? The rocky folk tale of a love still having the ability to stay alive after all the misdeeds committed was beautifully performed with Schultz’s lyrics, Fraites’ percussion play, and Pekarek’s cello-style genius. “Stubborn Love” was loved enough by the fans to become certified platinum by the RIAA, as well as double-platinum in Canada. It was certified silver by the BPI and gold in Ireland.

#2 – Ophelia

From the 2016 album, Cleopatra, “Ophelia” plays out with the beautiful instrumental performance of acoustic, classical, and simple, along with a lyrical delivery that made the song come across as a harmonic beacon of hope. On the US Billboard Rock Airplay chart, “Ophelia” peaked as high as number two and was a number seven hit on the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. On the US Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number sixty-six and charted as high as number four in Canada. In the US, it became a four-time platinum seller while in Canada it was certified platinum three times. Platinum was also achieved in the UK and Poland. In Denmark, France, and Italy it was certified gold.

#1 – Ho Hey

“Ho Hey” was the first single released from The Lumineers’ self-titled debut album. In 2012, this radio favorite topped the charts belonging to the US Billboard Adult Top 40, the US Billboard Adult Contemporary, and the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, as well as among the nations of Poland and Portugal. At the very least, it was a top twenty forty hit among the nations of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. It also became at least a platinum seller among the nations of Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. “Ho Hey” was a simple and cheerful sing-a-long that easily made it a global favorite and one of The Lumineers’ signature songs.