Ongoing History Daily: The most-sampled song of all time

January 2, 2025 Alan Cross 0 Comments 0 min read

Sampling—the practice of surgically excising a short passage from one song and then using it to build a brand-new song—has been with us since the late 1970s. So here’s a question: what song has been sampled by more people and used in more songs than any other?

According to the excellent database WhoSampled, the answer is a tiny snippet at the end of a 1982 track by Fab 5 Freddy called “Change the Beat,” which is actually credited to “Beside” (as in B-E-S-I-D-E; geddit?). Here’s the sample.

That seven seconds has been used in no fewer than 1,786 other songs. And has Fab 5 Freddy received any royalties for that? Nope. But at least he has bragging rights, huh?

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39496 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross