Halo

Beyoncé released Halo in 2008 on her third album, I Am... Sasha Fierce, with the single following early the next year. Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic wrote it with Evan Bogart after a torn Achilles tendon forced his band to cancel a tour, with Beyoncé adding the bridge, and the lyric describes a partner as a light that breaks down every defence. Couples choose it because the chorus builds to a huge, open vocal that fills a room, and the mid tempo pulse suits a dance that grows in confidence. The writers modelled its mood on Ray LaMontagne's Shelter with Beyoncé and Jay Z in mind, and it climbed to number four in Britain.