Weak Things · Conference music · 2000 to 2026
Every hymn at conference, counted.
Fifty-three General Conferences, 1,481 songs, 273 different hymns and Primary songs. Which ones we hear most, which open and close, who sings them, and how the new hymnbook is arriving at the pulpit.
Counted by Weak Things from the session-by-session music lists on SingPraises.net. A medley counts once for each song in it; video presentations are left out. October 2026 is shown separately, because only a partial list has been published so far.
Chapter 1 · The most sung
Eight hymns, again and again
Eight hymns were each sung at least 35 times. Together they make up about one song in five at every conference. After them, no hymn reaches 25.
Times sung, April 2000 to April 2026. Gold bars are the top eight. The number after each title is its place in the 1985 hymnbook.
5 of 8
of the top hymns have words by Latter-day Saints: W. W. Phelps (one written, one adapted), William Fowler, Joel H. Johnson and James H. Wallis. The other three are older Christian hymns by Robert Keen, William Williams and Charles Wesley.
Chapter 2 · Every conference
Fifty-three conferences, one row each
Each dot is a conference where that hymn was sung. Read across to follow a hymn through 26 years; the long runs are easy to spot.
Hover or tap a dot for the conference. Columns run from April 2000 on the left to April 2026 on the right.
The longest run, “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,” starts where this data starts. BYU's Daily Universe, counting from 1999, puts it at 24 conferences in a row.
Chapter 3 · First and last
How conference begins, and how it ends
The first song of the Saturday morning session and the last song of Sunday afternoon. Twenty-two hymns have opened a conference; twenty-four have closed one.
Opening the first session
Closing the last session
“The Morning Breaks”
is hymn number 1 in the 1985 book and the most frequent opener: 8 of 53 conferences. The closers are mostly farewells, led by “God Be with You Till We Meet Again.”
Chapter 4 · Who sings
The Tabernacle Choir, and dozens of guest choirs
The Tabernacle Choir sang 907 of the 1,481 songs, about six in ten. The rest came from BYU and institute choirs, Primary children, missionaries from the MTC, families, and choirs of Relief Society sisters and priesthood holders.
Songs by who sang them
Grouped from the first performer listed for each song.
Songs per conference
About 30 songs in six sessions through 2017. Since 2018, five sessions and 22 to 27 songs.
Chapter 5 · The congregation stands
The hymns we sing together
Once in most sessions, the choir invites everyone to stand and sing. Since 2021, the music lists mark these hymns: 48 in 11 conferences, about four each.
Sung by the congregation, 2021–2026
Sung by the congregation, 1971–2020
Totals published by SingPraises.net for April 1971 to October 2020.
Chapter 6 · The writers
W. W. Phelps, everywhere
The printer and poet who helped Emma Smith with the first hymnbook wrote or adapted the words of 112 of the songs performed, more than twice anyone else. His hymns include “Redeemer of Israel,” “Now Let Us Rejoice” and “Praise to the Man.”
Words by
Music by
Times a writer is credited across all 1,481 songs. Phelps's count includes texts he adapted from earlier hymns.
Chapter 7 · The new hymnbook
Some “new” hymns were sung at conference years ago
Hymns—For Home and Church began arriving in 2024. Nine of its songs had already been sung at conference before then. “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” was first heard in October 2003.
Sung at conference before 2024
Songs from the new book, per conference
October 2026 is from the Church's partial list.
First time at conference
The first conference where each new-hymnbook song was sung. Numbers are from the new book.
Chapter 8 · October 2026
The newest conference
Seven songs from the new hymnbook, four of them heard at conference for the first time. The Church has published 16 songs from the four general sessions; the full list will be added when it is complete.
From the Church's music collection and LDS Living. The Church's April 2026 list also shows 16 songs where the complete record has 22, so the opening and congregational hymns may be missing here.
Chapter 9 · How much of the book
Nearly half the hymnbook was never sung at conference
Of the 341 hymns in the 1985 book, 174 were sung at least once in 26 years. Ninety-eight songs were sung only once.
Where the songs came from
All 1,481 songs, by the book they appear in. “Other” includes choir anthems and songs from the Friend and Liahona.
How we counted
Sources and notes
- Conference music, April 2000 to April 2026, from the session-by-session lists on SingPraises.net, for example April 2015 and April 2026. Weak Things counted every song in all 53 lists: 1,481 songs after splitting medleys and leaving out video presentations. Titles are matched across years, so “Abide with Me; ’Tis Eventide” counts as one hymn wherever it appears.
- Hymnbook matches use the full title lists of the 1985 Hymns (341), the Children's Songbook (268) and Hymns—For Home and Church (82 released). A song in both an older book and the new one is counted as new.
- Congregation. The lists mark congregational hymns only from 2021, so chapter 5 uses those years. Earlier totals are from SingPraises' conference statistics, April 1971 to October 2020.
- Openers and closers are the first listed song of the Saturday morning session and the last of the Sunday afternoon session.
- October 2026 from the Church's music collection; new-hymn and debut counts confirmed by LDS Living. The Church's April 2026 list shows 16 songs against 22 in the full record, so October 2026 is kept out of the totals.
- Earlier counts for comparison: BYU's Daily Universe (1996–2015) and Zelophehad's Daughters (19 years to 2014) find the same leading hymns.
- Hymns quoted in talks, and what wards sing on Sunday, are on Music by the Numbers.
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