Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen song)#k.d. lang

{{listen

| filename = Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen original 1984.mp3

| title = Leonard Cohen's studio recording

| description = Partial excerpt of first verse and chorus. First included in Cohen's 1984 album Various Positions.

| filename2 = Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley).ogg

| title2 = Jeff Buckley "Hallelujah" cover excerpt

| description2 = From the album Grace, released in 1994. In 2007, Sony BMG rereleased the album (subtitled "The Legacy Edition") with a live music video of the song.

}}

Cohen is reputed to have written between 80 and 180 draft verses for "Hallelujah"—a number affected by having many versions of the same line. He claimed 150 draft verses, substantiated by his notebooks containing manifold revisions and additions, and by contemporary interviews.{{cite news |last1=Zuel |first1=Bernard |title=Why Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah endures 56 years since it was written |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/why-leonard-cohen-s-hallelujah-endures-56-years-since-it-was-written-20220711-p5b0mx.html |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=July 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715200153/https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/why-leonard-cohen-s-hallelujah-endures-56-years-since-it-was-written-20220711-p5b0mx.html |archive-date=July 15, 2022 |url-status=live }} In a writing session in New York's Royalton Hotel, Cohen is famously said to have been reduced to sitting on the floor in his underwear, filling notebooks, banging his head on the floor.{{cite news |first=Laura |last=Barton |title=Hail, Hail, Rock'n'Roll |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/dec/19/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-christmas |newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702142524/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/dec/19/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-christmas |archive-date=July 2, 2022 |url-status=live }} Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, creators of the 2022 documentary film Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, said that Cohen took about five years to write the song, and reconfigured it numerous times for performances.{{cite news |last1=Rapold |first1=Nicolas |title=Trying to Capture the Life and Lyrics of That Wry Sage Leonard Cohen |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/movies/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-documentary.html |work=The New York Times |date=July 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701225007/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/movies/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-documentary.html |archive-date=July 1, 2022 |url-status=live }}

Unlike some other songs that became anthems, "Hallelujah" initially was on an album that was rejected by Columbia Records,{{cite web |last1=McMillan |first1=Matthew |title=We wanted people to understand Leonard Cohen, the man: Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller on Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song (interview) |url=https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2022/09/19/we-wanted-people-to-understand-leonard-cohen-the-man-dayna-goldfine-and-dan-geller-on-hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song/ |website=The Upcoming |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220919151815/https://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2022/09/19/we-wanted-people-to-understand-leonard-cohen-the-man-dayna-goldfine-and-dan-geller-on-hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song/ |archive-date=September 19, 2022 |date=September 19, 2022 |url-status=live }} was largely ignored after an independent label released it, was not widely covered until John Cale's 1991 version, and did not reach the Billboard charts until Cohen's death in 2016.{{cite news |last1=LeDonne |first1=Rob |title='More than a song': the enduring power of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/29/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-documentary |work=The Guardian |date=June 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703101529/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jun/29/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-documentary |archive-date=July 3, 2022 |url-status=live }} Reflecting on the song's initial rejection, Cohen related that Columbia told him that "we know you are great, but don't know if you are any good".{{cite news |last1=Brooks |first1=Richard |title=Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen's almighty struggle with rejected song that became a classic |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/17/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-film-rejected-song-became-classic |newspaper=The Guardian |date=September 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220917175833/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/17/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-film-rejected-song-became-classic |archive-date=September 17, 2022 |url-status=live }}

Following his original 1984 studio-album version, Cohen performed the original song on his world tour in 1985, but live performances during his 1988 and 1993 tours almost invariably contained a quite different set of lyrics. Numerous singers mix lyrics from both versions, and occasionally make direct lyric changes; for example, in place of Cohen's "holy dove", Canadian-American singer Rufus Wainwright substituted "holy dark", while Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe sang "holy ghost".

"Hallelujah", in its original version, is in Compound duple metre, which evokes both early rock and roll and gospel music. Written in the key of C major, the chord progression of C, F, G, A minor, F matches those referenced in the song's famous first verse.{{Cite AV media|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00f928x |title=The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall|date=1 November 2008|publisher=BBC}}{{Cite web |title=Hallelujah By Leonard Cohen – Meanings And Thoughts |date=30 January 2024 |url=https://itsallaboutall.com/leonard-cohen/hallelujah-meaning/#The_fourth_the_fifth |quote=So the fourth and the fifth are the F and the G notes or chords.}}

When at age 50 Cohen first recorded the song, he described it as "rather joyous", and said that it came from "a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way, but with enthusiasm, with emotion." He later said "there is a religious hallelujah, but there are many other ones. When one looks at the world, there's only one thing to say, and it's hallelujah".{{cite web |last1=Light |first1=Alan |title=Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah": Music's Greatest Work in Progress |url=https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1360-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-musics-greatest-work-in-progress/ |website=Pitchfork |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307001624/https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1360-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-musics-greatest-work-in-progress/ |archive-date=March 7, 2021 |date=November 11, 2016 |url-status=live }} Journalist Larry Sloman, who knew Cohen well and interviewed him often, described the song as one part biblical, one part the woman that Cohen slept with last night,{{cite web |last1=Cunningham |first1=Nick |title=Oscar FYC: Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song by Dan Geller & Dayna Goldfine |url=https://businessdoceurope.com/oscar-fyc-hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song-by-dan-geller-dayna-goldfine/ |website=BusinessDocEurope.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217235104/https://businessdoceurope.com/oscar-fyc-hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song-by-dan-geller-dayna-goldfine/ |archive-date=December 17, 2022 |date=December 13, 2022 |url-status=live}} citing an unidentified critic saying that Cohen was most interested in "holiness and horniness".

{{quote box

|title = Meaning of "Hallelujah"

|quote = {{font|font=Times New Roman|size=16px| {{nbsp|5}} This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled. But there are moments when we can reconcile and embrace the whole mess, and that's what I mean by 'Hallelujah.'}}

|source = —Leonard Cohen{{cite news |last1=Fetters |first1=Ashley |title=How Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' Became Everybody's 'Hallelujah' |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/12/how-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-became-everybodys-hallelujah/265900/ |work=The Atlantic |date=December 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703090217/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/12/how-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-became-everybodys-hallelujah/265900/ |archive-date=July 3, 2022 |url-status=live }}

|align = right |width = 315px |border = 1px |fontsize = 100% |bgcolor = #fafafa |title_bg = #fafafa |title_fnt = #202060 |qalign = left |salign = right

}}

His original version, recorded on his 1984 album Various Positions, contains allusions to several biblical verses, including the stories of Samson and Delilah from the Book of Judges ("she cut your hair") as well as King David and Bathsheba ("you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you").{{Cite web |date=21 Nov 2023 |title=Hallelujah By Leonard Cohen – Meanings And Thoughts |url=http://itsallaboutall.com/leonard-cohen/hallelujah-meaning/#bathing-on-the-roof |website=Its All About All |quote=It happened one late afternoon, "that David arose off his bed, and was walking around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof, he saw a woman bathes, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon" (2 Samuel 11,2)}}{{cite web|url=http://www.biblestudytools.com/2-samuel/11.html |title=2 Samuel 11 - NIV Bible - In the spring, at the time when kings go off to |website=Biblestudytools.com |access-date=2017-07-21}}

Cohen's lyrical poetry and his view that "many different hallelujahs exist" is reflected in wide-ranging covers with very different intents or tones, allowing the song to be "melancholic, fragile, uplifting [or] joyous" depending on the performer: The Welsh singer-songwriter John Cale, the first person to record a cover version of the song (in 1991), promoted a message of "soberness and sincerity" in contrast to Cohen's dispassionate tone; the cover by Jeff Buckley, an American singer-songwriter, is more sorrowful and was described by Buckley as "a hallelujah to the orgasm";{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jeffbuckley/articles/story/6596104/hallelujah |title=Hallelujah — Jeff Buckley |magazine=Rolling Stone|publisher=Wenner Media LLC|location=New York City|date=9 December 2004|access-date=11 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509121355/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/jeffbuckley/articles/story/6596104/hallelujah |archive-date=9 May 2006 }} Crowe interpreted the song as a "very sexual" composition that discussed relationships; Wainwright offered a "purifying and almost liturgical" interpretation; and Guy Garvey of the British band Elbow made the hallelujah a "stately creature" and incorporated his religious interpretation of the song into his band's recordings. Noting its inclusion in the 2001 animated movie Shrek and performance in numerous singing competition reality shows, New York Times movie reviewer A. O. Scott wrote that "Hallelujah is one of those rare songs that survives its banalization with at least some of its sublimity intact".{{cite news |last1=Scott |first1=A. O. |title='Hallelujah' Review: From Leonard Cohen to Cale to Buckley to Shrek |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/30/movies/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song-review.html |work=The New York Times |date=June 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704011155/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/30/movies/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song-review.html |archive-date=July 4, 2022 |url-status=live }} Bob Dylan included the song in some of his set lists in the late 1980s.

Canadian singer k.d. lang said in an interview shortly after Cohen's death that she considered the song to be about "the struggle between having human desire and searching for spiritual wisdom. It's being caught between those two places."{{Cite news|url=http://www.thespec.com/whatson-story/6965772-k-d-lang-nervous-singing-hallelujah-for-leonard-cohen/|title=k.d. lang 'nervous' singing Hallelujah for Leonard Cohen|last=Friend|first=David|date=14 November 2016|newspaper=The Hamilton Spectator|publisher=Metroland Media Group|location=Hamilton, Ontario, Canada|access-date=16 November 2016}} Former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page, who sang the song at Canadian politician Jack Layton's funeral, described the song as being "about disappointing [other] people".{{cite news|first=David|last=Friend|url=http://www.timescolonist.com/business/powerful-essential-cliche-the-complex-life-of-leonard-cohen-s-hallelujah-1.2660316|title=Powerful, essential, cliche: The complex life of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'|date=11 November 2016|newspaper=The Times Colonist|publisher=Glacier Media|location=Victoria, British Columbia|access-date=16 November 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117144854/http://www.timescolonist.com/business/powerful-essential-cliche-the-complex-life-of-leonard-cohen-s-hallelujah-1.2660316|archive-date=17 November 2016}}

{{quote box

| title = Where songs come from

| quote = {{font |font=Times New Roman |size=12pt | {{nbsp|5}} Even Cohen, like the king in the song, was baffled by Hallelujah. He didn't want to explain it and decided he probably couldn't if he tried. He said: "If I knew where songs came from, I would go there more often." }}

| source = Xan Brooks, The Guardian{{cite news |last1=Brooks |first1=Xan |title=Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song review – a thorough, respectful documentary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/18/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song-review-a-thorough-respectful-documentary |newspaper=The Guardian |date=September 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220919184352/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/18/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-a-journey-a-song-review-a-thorough-respectful-documentary |archive-date=19 September 2022 |url-status=live }}

| align = right| width = 315px| border = 1px| fontsize = 100%| bgcolor = #fafafa| title_bg = #fafafa| title_fnt = #202060| qalign = left| salign = right

}}

The song was the subject of a 2012 book, The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah'; author Alan Light said that Cohen's "approach to language and craft feel unlike the work of anybody else. They sound rooted in poetry and literature because he studied as a poet and a novelist first." The book served as the basis for the 2022 documentary film Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song; the film's co-creator said that Cohen "addressed the deepest of our human concerns about longing for connection and longing for some sort of hope, transcendence and acknowledgment of the difficulties of life."

Financial Times arts and culture columnist Enuma Okoro wrote that "the lyrics and the tone of the song seem to sway between hymn and dirge, two musical forms that could serve as responses to almost everything that happens in our lives: songs that celebrate and acknowledge the blessings and provisions of our lives, and songs that bemoan our losses, our heartbreaks, and our deaths". Okoro noted that the word hallelujah is composed of two Hebrew words that mean "praise God", adding that Cohen said people have been "singing it for thousands of years to affirm our little journey".{{cite news |last1=Okoro |first1=Enuma |title=Hallelujah and Leonard Cohen's 'secret chord' |url=https://www.ft.com/content/8eace1d1-391c-48b5-a1f3-5eea11237341 |work=Financial Times |date=August 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220820074615/https://www.ft.com/content/8eace1d1-391c-48b5-a1f3-5eea11237341 |archive-date=August 20, 2022 |url-status=live }} "The word itself, Hallelujah, composed of the two Hebrew words, hallel (praise) and yah (an abbreviated form of Yahweh, God), literally means to praise God."

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1984|certyear=2016|certref=}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=single|artist=Leonard Cohen|title=Hallelujah|award=Gold|relyear=1984|certyear=2023|id=13001|access-date=October 4, 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Leonard Cohen|title=Hallelujah|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2022|id=2713-2139-1|access-date=November 25, 2022}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

Since 1991, "Hallelujah" has been performed by more than 300 singers in many languages. Statistics from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Canadian Recording Industry Association, the Australian Recording Industry Association, and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, show that, by late 2008, more than five million copies of the song sold in CD format.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} It has been the subject of a BBC Radio documentary, a book, and been in the soundtracks of numerous films and television programs.Appleyard, Bryan (9 January 2005).[https://web.archive.org/web/20070303210453/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article409551.ece "Hallelujah! — One Haunting Ballad Has Been the Soundtrack to Many Lives Recently. But Why? Bryan Appleyard on Leonard Cohen's Uber-Song"]. The Times. Retrieved 13 February 2010. Different interpretations of the song may include different verses, out of the more than 80 verses Cohen originally wrote.

In an April 2009 CBC Radio interview, Cohen said he found the number of covers of his song "ironic and amusing", given that his record label refused to release it when he first wrote it; however, he then claimed the song could benefit from a break in exposure:

I was just reading a review of a movie called Watchmen that uses it and the reviewer said – "Can we please have a moratorium on 'Hallelujah' in movies and television shows?" And I kind of feel the same way ... I think it's a good song, but I think too many people sing it.CanWest News Service (10 April 2009). [https://archive.today/20130222145413/http://www.webheights.net/speakingcohen/natpost032009.html "Leonard Cohen's Victory March: But Please, No More Hallelujahs"]. Retrieved 12 July 2009.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jul/10/ghomeshi-interviews-leonard-cohen |title=I'm blessed with a certain amnesia |first=Jian | last=Ghomeshi |work= The Guardian |date=10 July 2009 |access-date=10 July 2009}}

Conversely, in early 2012, while promoting his then-current album, Old Ideas, Cohen stated he was not tired of the song being covered:

There's been a couple of times when other people have said can we have a moratorium please on "Hallelujah"? Must we have it at the end of every single drama and every single Idol? And once or twice I've felt maybe I should lend my voice to silencing it but on second thought no, I'm very happy that it's being sung.{{cite news|first=Dorian|last=Lynskey|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jan/19/leonard-cohen|title=Leonard Cohen: 'All I've got to put in a song is my own experience'|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London, England|date=19 January 2012|access-date=19 January 2012}}

John Cale's cover first appeared on I'm Your Fan (1991), a Leonard Cohen tribute album, and later on his live album Fragments of a Rainy Season (1992). Cale's version has vocals, piano, and different lyrics that Cohen had only performed live such as "I used to live alone before I knew ya" and "All I ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew ya". Cale had watched Cohen perform the song and asked Cohen to send him the lyrics. Cohen then faxed Cale 15 pages of lyrics. Cale claims that he "went through and just picked out the cheeky verses."{{cite news|last=McCormick|first = Neil|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3554289/Leonard-Cohen-Hallelujah.html|title=Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah! |date=14 June 2008|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=10 May 2010}}

Cale's version forms the basis of most subsequent performances, including Cohen's performances during his 2008–09 world tour. Cale's version is used in the film Shrek (2001),https://www.cbc.ca/music/read/how-john-cale-recorded-the-definitive-version-of-hallelujah-1.5014707 but Rufus Wainwright's version appears on the soundtrack album. Cale's also appears on the first soundtrack album for the TV series Scrubs{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/scrubs-mw0000218278|title=Music from Scrubs - Original TV Soundtrack | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|access-date=24 April 2021|website=AllMusic}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/staff_top_10/top-ten-music-moments-on-nbcs-scrubs.htm |title=Top Ten Music Moments on NBC's Scrubs - Staff Top 10 |magazine=Stylus Magazine |access-date=2017-07-21 |archive-date=12 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112061027/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/staff_top_10/top-ten-music-moments-on-nbcs-scrubs.htm |url-status=dead }} and as the ending song of the Cold Case episode "Death Penalty, Final Appeal".

{{Infobox song

| name = Hallelujah

| cover = Jeff-Buckley-Hallelujah-400186.jpg

| border = yes

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Jeff Buckley

| album = Grace

| released = 22 May 2007{{Cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/hallelujah-single/1476889562|title = Hallelujah - Single by Jeff Buckley|date = 22 May 2007}}

| recorded = Late 1993–94, at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = {{hlist|Folk|alternative rock}}

| length = 6:53

| label = Columbia

| writer = Leonard Cohen

| producer = Andy Wallace

| chronology = Jeff Buckley

| prev_title = Forget Her

| prev_year = 2004

| next_title =

| next_year =

| misc =

}}

Jeff Buckley, inspired by Cale's earlier cover, recorded one of the most acclaimed versions of "Hallelujah" for his only complete album, Grace, in 1994. It was released as a single in 2007, ten years after Buckley's death.

In 2004, Buckley's version was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The same year Time called Buckley's version "exquisitely sung," observing "Cohen murmured the original like a dirge, but ... Buckley treated the ... song like a tiny capsule of humanity, using his voice to careen between glory and sadness, beauty and pain ... It's one of the great songs."{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1006590,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708212256/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1006590,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2007 |title=Keeping Up the Ghost |author=Josh Tyrangiel |date=12 December 2004 |magazine=Time |access-date=14 February 2010}}

In September 2007, a poll of fifty songwriters conducted by the magazine Q listed "Hallelujah" among the all-time "Top 10 Greatest Tracks" with John Legend calling Buckley's version "as near perfect as you can get. The lyrics to 'Hallelujah' are just incredible and the melody's gorgeous and then there's Jeff's interpretation of it. It's one of the most beautiful pieces of recorded music I've ever heard."{{cite journal |title=10 Most Perfect Songs Ever |journal=Q |issue=255 |page=50 |url=http://news.qthemusic.com/2007/09/the_story_of_the_new_issue_1.html |date=October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100517060608/http://news.qthemusic.com/2007/09/the_story_of_the_new_issue_1.html |archive-date=17 May 2010}} In July 2009, the Buckley track was ranked number three on the 2009 Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, a listener poll held every decade by the Australian radio station Triple J.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hottest100_alltime/countdown/cd_list.htm |title= Hottest 100 of All Time |year=2009 |work=Web list |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=14 February 2010}} In 2017, The International Observer named Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" the greatest song of all time.{{cite web|url=http://www.intobserver.com/the-international-observers-100-greatest-songs-of-all-time/|title=100 Greatest Songs of All Time|website=Intobserver.com|access-date=2017-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716222322/http://www.intobserver.com/the-international-observers-100-greatest-songs-of-all-time/|archive-date=16 July 2017|url-status=dead}} On 2 April 2013, it was announced that Buckley's version would be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2014/14-052.html | title=Hallelujah, the 2013 National Recording Registry Reaches 400 | website=Library of Congress | access-date=2 April 2014}}

Buckley's version was not an instant hit, nor did Buckley live to see the full measure of the reception his recording would ultimately have; he died in 1997. The album on which it appeared did not go gold in the US until 2002, nine years after its release. In fact, like Cohen's original, the Buckley version was not released as a single until much later, and it did not chart until 2006, posthumously for Buckley. In March of that year, Buckley had his first national top 10 best-seller when "Hallelujah" was at number seven in Norway. In 2007, it made the top 3 on the Swedish charts. In March 2008, it topped Billboard's Hot Digital Songs in the US after a performance of the song by Jason Castro in the seventh season of American Idol.{{cite news |url= http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jeff-buckleys-hallelujah-becomes-americas-number-one-digital-song-56916532.html |title= Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah' Becomes America's Number One Digital Song |agency= PR Newswire |date= 13 March 2008 |access-date= 6 November 2012 |url-status=dead|archive-date=7 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507094931/http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jeff-buckleys-hallelujah-becomes-americas-number-one-digital-song-56916532.html}} The sudden resurgence of interest provided both Gold and Platinum status, the RIAA certifying the digital track on 22 April 2008.{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS |title=Gold & Platinum Search Results |date=22 April 2008 |publisher=RIAA |access-date=14 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329084033/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS |archive-date=29 March 2015}} It has sold 1,144,000 digital copies in the US as of May 2010.{{cite news |title='Before He Cheats' tops 3 million, and other 'Idol' download news |url= http://content.usatoday.com/communities/idolchatter/post/2010/05/before-he-cheats-tops-3-million-and-other-idol-download-news/1 |author-first1=Brian|author-last1=Mansfield|work=Idol Chatter |publisher=USA Today |date=26 May 2010 }} It also hit number one in France in March 2008.

The Buckley version has been widely used in film and television dramas, including the movie Lord of War,{{cite news |last1=Murray |first1=Nick |title=How Pop Culture Wore Out Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/arts/music/leonard-cohen-emmys-hallelujah.html |work=The New York Times |date=September 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706185723/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/arts/music/leonard-cohen-emmys-hallelujah.html |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |url-status=live }} the series The West Wing, Crossing Jordan, Without a Trace, The O.C.,{{Cite web |title=Ranking the Top 8 Uses of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" |url=https://nerdist.com/article/top-8-leonard-cohen-hallelujah-pop-culture-ranked/ |access-date=2022-08-06 |website=Nerdist |language=en-US}} Third Watch, LAX, and Justiça.{{cite web|last1=Belleze|first1=Carolina|author2=Manuela Aquino|title=Porque a minissérie "Justiça" será a nova "Verdades Secretas"|url=http://mdemulher.abril.com.br/famosos-e-tv/cosmopolitan-brasil/porque-a-minisserie-justica-sera-a-nova-verdades-secretas|website=M de Mulher|publisher=Editora Abril|access-date=25 August 2016|language=pt|date=23 August 2016|archive-date=20 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920224032/http://mdemulher.abril.com.br/famosos-e-tv/cosmopolitan-brasil/porque-a-minisserie-justica-sera-a-nova-verdades-secretas|url-status=dead}} "Hallelujah can be joyous or bittersweet, depending on what part of it you use", Time quoted Buckley's publisher as saying. The magazine opined that its liberal use in some cases was "a tacit admission that neither the writers nor the actors could convey their characters' emotions as well as Buckley."

On 20 April 2013, Buckley's version of the song was played at Fenway Park during a tribute honoring the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing before the Red Sox played their first home game following the tragedy.{{cite web|last=Mastrodonato|first=Jason|title=Boston stronger: Sox pay tribute to victims|url=http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130420&content_id=45300030&vkey=news_bos&c_id=bos|work=MLB.com|access-date=22 April 2013|archive-date=23 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423114224/http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130420&content_id=45300030&vkey=news_bos&c_id=bos|url-status=dead}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|access-date=25 December 2014|award=Platinum|relyear=2007|certyear=2014|number=2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Belgium|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|access-date=20 May 2013|award=Gold|relyear=2007|certyear=2013|relmonth=2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|access-date=23 January 2021|award=Platinum|relyear=2007|certyear=2019|number=2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|award=Platinum|relyear=2007|relmonth=5|certyear=2023|certmonth=09|id=12990|access-date=4 October 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|award=Gold|relyear=2007|certyear=2023|access-date=17 February 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|certyear=2017|id=5212|access-date=2 January 2018|award=Platinum}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|access-date=18 December 2024|award=Platinum|number=2|source=radioscope|certyear=2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|type=single|award=Gold|certyear=2024|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|accessdate=June 18, 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|certyear=2009|access-date=20 January 2012|award=Gold}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|access-date=21 March 2023|award=Platinum|id=2713-2833-1|certyear=2018|salesamount=|salesref=}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|certyear=2019|access-date=2 July 2019|award=Platinum|number=2}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=yes}}

File:Oliver Mark - Rufus Wainwright, Berlin 2010.jpg

Canadian-American musician and singer Rufus Wainwright had briefly met Jeff Buckley and recorded a tribute song to him after his 1997 death. That song, "Memphis Skyline", referenced Buckley's version of "Hallelujah", which Wainwright would later record, though using piano and a similar arrangement to Cale's. Wainwright's version is included on the album Shrek: Music from the Original Motion Picture, although it was Cale's version that was used in the film itself.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/12/how-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-became-everybodys-hallelujah/265900/ |title=How Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' Became Everybody's 'Hallelujah' |magazine=The Atlantic |access-date=13 July 2016}} The Shrek soundtrack, containing Wainwright's cover, was certified 2× Platinum in the United States in 2003 as selling more than two million copies.

Wainwright, his sister Martha Wainwright, and Joan Wasser performed the song in the 2005 film Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.

In 2016, Wainwright recorded a version of the song with a chorus of 1,500 singers at a disused power station in Toronto.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGRfJ6-qkr4 |title=Choir! Choir! Choir! / Rufus Wainwright + 1500 singers sing HALLELUJAH! |publisher=YouTube |date=30 June 2016}}

In 2004, k.d. lang recorded a version of "Hallelujah" on her album Hymns of the 49th Parallel. She has since sung it at several major events, such as at the Canadian Juno Awards of 2005,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/P_NpxTWbovE |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=K.D. Lang sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah |publisher=YouTube |date=3 April 2007 |access-date=1 September 2010}}{{cbignore}} where it "brought the audience to its feet for a two-minute ovation."Nonesuch Journal (17 December 2008). [http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/leonard-cohens-hallelujah-a-highlight-of-kd-lang-performances-hits-the-x-factor-2008-12-17 "Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah,' a Highlight of K.D. Lang Performances, Hits the 'X Factor']. Retrieved 17 April 2009. Lang also sang it at the 2006 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame when Cohen was inducted into the Hall of Fame.[http://www.cansong.ca/en/events/2006.aspx "2006 Events,"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213015020/http://www.cansong.ca/en/events/2006.aspx |date=13 December 2010 }}. Retrieved 17 April 2009. Cohen's partner, singer Anjani Thomas, said: "After hearing k.d. lang perform that song at the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2006 we looked at each other and said, 'well, I think we can lay that song to rest now! It's really been done to its ultimate blissful state of perfection'."Wears the Trousers Magazine. (8 July 2008). [http://wearsthetrousers.com/2008/07/08/sometimes-you-just-get-very-lucky/ Anjani Thomas 'Sometimes you just get very lucky'."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905072850/http://wearsthetrousers.com/2008/07/08/sometimes-you-just-get-very-lucky/ |date=5 September 2009 }}. Retrieved 17 April 2009. Lang sang it at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, before a claimed TV audience of three billion.{{cite web|url=http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/kd-lang-performs-hallelujah-at-opening-ceremony-of-vancouver-olympics-2010-02-12 |title=k.d. lang Performs 'Hallelujah' at Opening Ceremony of Vancouver Olympics|website=Nonesuch|date=13 February 2010}} Lang's rendition of the song has been used several times in figure skating, notably by American skater Mariah Bell and Brazilian skater Isadora Williams.{{cite web |agency=Associated Press |title=Mariah Bell becomes oldest US women's figure skating champion since 1927 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jan/07/mariah-bell-figure-skating-championships-olympics |website=The Guardian |access-date=12 August 2023 |date=8 January 2022}}{{cite web |title=The Olympic Journey of Student Figure Skater Isadora Williams |url=https://www.montclair.edu/newscenter/2018/02/23/the-ongoing-olympic-journey-of-student-figure-skater-isadora-williams/ |website=Montclair State University |access-date=12 August 2023 |location=Montclair |date=23 February 2023}}

Lang again performed the song at the 2017 Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen concert.[https://www.cbc.ca/arts/watch-tower-of-song-a-memorial-tribute-to-leonard-cohen-on-wednesday-january-3-on-cbc-1.4467590 "Watch Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen on Wednesday, January 3 on CBC"]. CBC Arts, 29 December 2017.

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=K.D. Lang|title=Hallelujah|access-date=20 September 2012|relyear=2010|type=single|digital=true|award=Platinum|certyear=2011}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=yes}}

{{col-end}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Hallelujah

| cover = HallelujahAlexandraBurke.jpg

| alt =

| border = yes

| type = single

| artist = Alexandra Burke

| album = Overcome

| B-side = {{hlist|"Candyman" (Live on The X Factor)|"Without You" (Live on The X Factor)}}

| released = 17 December 2008

| recorded = 2008

| studio =

| genre = R&B, pop

| length = 3:39

| label = Syco

| writer = Leonard Cohen

| producer = Quiz & Larossi

| chronology = Alexandra Burke

| prev_title = Hero

| prev_year = 2008

| next_title = Bad Boys

| next_year = 2009

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|aplWTXEcY70|"Hallelujah"}}

}}

}}

On the 13 December 2008 finale, for the fifth series of the reality television show The X Factor, head-to-head finalists Alexandra Burke and group JLS each performed it as their final song before the winner's vote. Burke was voted the overall winner, and her condensed cover version of the song was immediately recorded and released as a prize for her victory. It reached Christmas number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 December 2008.

Burke herself was not initially enamoured with the choice of song, saying "It just didn't do anything for me" and "I could not see a way to put my twist on it." After finding a way to perform it to her liking, however, she later realised "what a smart choice of song Simon Cowell made by picking Hallelujah. He managed to judge the mood and has selected the song of the year. I have grown to love it. Everyone seems to love it.”{{cite news |last1=Hamilton |first1=Sean |title=Alexandra Burke: I hated Hallelujah when I first heard it |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/alexandra-burke-i-hated-hallelujah-when-i-first-367019 |access-date=May 6, 2024 |agency=The Mirror}}

The release of Burke's cover created interest in the previous versions of the song, including a Buckley fan campaign to take Buckley's cover to the top of the Christmas chart and therefore deny Burke the top spot.{{cite web |url=http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2008/12/15/a-secret-chord-jeff-buckley-leonard-cohen-fans-unite-to-keep-reality-show-version-of-hallelujah-off-british-chart.aspx |title=Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen fans unite on Facebook to keep reality show version of 'Hallelujah' off British chart |work=National Post |access-date=1 September 2010 }}{{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The campaign was fuelled by Buckley fans' dislike of The X Factor{{'}}s commercialism and the song's arrangement,[https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-fight-for-a-hallelujah-christmas-victory-z6rmn5lbdcv "The Fight for a 'Hallelujah' Christmas Victory"]. The Times. 18 December 2008.[https://www.thetimes.com/article/hallelujah-hits-number-one-and-two-slots-in-christmas-charts-tkfgpj8w8w5 'Hallelujah' Hits Number One and Two Slots in Christmas Charts]. The Times. 22 December 2008. as well as their desire to introduce younger people to Buckley's version.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/dec/19/comment-hallelujah-leonard-cohen |first=Mark|last= Lawson|title= Warring Hallelujahs|newspaper=The Guardian|date= 19 December 2008}}

Burke's version broke a European sales record after selling more than 105,000 digital downloads in just one day, breaking the previous record set by Leona Lewis. The song sold 576,000 copies in its first week, becoming the fastest-selling single released by a woman in the United Kingdom and the 2008 Christmas number one, while Buckley's cover charted at number two and Cohen's original version at number 36 on the same chart.

On 28 December 2008, the UK Singles Chart listed Burke's version as the biggest-selling single of the year,{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3777432/X-Factor-winner-Alexandra-Burke-sets-new-chart-record-with-Hallelujah.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218173003/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3777432/X-Factor-winner-Alexandra-Burke-sets-new-chart-record-with-Hallelujah.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 December 2008|title=X Factor Winner Alexandra Burke Sets New Chart Record with "Hallelujah"|last=Singh|first=Anita|date=15 December 2008|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=16 December 2008}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7802941.stm|title=Duffy and Burke Top 2008 Charts|publisher=BBC|access-date=29 December 2008|date=29 December 2008}} with NME announcing sales of more than one million copies since its release.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/alexandra-burke/41975|title=Alexandra Burke's 'Hallelujah' Joins 'Million-Selling' Singles List|date=9 January 2009|work=NME|access-date=10 January 2009}} This also made Burke the first ever female British artist to have a million-selling single in the UK.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7820786.stm|title=Alexandra is first million-seller|date=9 January 2009|work=BBC News|publisher=BBC Online|access-date=1 August 2017}} It has sold 1.330 million as of August 2016, making it the biggest-selling X Factor winner's single to date.{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/biggest-selling-x-factor-winners-singles-revealed-3350/|title=The winner takes it all? The biggest selling X Factor winner's singles revealed|last=Sedghi|first=Ami|date=26 August 2016|publisher=Official Charts Company|access-date=26 August 2016}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|artist=Alexandra Burke|title=Hallelujah|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2008|certyear=2022|access-date=21 December 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Alexandra Burke|title=Hallelujah|type=single|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=2008|access-date=6 January 2023|certyear=2022|salesref=|id=2713-1936-1}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Hallelujah

| cover =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Pentatonix

| album = A Pentatonix Christmas

| released = 21 October 2016

| recorded = 2016

| studio =

| genre = A cappella

| length = 4:28

| label = RCA

| writer = Leonard Cohen

| producer = Pentatonix, Ben Bram

| chronology = Pentatonix

| prev_title = Jolene

| prev_year = 2016

| next_title = Dancing On My Own

| next_year = 2017

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|LRP8d7hhpoQ|"Hallelujah"}}

}}

}}

File:Pentatonix 2015.jpg

The a cappella group Pentatonix covered the song in the quintet's 2016 album, A Pentatonix Christmas. On 21 October 2016, Pentatonix also released a music video for their cover filmed in the California Mojave Desert.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7549991/pentatonix-cover-leonard-cohen-hallelujah-christmas-album|first=Mitchell |last=Peters|title=Pentatonix Cover Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' in Moving Video|magazine=Billboard|date=22 October 2016|access-date=29 November 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://thelyricstho.com/over-produced/pentatonix-hallelujah/|magazine=TheLyricsTho|title=Pentatonix - Hallelujah|date=29 December 2020|access-date=28 January 2021|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201173817/https://thelyricstho.com/over-produced/pentatonix-hallelujah/|url-status=dead}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=single|region=Australia|award=Platinum|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|certyear=2020|relyear=2016|access-date=19 March 2020}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=single|region=Canada|award=Platinum|number=3|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|certyear=2022|relyear=2016|access-date=20 July 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=single|region=Denmark|award=Platinum|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|certyear=2024|relyear=2016|id=14750|access-date=12 December 2024}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2016|certyear=2023|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=13 December 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|award=Gold|number=3|relyear=2016|certyear=2023|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=4 September 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2016|certyear=2019|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|id=7548|access-date=31 December 2019}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2016|certyear=2021|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|source=radioscope|access-date=19 March 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Spain|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2016|certyear=2025|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=19 March 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2016|certyear=2018|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=18 December 2018}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|award=Silver|relyear=2016|certyear=2023|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|id=2713-5800-1|access-date=4 December 2023}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2016|certyear=2017|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=18 April 2017}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

{{quote box

| quote = It's a beautifully constructed melody that steps up, evolves, and slips back, all in quick time. But this song has a connective chorus, which when it comes in has a power all of its own. The 'secret chord' and the point-blank I-know-you-better-than-you-know-yourself aspect of the song has plenty of resonance for me.

| source = – Bob Dylan{{cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-makes-it-darker|title=Leonard Cohen Makes It Darker|magazine=The New Yorker|first=David |last=Remnick|date=17 October 2016|access-date=21 October 2016}}

| align = right| width = 315px| border = 1px| fontsize = 100%| bgcolor = #fafafa| title_bg = #fafafa| title_fnt = #202060| qalign = left| salign = right

}}

Bob Dylan was among the first to perform Cohen's song in concert with his earliest noted performance being in Montreal on 8 July 1988.{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/hallelujah--a-song-with-a-life-of-its-own-1052178.html |title= Hallelujah – a song with a life of its own |first= Elisa|last= Bray |work= The Independent |date= 5 December 2008 |access-date=12 July 2009 }} Other notable singers who have covered "Hallelujah" include Brandi Carlile, Regina Spektor, Willie Nelson, Susan Boyle, Tim Minchin, Myles Kennedy, and Bono. Bono's version, which is mostly spoken, was included in Tower of Song, an all-star tribute to Cohen in 1995. Bon Jovi has covered the song several times in concert, including on their 2008 Live at Madison Square Garden DVD.{{cite web|url=http://www.outside-org.co.uk/index.php?/publicity/clients/entertainment/Bon_Jovi/live_at_madison_square_garden_dvd_and_blu_ray_released_november_23rd |title=The Outside Organisation – Clients – entertainment – Bon Jovi – Live At Madison Square Garden DVD and Blu-ray Released November 23rd |publisher=Outside-org.co.uk |date=25 January 2010 |access-date=1 September 2010}}

In 2006, the Norwegian quartet of Espen Lind, Kurt Nilsen, Alejandro Fuentes and Askil Holm released a cover of the song. After debuting at number 8 on the Norwegian VG-lista, the single reached number one in January 2007.{{Cite web|url=https://norwegiancharts.com/search.asp?todo=notfound|title=norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal|website=Norwegiancharts.com|access-date=24 April 2021}} The song remained listed on the Norwegian top 20 for 37 (non-consecutive) weeks between 2006 and 2007.{{Cite web|url=https://acharts.co/song/10538|title=Hallelujah by Espen Lind featuring Kurt Nilsen, Alejandro Fuentes and Askil Holm - Music Charts|website=Acharts.co|access-date=24 April 2021}} The song also appears on the 2006 album Hallelujah Live, credited to Lind with Nilsen, Fuentes and Holm, which also reached the top of the Norwegian VG-lista.[http://img.custompublish.com/getfile.php/341976.817.pyycywtfxp/popkomm06_screen.pdf?return=www.musicexportnorway.no. "Hallelujah."] Music Business in Norway, p. 15. Retrieved 12 July 2009.

International group Il Divo released a Spanish-language adaptation with different lyrics on their album The Promise (2008), which topped the charts in the UK. The song was performed by recording artist Damien Rice at the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions when Cohen was inducted. That same year Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins recorded a classical-crossover version for her album Sacred Arias. Kate Voegele performed it in character as Mia Catalano in the US teen drama One Tree Hill. Also appearing on an album, her version made the Hot 100 Billboard charts and reached number 53 in the UK shortly after airing of the episode there.{{Cite web|url=http://jerryischubby.blogspot.de/2009/07/mia-catalano.html|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120721155001/http://jerryischubby.blogspot.de/2009/07/mia-catalano.html|url-status=dead|title=Blog nicht gefunden|archive-date=21 July 2012|access-date=24 April 2021}} Also in 2008, the Welsh band Brigyn released a version in Welsh.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7715493.stm Singer backs Welsh 'Hallelujah'] BBC. Retrieved 4 October 2011. In 2009 Swedish artist Ebba Forsberg released a version sung in Swedish.

The song has become a staple of television talent shows. Jason Castro, an American Idol season 7 contestant, performed a version on 4 March 2008,{{cite web|url=http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b57749_hallelujah_idol.html |title="Hallelujah" for Idol |publisher=E! |date=14 March 2008 |access-date=19 September 2011}} which propelled Jeff Buckley's version of the song to the top of the Billboard digital song chart.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/charts/digital-songs?chartDate=2008-03-28 |title=Billboard Digital Song May 28, 2008 |magazine=Billboard |date=19 February 2011 |access-date=24 February 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110307034324/http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100| archive-date= 7 March 2011 | url-status= live}}{{cite news|last=Wilde |first=Jon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2008/mar/12/whichhallelujahisthehighes |title=Which Hallelujah is the highest? |newspaper=The Guardian |location=UK |date=12 March 2008 |access-date=24 February 2011}} His version was included in his self-titled debut album and his second studio album, Who I Am. Lisa Hordijk, winner of the 2009 Dutch X Factor, released "Hallelujah" as her debut single, which went double platinum and remained at the top of the Dutch charts for ten weeks.[http://www.eurosavant.com/2009/07/11/the-baffled-king-regretting-hallelujah/ "Baffled King Regretting 'Hallelujah'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914124849/http://www.eurosavant.com/2009/07/11/the-baffled-king-regretting-hallelujah/ |date=14 September 2017 }} Eurosavant. Retrieved 12 July 2009.

A 2009 hit by Orthodox Jewish singer Ohad Moskowitz, "Bo'i Kala", featuring the words of the traditional tune accompanying a Jewish bride to the chuppah, is a musical adaptation of "Hallelujah".{{cite web |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-203908884.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924175518/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-203908884.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2015|title=Cantering Ahead|first=Greer Fay|last=Cashman|work=The Jerusalem Post |date=16 March 2012|access-date=16 October 2014 |via=HighBeam Research}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl237ArsOvM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Hl237ArsOvM |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Ohad Moskowitz - Boi Kala (Hallelujah) (video)|date=25 February 2010|access-date=19 March 2017|publisher=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

On 22 January 2010, American musicians Justin Timberlake, Matt Morris, and Charlie Sexton performed a live cover version of "Hallelujah" during the Hope for Haiti Now telethon in support of those affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake. A recorded version was released the following day on the Hope for Haiti Now soundtrack album and reached a peak of number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2010-02-13 |title=Billboard Hot 100 February 13, 2010 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=7 September 2017}}

On 16 April 2010, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Richard Eaton Singers conducted by Jack Everly premiered a new arrangement for orchestra and chorus by Claude Lapalme.[http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/robbins-pops/2009-robbins-pops/a-chorus-of-hits-fri/ A Chorus of Hits – Program Information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226052640/http://www.edmontonsymphony.com/robbins-pops/2009-robbins-pops/a-chorus-of-hits-fri/ |date=26 February 2012 }}. Edmonton Symphony Orchestra website. Retrieved 16 April 2010. Also in 2010, the Maccabeats of Yeshiva University released Voices from the Heights, with an a cappella version of "Hallelujah" set to the Hebrew words of the Shabbat liturgical poem "Lecha Dodi".{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/03/AR2010120306677.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=Harmony group's Hanukkah anthem lights a fire on Web|first=Monica|last=Hesse|date=4 December 2010|access-date=20 March 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbf3daUbIB4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/vbf3daUbIB4 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=The Maccabeats: Making Jewish Music Fun |publisher=Arutz Sheva TV|date=18 January 2011|access-date=20 March 2017}}{{cbignore}}

Canadian singer Kelley Mooney was asked by her parish priest to perform the song for Easter mass but she discovered the lyrics were inappropriate, so she wrote new lyrics{{cite news|title=Sometimes it really pays off to just go with your instincts|last=Cormier|first=Brian|work=Times & Transcript|date=23 April 2014|page=D7}} about the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. In 2008, after two years of trying, she received permission from Cohen to perform the song with new lyrics. Her performance in 2010{{cite web|url=https://sistersinsongwhw.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/hallelujah-for-kelley-mooney/|title=Hallelujah for Kelley Mooney|publisher=Sisters in Song|date=26 May 2014}} with a children's choir received 1.4 million views on YouTube and also appeared on GodTube.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/p-e-i-singer-s-hallelujah-closes-in-on-8-million-views-1.2617446|title=P.E.I. singer's Hallelujah closes in on 8 million views|work=CBC News|date=22 April 2014|access-date=31 March 2024}} Mooney released a CD Tomorrow in 2011 which included her version of Hallelujah, and her version was number three on the Billboard Christian digital downloads chart in 2014,{{cite news|title=What's happening in Metro Moncton?|work=This Week Online|date=20 November 2014|page=A3}} the same year the video reached 6.5 million views on GodTube as of Easter.

Steven Page performed the song live at the state funeral of Canadian Opposition Leader Jack Layton on 27 August 2011."An Anthem to Remember". CBC News Network, 27 August 2011.

Raul Esparza performed the song live at the Kennedy Center's 11 September Memorial Concert on 8 September 2011.{{cite web|title=Kennedy Center Announces 9/11 Commemorative Event|url=https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Kennedy-Center-Announce-911-Commemorative-Event-128041053.html|website=NBC News|access-date=4 December 2017|date=18 August 2011}}

Sephira (also known as Sephira - The Irish Rock Violinists), the Irish sister violin duo, recorded and released a version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah in 2011 on their Starlight Christmas album, with the track later featured on their 2013 Eternity EP. Known for their synchronized violin performances and distinct Celtic sibling harmonies, Sephira's rendition of Hallelujah combines classical violin instrumentation with rich vocal harmonies, offering a unique interpretation of the iconic song. Their version has been performed for Royalty at various special events and continues to resonate with audiences worldwide.

In May 2012, Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet presented the World Premiere of The Doorway – Scenes from Leonard Cohen, created and choreographed by Jorden Morris – with "Hallelujah" performed by Allison Crowe (voice and piano) and ballerinas Sophia Lee and Jo-Ann Gudilin dancing alternate dates.[http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/theatre/2012/05/09/pure-ballet/ "Leonard Cohen's music comes to life at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet"], CBC News, 9 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.

On the 17 December 2012 episode of The Voice, the song was covered in tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting by coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/watch-tribute-newtown-voice-article-1.1222795|title=VIDEO: 'The Voice' opens with touching tribute to Newtown, Connecticut, shooting victims|last=Murray|first=Rheana|website=nydailynews.com|date=18 December 2012 |access-date=2020-04-04}}

American actor, comedian and musician Adam Sandler performed an off-color parody of "Hallelujah" in December 2012 at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief, with Paul Shaffer on piano. Sandler's version contained numerous references to Hurricane Sandy and contemporary events in local culture, sports and politics.{{cite magazine|first=Alan|last=Light|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/why-adam-sandlers-12-12-12-parody-of-leonard-cohens-hallelujah-was-long-overdue-20121213/|title=Why Adam Sandler's 12-12-12 Parody of Leonard Cohens Hallelujah Was Long Overdue|magazine=Rolling Stone|publisher=Wenner Media LLC|location=New York City|date=13 December 2012|access-date=18 February 2013}}

Contemporary Christian band Cloverton recorded the song with altered, more explicitly Christian lyrics as "A Hallelujah Christmas" in 2014.{{Cite web |date=2014-12-25 |title=Why I Hate the Christmas Version of ‘Hallelujah’ |url=https://forward.com/opinion/211592/why-i-hate-the-christmas-version-of-hallelujah/ |access-date=2024-12-21 |website=The Forward |language=en}}

Singer Tori Kelly recorded a cover of "Hallelujah" for the animated film Sing and has done two notable live performances of the song: during the "In Memoriam" portion of the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, and alongside Luis Fonsi during the 2017 Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief telethon.{{cite web|last=Legaspi |first=Althea |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/emmys-2016-watch-tori-kellys-touching-hallelujah-for-in-memoriam-w440593 |title=Emmys 2016: Watch Tori Kelly's Touching 'Hallelujah' for 'In Memoriam' |magazine=Rolling Stone|publisher=Wenner Media LLC|location=New York City|date=18 September 2016 |access-date=21 July 2017}}{{cite web|last=Unterberger |first=Andrew |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/7964712/justin-bieber-hand-in-hand-prayer-tori-kelly-luis-fonsi-hallelujah |title=Justin Bieber Introduces 'Hand in Hand' Prayer, Tori Kelly & Luis Fonsi Perform 'Hallelujah' |magazine=Billboard|publisher=Eldridge Industries|location=Los Angeles, California|date=12 September 2017 |access-date=19 December 2017}} In August 2020, Cohen fans were incensed when Kelly's recording was played after Donald Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention.{{cite web|first=Joe|last=Taysom|title=Leonard Cohen fans fuming after Donald Trump's speech is followed by 'Hallelujah' twice|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/leonard-cohen-fans-angry-donald-trump-hallelujah/|website=Far Out Magazine|date=28 August 2020|access-date=11 December 2020}} A legal representative for the Cohen estate said they had "specifically declined the RNC's use request" for "one of the most important songs in the Cohen song catalogue". She added that the estate might have approved the use of Cohen's "You Want It Darker".{{cite web|first=Jordan|last=Hoffman|title=Leonard Cohen's Estate May Sue Donald Trump for Unauthorized Use of 'Hallelujah'|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/08/leonard-cohens-estate-may-sue-donald-trump-for-unauthorized-use-of-hallelujah|website=Vanity Fair|date=29 August 2020|access-date=11 December 2020}}

On 12 November 2016, an episode of Saturday Night Live opened with cast member Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton performing a rendition of the song in tribute to both Cohen and Clinton. The preceding week had seen both Cohen's death and Clinton's loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.{{cite web|first=Lee|last=Moran|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kate-mckinnon-snl-leonard-cohen-hillary-clinton_us_5828125fe4b0c4b63b0d0949 |title=Kate McKinnon As Clinton Sings Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' On 'SNL' |website=The Huffington Post |publisher=Huffington Post Media Group |location=New York City |date=13 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628185734/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kate-mckinnon-snl-leonard-cohen-hillary-clinton_n_5828125fe4b0c4b63b0d0949 |archive-date=June 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}

In November 2016, Klezmer musician Daniel Kahn released a Yiddish version, with lyrics translated by Kahn, Michael Alpert, Mendy Cahan, and Josh Waletzky. The Forward published the video to its website and YouTube channel.{{cite web|url= https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/a-new-and-very-yiddish-hallelujah/|title=A new and very Yiddish 'Hallelujah'|first=Larry|last=Yudelson|website=Jewish Standard|date=17 November 2016|access-date=20 July 2024}}

Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington sang "Hallelujah" during his eulogy to Chris Cornell at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on 26 May 2017.{{cite magazine|first=Liza|last=Shcherbakova|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7873825/chester-bennington-chris-cornell-funeral-hallelujah-video|title=Hear Chester Bennington Sing 'Hallelujah' at Chris Cornell's Funeral|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group|location=New York City|date=20 July 2017|access-date=20 July 2017}}

The American alt-right conspiracy theorist and comedian Owen Benjamin used the music of "Hallelujah" with new lyrics in his song titled "How They Rule Ya" in support of freeing British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who was held at the time for contempt of court charges for violating a press gag order, encouraging vigilante action against and illegally filming some of the defendants{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/tommy-robinson-court-case-facebook-live-video-judge-latest-a8996626.html|title=Tommy Robinson 'encouraged vigilante action' with Facebook video outside court, judges say|date=2019-07-09|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-12-16}} in the trial of the Huddersfield grooming gang. Released on 12 June 2018 under the alternative title "Free Tommy Robinson", it charted in the UK iTunes Charts.{{Cite web|url=http://www.itunescharts.net/uk/artists/music/owen-benjamin/songs/free-tommy-robinson/|title=iTunesCharts.net: 'Free Tommy Robinson' by Owen Benjamin (British Songs iTunes Chart)|website=Itunescharts.net|access-date=24 April 2021}} Robinson as a tribute and gratitude to Owen Benjamin, upon his release led the crowd outside the Old Bailey to a rendition of the song written by Benjamin.{{cite web|first=Ezra|last=Leevant|url=https://www.indy100.com/article/tommy-robinson-court-case-hallelujah-lyrics-edl-old-bailey-song-8597571|title=Indy100: Far-right activists re-write 'Hallelujah' to celebrate Tommy Robinson and sing it outside court. Yes, really.|website=The Indy 100|publisher=Independent Print Ltd.|location=London, England|date=23 October 2018|access-date=29 April 2019|archive-date=20 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190220063013/https://www.indy100.com/article/tommy-robinson-court-case-hallelujah-lyrics-edl-old-bailey-song-8597571|url-status=dead}}

At a national remembrance in January 2021 for those killed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Yolanda Adams sang a slightly modified two verses of "Hallelujah", changing "Maybe there's no God above" to "I know that there's a God above". A number of American Jews criticized the performance, as they had a usage of the song at the end of the 2020 Republican National Convention, for ignoring the song's lyrics about sexuality and questioning one's faith.{{Cite web|last=Grisar|first=PJ|title=Jews plead, once again: Listen to the lyrics of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah'|url=https://forward.com/culture/462467/joe-biden-covid-19-memorial-hallelujah-leonard-cohen-yolanda-adams/|access-date=2021-02-01|website=The Forward|date=20 January 2021 |language=en-US}}

{{div col|colwidth=17em}}

• American Idol
• America's Got Talent
• Basquiat
• Cold Case
• Criminal Minds
• Crossing Jordan
• CSI
• COVID memorial service (Washington, 2021)
• Dancing with the Stars
• Elizabeth II's 2022 memorial ceremony in Ottawa{{cite news |last1=Crawford |first1=Blair |title='The essence of equanimity': Ottawa ceremony honoured a Queen who reigned for nearly half of Canada's history |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/the-essence-of-equanimity-ottawa-ceremony-honoured-a-queen-who-reigned-for-nearly-half-of-canadas-history |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=September 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220919211929/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/the-essence-of-equanimity-ottawa-ceremony-honoured-a-queen-who-reigned-for-nearly-half-of-canadas-history |archive-date=September 19, 2022 |url-status=live }}
• ER
• General Hospital
• Hope for Haiti Now concert
• House
• I Can Only Imagine
• Zack Snyder's Justice League{{cite magazine |last1=Breznican |first1=Anthony |title=Justice League: The Shocking, Exhilarating, Heartbreaking True Story of #TheSnyderCut |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/02/the-true-story-of-justice-league-snyder-cut |magazine=Vanity Fair |ref=216}}
• LAX
• Longmire
• Lord of War
• Notre-Dame re-opening{{Citation |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FltFV-vdPK0 |title = Réouverture de Notre-Dame de Paris : Vianney chante un magnifique "Hallelujah" tout en français |publisher= France Télévisions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207233707/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FltFV-vdPK0 |archive-date=7 December 2024 |date=9 December 2024 |url-status=live}}
• Numbers
• The O.C.
• Olympics opening ceremony (Vancouver){{cite news |last1=Friesen |first1=Paul |title=Opening Ceremony timeline |url=http://www.torontosun.com/sports/vancouver2010/news/2010/02/13/12864051-qmi.html |newspaper=Toronto Sun |date=February 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506013614/http://www.torontosun.com/sports/vancouver2010/news/2010/02/13/12864051-qmi.html |archive-date=May 6, 2010 |url-status=dead }}
• One Tree Hill
• Saint Ralph{{cite web |title=The Saint Ralph Soundtrack |url=https://www.torontomike.com/2007/02/the_saint_ralph_soundtrack/ |website=Toronto Mike |date=12 February 2007}}
• Saturday Night Live
• Scrubs
• Sense8
• Shrek
• Sing
• The Sing-Off
• So You Think You Can Dance{{cite magazine |last1=Romano |first1=Nick |title=Leonard Cohen dead: Hallelujah on TV, from The West Wing to The O.C. and more |url=https://ew.com/article/2016/11/11/leonard-cohen-dead-hallelujah-tv-movies/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=November 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211194732/https://ew.com/article/2016/11/11/leonard-cohen-dead-hallelujah-tv-movies/ |archive-date=February 11, 2021 |url-status=live }}
• Third Watch
• Trauma
• True Blood{{cite magazine |last1=Pastorino |first1=Olivier |title=The 10 biggest rock titles used in movies and series |url=https://www.lemagducine.fr/musique/les-10-plus-grands-titres-rock-utilises-dans-les-films-et-series-93992/ |magazine=Le Mag du Ciné |date=April 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802023515/https://www.lemagducine.fr/musique/les-10-plus-grands-titres-rock-utilises-dans-les-films-et-series-93992/ |archive-date=August 2, 2021 |language=French |url-status=live }}
• Watchmen
• The West Wing
• Without a Trace
• The X Factor
• The Young Pope{{cite news |last1=Gaughan |first1=Liam |title=The Most Overused Songs in Movies and TV |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/the-most-overplayed-songs-in-movie-soundtracks-11977968 |work=Dallas Observer |date=January 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108065904/https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/the-most-overplayed-songs-in-movie-soundtracks-11977968 |archive-date=January 8, 2022 |url-status=live }}
• 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief

{{div col end}}

• The BBC commemorated the 25th anniversary of the first recording of "Hallelujah" with an hour-long radio documentary, The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall, broadcast on 1 November 2008, in which the song's history and numerous cover versions were presented and discussed.
• The song was named one of the top ten greatest tracks of all time in a poll of songwriters conducted by the British music magazine Q.{{citation |url=http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Hallelujah-Song-of-Leonard-Cohen-4001473.php|title= 'Hallelujah': Song of Leonard Cohen |first= Aidin |last=Vaziri |publisher= San Francisco Chronicle|date= 4 November 2012 |access-date=6 November 2012 }}
• Rolling Stone magazine listed the song as one of the 500 greatest songs.
• In the February 2009 issue of Blender, "Hallelujah" was named that month's "Greatest Song Ever" (a monthly feature).{{cite web |url=http://www.blender.com/2009/01/greatest-songs-ever-hallelujah/ |work=Blender Magazine |title=Greatest Songs Ever: "Hallelujah |date=22 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217024806/http://www.blender.com/2009/01/greatest-songs-ever-hallelujah/ |archive-date=17 December 2014}}
• In 2005, "Hallelujah" was named the tenth-greatest Canadian song of all time in Chart magazine's annual readers' poll.
• On 21 December 2008, "Hallelujah" became the first song in 51 years{{cite news |last=Jamieson|first= Alastair |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3885472/Same-song-in-top-two-chart-spots-for-the-first-time-in-51-years-as-an-X-Factor-version-of-Leonard-Cohens-Hallelujah-sets-a-new-record.html |title= Hallelujah, the Leonard Cohen song recorded by X Factor television show winner Alexandra Burke, has become both the Christmas number one and number two best-selling single.|date=21 December 2008 |work=The Daily Telegraph}} to hold the top two positions on the UK Singles Chart; The X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's and American singer Jeff Buckley's covers were the two highest-selling songs in the week beginning 15 December 2008. Leonard Cohen's version was number 36 in the same chart.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7786171.stm|title='Hallelujah' Set for Chart Trinity |date=16 December 2008|work=BBC News|access-date=21 December 2008}}
• In 2014, "Hallelujah" was ranked number 1 in Rolling Stone{{'s}} "Best Leonard Cohen Songs" readers' poll.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/readers-poll-the-10-best-leonard-cohen-songs-143602|title=Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Leonard Cohen Songs|date=26 November 2014|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=19 August 2020}}
• Far Out and American Songwriter ranked the song number three and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Leonard Cohen songs.{{cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/leonard-cohen-10-greatest-song-of-all-time/|title=Leonard Cohen's 10 greatest songs of all time|first=Tom|last=Taylor|work=Far Out|date=November 7, 2021|accessdate=April 27, 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://americansongwriter.com/top-10-songs-by-leonard-cohen/|title=Top 10 Songs by Leonard Cohen|first=Alli|last=Patton|work=American Songwriter|date=March 8, 2023|accessdate=April 27, 2023}}
• Cohen's original version was ranked number 74 on the 2021 edition of "Top 500 Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone magazine.{{Cite magazine |date=2021-09-15 |title=The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-songs-of-all-time-1224767/ |access-date=2022-07-02 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}

Notes

{{refbegin}}

• A {{Note|note_a1}} Bastian Baker's version of "Hallelujah" did not enter the Ultratop 50, but peaked at number 5 on the Wallonia Ultratip chart.{{cite web | title=Bastian Baker – Hallelujah | url=http://www.ultratop.be/fr/showitem.asp?interpret=Bastian+Baker&titel=Hallelujah&cat=s | publisher=Ultratop. Hung Medien | access-date=4 January 2013}}

{{refend}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book |last= Babich |first=Babette |author-link=Babette Babich|year=2013 |title= The Hallelujah Effect: Philosophical Reflections on Music, Performance Practice, and Technology] |url= http://www.routledge.com/The-Hallelujah-Effect-Philosophical-Reflections-on-Music-Performance/Babich/p/book/9781409449607|location=London|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781138274136}}
• {{cite book |last=Light |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Light |year=2013 |title=The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" |url=https://archive.org/details/holyorbrokenleon0000ligh |location=New York |publisher=Atria Books |isbn=9781451657845 |url-access=registration }}

• [http://leonardcohenfiles.com/album8.html#61 1984 version lyrics], on The Leonard Cohen Files
• [http://leonardcohenfiles.com/album11.html##G 1988 version lyrics], on The Leonard Cohen Files
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7787355.stm BBC: Just whose hallelujah is it anyway? – article on writing and meaning of song]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131110051530/http://www.furious.com/perfect/kdlang.html The Birth of kd lang's "Hallelujah" out of the 'Spirit of Music' Perfect Sound Forever online music magazine presents... 2011 article, by philosopher Babette Babich]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20778621 BBC: Hallelujah! The rise and rise of Leonard Cohen's once-forgotten classic – 2012 report, by writer Alan Light]
• [https://www.chordlines.com/leonard-cohen/hallelujah Hallelujah Guitar chords] on Chordlines

{{Navboxes

|title=Articles and topics related to "Hallelujah"

|state=collapsed

|list1=

{{Leonard Cohen}}

{{Jeff Buckley}}

{{Kate Voegele}}

{{Alexandra Burke}}

{{K.D. Lang}}

{{Rufus Wainwright}}

{{Bon Jovi}}

{{The X Factor}}

{{Pentatonix}}

{{UK Christmas No. 1s in the 2000s}}

{{UK Christmas No. 1 single downloads in the 2000s}}

{{UK best-selling singles (by year) 1990–2009}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallelujah}}

Category:1984 songs

Category:1984 singles

Category:1980s ballads

Category:2003 singles

Category:2007 singles

Category:2008 debut singles

Category:2016 singles

Category:Alexandra Burke songs

Category:Black-and-white music videos

Category:Bon Jovi songs

Category:Christmas number-one singles in the United Kingdom

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:Contemporary R&B ballads

Category:Cultural depictions of Bathsheba

Category:Cultural depictions of David

Category:Cultural depictions of Samson

Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles

Category:Irish Singles Chart number-one singles

Category:Jeff Buckley songs

Category:Jewish songs

Category:Leonard Cohen songs

Category:Number-one singles in Norway

Category:Number-one singles in Scotland

Category:Pentatonix songs

Category:RCA Records singles

Category:Rock ballads

Category:Rufus Wainwright songs

Category:SNEP Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Songs about music

Category:Songs based on the Bible

Category:Songs written by Leonard Cohen

Category:Syco Music singles

Category:The X Factor (British TV series)

Category:UK singles chart number-one singles

Category:Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles

Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings

Category:Universal Records singles